March 18, 2013 •Brian Watson
Customer billing and payment is a vital part of the engine that runs your business.
And outsource statement printing and mailing helps that engine run smoothly and efficiently.
But there is a cost-benefit analysis that every business has to conduct to determine the potential payoff from outsourcing. And statement processing is no different.
If you send out a couple of hundred statements a month, then it probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to invest the kind of money it’ll take to get an outsource statement processing solution up and running.
That’s not a catchall. Some billers with a relatively small client base will simply appreciate – and be willing to pay more for – the extra bells-and-whistles provided by outsource statement processing.
But what about the do-it-yourself billers? Are they locked into sending sub-par statements with no recourse –forced to accept weak branding, limited flexibility and standard payment options?
Not necessarily. Sure, D.I.Y statement printing and mailing has certain built-in limitations when compared to more robust outsource options. But that doesn’t mean they have to accept a cookie-cutter solution.
There are all kinds of simple, low-cost tools that D.I.Y. billers can implement to upgrade things like statement design, mailing operations and customer payment channels.
And if you’re wondering what thosse billing tools might be, read on: the rest of this post describes 6 low-investment/high-impact strategies that are a perfect fit for the D.I.Y. biller.
1). Brand Your Base Stock
In-house statement output is typically designed for simplicity. The idea is to enable production to be completed on as many different printers as possible.
But that sacrifices statement readability and brand impact.
One way to work around cookie-cutter output is to use custom base-stock designed to fit your accounting program - instead of blank paper – when printing statements in-house.
Custom stock provides a little bit of visual flair to an otherwise bland statement. Using your logo and color scheme can boost brand equity. And bright, bold call-out boxes guide customers’ visual path - directing them to the most important information on the statement.
2). Add a Logo to Your Outgoing Envelope
Adding a logo to your outgoing envelope has less to do with brand awareness that it does revenue cycle efficiency.
The USPS processes 160 billion pieces of mail each year. So envelopes that don’t quickly identify the sender – and why the piece is being sent - run the very real risk of being categorized as unimportant or even junk mail by consumers.
That’s where a small tactic – like adding a logo to the return address portion of you outgoing envelope - can make a big impact.
Better still is combining a logo with a call-out message on the envelope that lets the recipient know that there are important, time sensitive materials inside. Something like “Important Account Information Enclosed” printed in an eye-catching, bold font is a good way to ensure your piece is opened promptly.
3). Enclose a Return Envelope
Want to ensure that customers pay promptly and – just as important - remit their payment to the right address? Add a return envelope to your billing package.
That might seem like simple advice. And that’s because it, well, is simple advice. But just because it’s simple doesn’t make it any less effective.
Think of it this way: tracking down an envelope can be a surprisingly large pain for some of your customers. That’s especially true for consumers that pay most of their bills online, over the phone or via a mobile device – and might not have a usable envelope handy.
You might think that you’re saving money by skimping on an return envelope, but the easier you make it for customers to make a payment, the faster you’re likely to collect the money you’re owed, and the more cash you have on hand to run your business.
That goes for payment remittance, too. Why run the risk that customers are going to transcribe your address incorrectly and send your payments who knows where? Including your address on a return mail envelop makes sending in payment as simple as possible.
4). Use a Postal Meter
One of the major benefits of outsource billing is cheap postage. Statement Processing companies mail in bulk (and using tools like CASS certification) to lock-in first-class postal rates that are far below the 46 cent price of Forever Stamps.
While postal meters don’t offer postage discounts, they do help streamline bulk mailing operations. Meters can help you reduce mail prep-time and closely track mailing expenses through automated reporting.
They also provide cost advantages, too. Postal meters automatically update to the latest USPS postal rates and set mail class by weight, saving you from overpaying for postage or having mail returned due to insufficient postage (a killer when it comes to revenue cycle efficiency).
5). Offer a No-Frills Online Billing and Payment Website
More and more consumers are embracing online bill payment channels. For example: seventy-three percent of online households paid at least one bill online in the last month.
As recently as a few years ago, that would’ve been a tricky preference for D.I.Y. billers to tap into. Online billing and payment solutions have traditional come with a hefty sticker price and required special attention from employees to setup and manage.
But there are a lot of EBPP options on the market these days. And so cost tends to operate on a sliding scale – with certain options even offering free setup and service in exchange for a per-transaction fee that’s only applied when a customer actually uses the site to make a payment.
Quick pay websites that offer payment without enrollment are a good example of a simple, efficient EBPP option that’s tailor-made for smaller billers. There are no frills. No extra bells and whistles. Everything is laser-focused on payment.
Customers access the website, enter identifying information, select a payment method, fill in payment details and authorize the transaction. It’s that simple. The customer receives a confirmation email to wrap-up the transaction. And all payment info is automatically routed to an online dashboard where your staff can access simple payment reports for manually processing and posting.
So while online billing and payment may not scream D.I.Y., there are plenty of smart reasons why smaller billers should hop on the EBPP bandwagon.
6). Create a Disaster Recovery Plan
Okay, so a printer breakdown doesn’t exactly qualify as a disaster. But it can still be a major billing and payment roadblock – one that can slow A/R days and leave you without the cash on-hand you need to run your business’ day-to-day operations.
That’s why planning ahead for potential statement production and delivery breakdowns is critical.
The easiest way to ensure you have a production work-around is by clearly indicating a primary and secondary production computer and printer.
That way, in the event of a CPU meltdown or persistent printer problem, you’ll have a back-up protocol that’s easy to put into action. No loading accounting software on a secondary laptop. No testing to make sure statements look right printed on another machine. Planning ahead can help make the process as simple and turn-key as possible.
But what about a failsafe for more sophisticated problems – say a power outage that keeps you off the grid for days or a network issue that is equally problematic to production?
For those situations, it’s a good idea to have an offsite printer that you can count on for quick, secure statement production. Check with print companies to gauge disaster recovery options or consider a reciprocal backup printing relationship with a local business partner you trust.
What other D.I.Y. billing techniques do you use?