Ensuring your business lives and breathes a ‘customer-first’ mentality is a marketer’s job. Seeking out, testing, developing, delivering and iterating the most innovative platforms, processes and contact strategies in order to drive meaningful engagement and boost brand loyalty is now a digital marketer’s purpose.
Teradata revealed in some recent research that becoming more customer-centric is a top two priority for 49% of large global enterprises. It’s surprising that the figure wasn’t higher given how the balance of power is now firmly with the consumer.
In all the touch points in the customer lifecycle, something is still frequently overlooked... and it’s payments. In industries where regular payments are required for key services and products, such as telecoms, utilities and financial services, the cost-benefit in investing digital technologies and expertise has often not been fully recognised. This is despite the fact that every single payment is a vital interaction.
To avoid the payments channel simply not being ‘up to scratch’ with the rest of the customer experience, there are five key areas that organisations can focus on to improve:
1. Ways to pay
Most brands that collect regular payments from consumers insist on direct debit, even though up to up to 10% of direct debits are cancelled after the initial sign up and 3-5% can fail every month. Organisations need to consider a variety of different payment methods, for example mobile and web payment technologies, SMS and apps. Creating a robust contact strategy behind them is critical.
2. Empower the payments process
Although each payment is a guaranteed, regular communication with a customer, it’s frequently a standard ‘transactional’ communication from one channel. This channel only becomes personalised at the late payment stage – which is a missed opportunity. By seeing those regular communications as a chance to build loyalty and offer different options for two-way communication, a more positive engagement will result and churn will reduce. Just because the message is about a payment, it doesn’t need to be overly broadcast in style or jar with the tone of other brand communications. And be aware that all internal stakeholders understand that new digital channels need a commitment to be monitored and invested in – not seen as a new fad to be replaced in three months.
3. Communication is king
Digital teams and their counterparts in operations and IT are often best placed to create and evolve a unified brand experience within an organisation. This means conceptualising processes and systems, which will integrate customer communications and – the Holy Grail – create and maintain one holistic view of the customer.
We see plenty of organisations that are succeeding in delivering these experiences. They focus on enhancing customer relationships, making sustainable use of multiple digital channels, through an understanding of customers and the data they collect.
4. How do they like their eggs?
Personalisation and understanding is the name of the game and this is only possible again through the blending of valuable, customer data.
It doesn’t matter what you’re selling to customers and whether it’s at a premium or value price, they still fully expect to have some say in how they engage with your company. Whether that interaction is about marketing preferences, service methods or billing, having some intelligent systems in place can help measure and predict customer behaviour will gather insights. It’s this intelligence that help your business be more responsive and successful. In a JD Power survey in 2013 looking at utilities companies, customer satisfaction increased by 42 points when customers could select their own payment method. Understanding customer preferences and designing your business operations in response to those can really help increase the quality of communications you have with customers and reduce churn. And do all you can to encourage all teams in the organisation to live and breathe omni-channel and you’ll all benefit.
5. The last resort
We know that data is helpful but with intelligent predictive systems and external and internal consumer insight, learning about and anticipating customers’ payment patterns is a little easier. Positive, pre-emptive communications driven by digital marketing ‘little tweaks’, like changing payment dates to after payday can make a big difference to customers. This in turn can make big differences to the brands delivering this positive communications - like increasing revenue and reducing customer churn.
By Grant de Leeuw, General Manager Europe at TALKINGTECH.
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