It’s easy to get enthusiastic about digital communications because of the potential cost savings in postage and printing and reduced customer service calls. While certainly understandable, that focus may actually work against you.
These days, it’s more about how the consumer wants to receive communications than it is about how companies want to send information.
Once you reorient your efforts to improving customer experience (CX), you still realize operational savings. But you get a much bigger payoff.
More companies now see billing statements and other customer communications as important steps in the customer journey. They are using these touch points as opportunities to build customer relationships that drive everything from on-time payments to repeat business.
It starts with centering on how your customers want to communicate with you. For now and for some time into the future, that means both digital and print communications.
Delivering the right CX in customer communications depends on getting three things right:
Complexity. It’s no easy task to offer omnichannel delivery options and then manage the complexity. You must handle opt-ins and opt-outs for mobile and digital communications and ensure each type of communications is in the right format—a maximum of 140 characters for text messages versus paragraphs with images for letters. And then you must deliver the communication via the desired channel at the right time in the billing and payment cycle or to comply with federal and state credit laws and regulations.
Consider this typical scenario. One customer wants payment reminders by text, mailed statements and access to online portals to set up automatic deductions or make payments. Some may decide to try e-statements for a while that they handle through bank bill pay, then revert to mailed statements and checks. Or a customer’s email address changes and he or she neglects to notify the biller so the emailed statement bounces. And so on.
Consistency. Whether they are talking to a customer service representative, reviewing digital or mailed statements, or using self-service online account management, customers expect complete and consistent account information and presentation.
Security. Protecting customer information is paramount. That goes for both internal operations and the vendors you work with.
Not to worry, though. Expresso makes it easy to have an omnichannel program, with one solution for managing and distributing communications across channels instead of juggling multiple vendors, document versions and data sharing. We are happy to help you put an omnichannel program in place for your customers. We also are experienced in creating strategies to encourage digital adoption.
Truthfully, omnichannel delivery is no longer a nice-to-have feature or something for the future. This is now. It’s what customers want and expect.
