The monthly customer statements and bills you compile, print and distribute to customers has likely been a staple in your business since the day your doors opened and service began.  It is likely also a customer communication that you don’t think much about.  But you may be missing an opportunity to improve your customer relationships and return on investments by not enhancing this crucial customer touchpoint. Many utility companies, perhaps even yours, still send monthly bills in standard black and white ink lacking clear distinction between sections and important information for the customer.  For many consumers, the layout and design of the information – especially gas and electric usage – can also be incredibly confusing which therefore likely causes a spike in calls to your call center.  In fact, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, the largest municipal utility in the country, experiences anywhere from 20-35 percent of call center calls from customers regarding a misreading of their statement. 

Creating a more clear, concise and organized design, and adding elements like color to monthly bills helps these statements stand out from the bulk spam mail that consumers are inundated with, ensuring customers are more likely to read that bill – and more importantly understand it.  Document composition can play a huge role in how easy statements are for customers to understand – a factor that should not be easily overlooked as it will help lower the number of calls to your call center, therefore saving you money at the end of the day. Not only are there customer engagement benefits, but enhancing the design of statements can enable more awareness and participation in energy conservation programs you may be promoting, making it an initiative utility marketers should definitely explore.  Let’s take a closer look at the reasons why document design can be so beneficial.

Stand Out and Be Clear

Although the amount of direct mail consumers receive was waned in recent years due to the shift in online marketing, consumers are still bombarded with a ton of irrelevant advertisements, fliers and other pieces of mail.  Already customers are more likely to view your bill than other pieces of direct mail they come across, in fact 90 percent of consumers say they always read their statements.  Incorporating better design and color components in the statement can ensure that immediately out of the envelope they make an impact.  This helps increase the chance that consumers will read your bill initially, which can contribute to ensuring on-time payment – driving down the time and money spent on collections for delinquent customer payments.

Additionally in today’s digitally advanced society, statements that have been created with a specific design and information layout stand a better chance of being read in entirety.  This can make it easier for customers to fully understand bills the first time they are mailed – which also eliminates repetitive calls to the call center for clarification.  Color and information layout play a crucial role in the design of statements. The use of color alone has even been proven to increase ROI.

Lastly, by investing in better design and document composition, marketers can make bills easier to read, which can make it more likely that customers will make more timely payments and participate in promotional energy-savings initiatives.  Not only does delivering a more appealing statement improve the customer relationship, but by making it easier for consumers to understand their usage and payment, utility companies will experience fewer confused customers.  In turn this leads to fewer questions, which can effectively drive down the costs needed to maintain customer service operations, like call centers, payment reminders or late-payment notifications. Take for example Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).  The company offers gas, electric and water service to its customers which streamlines their utility needs, but also created the need for a very detailed statement.  One that many consumers found very confusing.  With the help of document composition and data analytics experts, the company revamped the design of its monthly bill with a new, more intuitive layout and a new color system that made it clear what usage and costs were associated with each service.  The net-net: happy customers who more clearly understand their monthly statements.  And because customers will have fewer questions or concerns about their bills, the company will see cost savings as the number of call center calls will decrease. In short, it was a win-win for LADWP and its customers.

So if you’re stuck thinking that the monthly bill is just a benchmark of consumer usage and costs, consider how altering the design of your statement with color or adjusted placement of information could impact the overall relationship you have with your customers, and the return you’re able to drive on these investments. 

For more information, please visit www.gobeyondthemeter.com.