Kathleen Bishop knows a thing or two about the importance of convenience in today's business world. As director of postagebyphone.com, she heads the hugely successful Pitney Bowes service that has helped thousands of businesses over the past several years avoid the tedium, expense and time lost in traveling to the post office and waiting in line to reset postage meters. 

So when she saw that a new Electronic Statement Presentment (ESP) capability from Document Messaging Technologies, a Pitney Bowes company, could make the Postage by Phone service even more convenient for users, she didn't hesitate for a second. 

"Convenience is a key element of success for virtually any business today," she explains. "Making services and support functions available to customers via a variety of channels, and letting them select which channel to use -- in effect, giving customers more control or the option of 'self-service' -- allows them to work faster and more conveniently and strengthens the overall business relationship." 

Instant access, better response
As an example, she points to the new Internet statement capability, which she says adds a new level of convenience "because it provides our users with instant access to detailed account data, so they can review and analyze meter use more effectively and manage postage funds more precisely." 

Previously, the Postage by Phone service provided account data to users on a per reset basis, and to larger accounts on a monthly basis, via a paper-based statement that was mailed to customers. Users who needed their account data at some other interval needed to make a special request, which Postage by Phone provided manually by searching for and then faxing the data. 

Since Postage by Phone is a huge operation -- it services more than one million accounts and processes more than $13 billion in postage payments annually -- it is not unusual for the service to handle thousands of special requests per month. 

Given the volume of manual work involved, it is easy to see how Bishop's operation is also benefiting from the technology that allows customers faster and more convenient access to account data and the ability to 'self-service' their account. 

"Not only can our customers now get instant access to their account data as frequently as they like, but we can keep our costs down and re-deploy the resources performing the 'search and retrieve' work to other uses, such as responding to customer service calls, processing payments and speeding up collections." 

Additionally, the new ESP capability will soon provide the account data to customers in an easy to manipulate electronic form, so they can quickly transfer the data to their general ledger or other internal reporting system for easier and more effective tracking and analysis of cost and use. 

Easier to comprehend 
There are other benefits as well. Several customers say they prefer the visual appeal of data that is presented via the web over printed or faxed statements -- because of the use of colors, graphics and different type styles -- while others add that comprehension is often easier when the data is "viewed" rather than "heard" over the telephone. 

Which brings up an interesting question. Exactly how many postagebyphone.com users are migrating to the Web-based ESP capability? "We had thousands of customers utilize the ESP service in just the first two weeks it was in operation," says Bishop, "and we expect usage to increase steadily as promotional efforts take hold and new features and capabilities such as Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) are added." 

As for promotion, Bishop is utilizing the Postage by Phone voice response system, which is heard by more than 50,000 users daily, to tout the service, along with notices on the printed pre reset and monthly statements, articles in internal Pitney Bowes publications to alert and educate sales representatives, and an incentive program for call center employees. 

Which brings up a second question. With such a large customer base, and a highly focused promotional effort, shouldn't more users be attracted to the ESP service?

Building on success 
"When you are implementing a new technology like ESP," she explains, "it is important to set realistic expectations and use the right yardstick to measure success." 

"First, our Postage by Phone service is already popular and convenient for users. We are making improvements to a system that is clearly 'not broken,' so I wouldn't expect to see an 'avalanche' of new users." 

"Second, we are rolling out our Internet capabilities in phases. We started with the ability to reset meters online, now we've added the ability to view account statements online, and next we're adding an 'account activity' function, which is a 'sort and search' capability that will help customers locate specific transactions quickly. And a full Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment capability will be the next enhancement." 

This phased roll-out was intended to assure users of integrity and adequate capacity, according to Bishop. "We now have more than four million statements online," she emphasizes, making the postagebyphone.com ESP application the largest in the nation. "We have a reputation for top quality and we needed to be certain that all our systems were adequate and would operate flawlessly." 

One clear payoff of the carefully planned implementation is that it caught the eye of industry experts. 

"Corporations interested in implementing a digital delivery solution should closely look at postagebyphone.com to see the benefits of an integrated solution," says Michael Killen, Founder and CEO of Killen and Associates, a global leader in tracking and forecasting business opportunities created by the Internet. "This is a very efficient application." 

Lastly, Bishop considers the Internet to be "strategic to the future of the business" and is confident users will migrate as they become more familiar with the technology. "The early adopters of almost any new technology are an extremely valuable  customer segment. They can provide the impetus to literally change an industry overnight, so it is critical for us to stay in step with them. If we serve their needs today, we are well-positioned to serve everyone else tomorrow." 

Plus, the new ESP capability eliminates unproductive work for Bishop's unit, which lowers her costs and improves internal efficiencies, giving her important hard dollar savings while she awaits the eventual wide spread acceptance of the technology. And when the EBPP capability is launched later this year, the savings will accelerate even more. "We process hundreds of thousands of checks a month," she explains. "If we could shift just ten percent of those paper-based payments to electronic form, we could eliminate a huge handling and processing cost and generate a significant savings." 

And, of course, all those EBPP customers would also be using the Postage by Phone web site, where they would be exposed to an array of other Pitney Bowes products and services. 

"Regular monthly customer communications, such as account statements and bills, can merely record transactions," explains Bishop, "or they can be a strategic tool to strengthen and expand relationships. At postagebyphone.com, we plan to use the electronic statement to provide our customers with superior services and grow the business."

 

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