More Than a Bill

In this intensely competitive market, successful carriers realize the most effective way to reach and maintain their existing customer base is through monthly invoices. Invoices leave a strong impression. They demand action. Although generating revenue is their purpose, ongoing communications with a captive audience is their asset. It is the one piece of mail guaranteed to be read every time it is delivered.

With this in mind, you should treat invoices as more than just accounting documents. You can transform invoices into powerful communications tools that are unique to each customer. Exploiting the invoice to its highest potential gives it a 3-fold purpose: reduce churn, increase customer loyalty and bring in revenues faster. Technology and competition encourage and demand the transformation of the bill into a marketing device.

MARKETING TODAY As the role of the invoice changes, so does the marketing strategy. Traditional marketers flooded the marketplace with an onslaught of information, leaving customers to sort through everything on their own. Today's marketers have to find new ways to get their messages heard.

Modern consumers are more educated and slightly jaded by years of fine print and false claims. The breezy clips of copywriters or the 4-color creations of graphic designers rarely sway them. Consumers need more than a simple promise of satisfaction. They need to feel that they have made a good purchasing decision, and that their business is appreciated. Marketers need to be in touch with their customers' needs, staying one step ahead of expectations. If you lose sight of your customers, or do not maintain a dynamic marketing stance, customers will take their business elsewhere. The industry's high churn rate in the face of such aggressive techniques proves there are considerable issues when it comes to maintaining customer loyalty.

The fact that the cost of keeping an existing customer can be 10 times lower than the cost of gaining a new one is a clue to success. By reinventing the invoice, communications you're already investing in, you double its value.

INVOICE DESIGN Effective communications are measured by consumer response. Instead of focusing on just dollars and cents, you must realize the invoice is a chance to put your name and company image in the customer's hand. It also is a chance to provide pro-active customer service. Customers don't want to read an invoice that is confusing and abstract. It prompts unnecessary questions and unnecessary inquiries to your customer-service department. Intelligent redesign can breathe new life into a stale document. An invoice that is easy to read and visually appealing lets your customers know you value their time. It also can cut down on the time spent handling redundant dissatisfied customer calls that jam call centers. Often, these calls are needless.

One of the easiest techniques available to make an impact is through highlight color. Because the eye naturally gravitates toward color, you can use it to accentuate key items such as your company logo, amount due and due date. Color directs the customer to important information and identifies your company name. A recent Xerox study found that adding highlight color to an invoice prompted faster payment by an average of two days. The Xerox study said recipients noticed and reacted to the highlighted data.

Another area for improvement is layout and design. Today's composition software allows you to manipulate information on an invoice into rows and sections that are easy for the reader to follow. Studies show the majority of people prefer to read information in a column format because it is easier on the eyes and is the familiar format of newspaper and magazine design.

Graphics are another necessary addition to the invoice. The simple insertion of a phone icon next to the customer-service phone number or showing a calendar with the due date circled all help to highlight key areas. Employing such graphics helps maintain an easy-to-read and consumer-friendly invoice.

MARKETING INSERTS & BACKERS Taking advantage of the invoice as marketing collateral opens the door to a range of possibilities. Many successful companies swear by insertions such as marketing pieces and custom backers. The key is to ensure that your customers can identify any insert or backer as yours. Consistent branding through your invoice package helps to build recognition and loyalty while creating a strong visible presence.

Insert options can range from anything to a 3-up (1/3-page) piece to a 4-page newsletter. From one color to four color, it can take on any promotional role it is assigned. A backer performs the same function as an insert, but it takes advantage of the white space on the backside of an invoice. More economical, but with less options, you can use a backer to describe terms and conditions and capture address changes.

If you are introducing a new product or service, a special promotion, tie-ins to other services or coupons, an insert or custom backer is imperative to your marketing plan. Cross-selling through marketing inserts and/or backers keeps customers up to date. The cost of these basic yet value-rich marketing tools is minimal compared to a special direct-mail campaign or advertising -- and they are guaranteed to be read.

TARGETED MARKETING Taking this concept one step further, forward-thinking companies are employing data mining and 1-to-1 marketing techniques. To truly maximize customer loyalty and satisfaction, marketers are finding that customers expect information that is specific to their needs. By managing the information you have about your clients, you have the ability to identify the customers that offer the greatest opportunity for added services. With these tools, you can learn who your customer base is and be better equipped to satisfy its needs.

These two methods gather and segment information on customer habits using billing information already in your database. Data mining selects, explores and analyzes large amounts of data to clarify and designate specific parameters. One-to-1 marketing methods then use this information to single out customers and address their needs. Implementing a targeted marketing program is a big undertaking, but once the initial information is manipulated and the standards are set, the rewards can be substantial.

The information obtained in data mining allows you to customize for specific customers or customer groups, broken down by region, age or average bill amount. You can use data mining to analyze the calling patterns and habits of your customer base. Each invoice gets a graph showing that customer's calling or usage pattern. If, based upon the data shown in the graph, you have another calling plan that would better meet the customer's needs, insert a custom marketing message to promote that plan. This is just one of many possible targeted marketing techniques.

ELECTRONIC BILL PRESENTMENT & PAYMENT Although electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) still is in the initial stages of acceptance, industry leaders know this is the direction computer-savvy customers are heading. As technology and security measures continue to improve, and more billing vendors and consultants adopt EBPP, the need to understand and embrace this technology will be imperative. The Internet is no longer a novelty. It continues to be embraced as a necessary part of daily life. Traffic on the Internet has been doubling consistently every 100 days.

>From a marketing perspective, leveraging the powers of the Internet with invoice presentment is a potent combination. There are many marketing drivers behind EBPP. Many companies in the forefront of this technology have adopted EBPP because it makes marketing sense from a customer-retention standpoint. By positioning yourself as a leader in EBPP, you clearly can differentiate yourself from the competition, while creating a positive relationship with customers hungry for the newest technology. This consumer segment tends to be high end with more disposable income and a greater tendency to try new things. This is a desirable demographic. It is worth pleasing the customer that most companies are wooing and striving to keep.

A successful EBPP program is thorough and takes all aspects of the technology into account. The marketing possibilities are endless. You can take cross-selling products and services to a new level with personalized electronic bills that incorporate billing information and targeted marketing content, based on chosen criteria. This is an excellent way to increase sales from within your existing customer base. Tomaximize EBPP, tracking how customers navigate through invoices can help to steadily upgrade interactions with customers. Taking EBPP one step further, companies that integrate 1-to-1 marketing with EBPP successfully have an added advantage of targeted messaging relating specifically to the individual customer.

GAINING AN EDGE Consumers demand more services for their money. Taking the steps necessary to create high-impact, customer-focused invoices gives you an opportunity to promote more offerings. It makes the invoice a flexible document that does more than ask for service payment. An attractive, accessible invoice is your best public relations tool. It cements your relationship with the customers you worked so hard to gain.