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Pitney Bowes Selects USADATA as Preferred Sales Lead Provider for 2005 Value of Mail Campaign

STAMFORD, Conn., May 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI - News) announced today that it has selected USADATA, Inc. as its preferred provider of mailing lists and online solutions for its Value of Mail campaign for 2005. As part of the agreement, USADATA will provide lists and related data services to Pitney Bowes customers and help educate both customers and Pitney Bowes sales representatives. The Value Of Mail campaign highlights solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to leverage the mail channel to attract new customers, retain existing customers and grow their business.

"We are pleased to renew this relationship with USADATA," said Jeff Marshall, vice president of customer marketing for the Global Mailstream Solutions unit of Pitney Bowes. "We believe the combined strengths of our two organizations will help our customers see measurable returns from their direct mail programs."

"Our relationship works because we provide Pitney Bowes' qualified customers value and great returns on their mail campaigns with our targeted leads," said Jon Rapkin, vice president of USADATA's Data and Leads Group. "In addition to providing the highest quality mailing lists and sales leads through automated software, USADATA will provide customer support and education to help maximize ROI from future mail campaigns."

When eligible customers call USADATA to get their lists or leads, a Data Specialist will consult and help them obtain targeted, high-quality lists through specialized automated systems. USADATA will work with the Pitney Bowes sales force to provide other services to clients that can improve the value of mail, including USADATA's new List Profiler(TM) and List Maximizer(TM) products.

About USADATA

USADATA is the trusted source for privacy-assured mailing lists, sales leads and related data services, paving the "Fast Track to Sales Leads" via easy-to-use on-line systems and through its team of friendly, knowledgeable Data Specialists. Clients range from Fortune 500 financial service organizations to small businesses and the direct marketing services providers who serve them. USADATA is headquartered in New York City and with offices in Boca Raton, FL, Little Rock, AR, and San Francisco, CA. http://www.usadata.com.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes is the world's leading provider of integrated mail and document management systems, services and solutions. The $5 billion company helps organizations of all sizes efficiently and effectively manage their mission-critical mail and document flow in physical, digital and hybrid formats. Its solutions range from addressing software and metering systems to print stream management, electronic bill presentment and presort mail services. The company's 80-plus years of technological leadership have produced many major innovations in the mailing industry, and it is consistently on the Intellectual Property Owner's list of top U.S. patent holders. With approximately 35,000 employees worldwide, Pitney Bowes serves more than 2 million businesses through direct and dealer operations. More information on the company can be found at http://www.pb.com.

Media Contacts:

Pitney Bowes
Scott Gerschwer
Manager, Public Relations
203-351-6152
scott.Gerschwer@pb.com

USADATA
Glen Calder
TransMedia Group
561-750-9800 ext. 216
gcalder@transmediagroup.com

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Source: Pitney Bowes Inc.

Using a mailing service can save businesses time, money

REBECCA WOLFSON rwolfson@madison.com
DEC 27, 2005 - For Madison Area Technical College, the problem was how to mail tens of thousands of alumni newsletters.

The college didn't have the space to prepare a bulk mailing, said Kathy Waters, the lead worker at MATC's mail center. And they didn't have the machinery to make the process easy, meaning they were looking at having to do the job by hand.

But there was a solution, which saved the college $5,000: Use a mailing services company, one that had the machinery and expertise to get the job done fast and efficiently.

"Mailings can be a very effective way of doing business," said Terri Bouffiou, customer relations coordinator for the Madison branches of the U.S. Postal Service. But she added, "as well as a big cost to a company."

Mailing-services companies' assistance may be more important and timely beginning next month, when postal rates rise by about 5 percent.

Everything from the color of ink to the shape of an envelope can add cost to a mailing. Mailing-services companies sort items, which saves money per piece.

The Postal Service created the mailing service industry by offering mailing discounts, said United Mailing Services district manager Mark Colb. Mailing-services companies, by sorting mail, take away much of the Postal Service's workload.

United Mailing has five branches in Wisconsin, including one in Madison, and 500 employees.

"We are the mail business, we know about the postage industry," said J&J's Bauer. When businesses use mailing services companies, "they can focus on the core business that they have."

Mailing-service companies advise clients about the best ways to get mailings noticed. They also provide automated inserting equipment and mailing lists.

"I just met with a law firm that sends mail out at full rate and also uses a carrier service," Bauer said. "I went in and educated them and I figured out I'd save them about $2,000 per year. Once their mailing equipment lease is up, I can save them another $1,200 per year."

"A lot of this is educating the customers about their options," said J&J's operations manager, Jeff Utter.

Design errors are one of the the most common mistakes people make with mailings, said Bruce Virgin, vice president and general manager of First Class Mailers on North Fair Oaks Avenue in Madison. A flower company he worked with made a $3,500 mistake when they printed a direct mail advertisement on the wrong color of paper. The paper was too dark, so the post office couldn't distinguish between the paper and the text, Virgin said.

Capital Newspapers, publisher of the Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times, also provides mailing services through its Target Marketing program.

Nonprofits can also save big. Volunteers often stuff envelopes and put stamps on mass mailings, Virgin said. But these groups can save more money by bringing the job to a mailing service because as a nonprofit organization, they can receive a special bulkmail rate, bringing their cost from 18.5 cents per piece - the best price if they do the mailing on their own - to as cheap as around 9 cents per item.

Mailings also often take longer than expected, Bouffiou said. Before a mailing is sent out, it needs to be designed and printed. The company needs a mailing permit and a mailing list. Mailing-services companies, however, can provide all of that and complete most mailings in less than a week, Bouffiou said.

Capital Mailing Systems on Advance Road in Madison mostly caters to small businesses. The most common and costly mistake businesses make is formatting for bar code, said business manager Daniel Phelps. Incorrect bar codes can cost businesses an extra 5 cents per piece, which, for a large mailing can mean thousands of dollars.

"The domestic mail manual is hundreds of pages long and people in mail services are people who are experts of that book," Phelps said.

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