Communicating with customers is expensive. That’s a fact. The daily notices, statements, invoices and other transactional documents you’re required to send out represent a significant amount of cost for any organization.

The main component of document processing costs? Technological Infrastructure.

These days, customers expect personalized and easy-to-read documents, available on numerous delivery platforms and customized to specific individuals rather than a general audience. Today we’ve compiled a list of the 6 elements that comprise the most advanced technological infrastructure, and thus, the most efficient operational systems.

1. Design Software – The first step in driving down costs is how you design your customer documents. Software that is easy to use, provides the ability to maximize page real estate, and capitalizes on personalized messages is critical to offer customers optimized and clear documents.  

2. Marketing Software – Marketing software should accommodate easy design and dynamic inclusion of banners ads, marketing messages and customized clickable links in eStatements.

3. Intelligent Inserters – Insertion equipment is essential for fast production, as it eliminates the time spent individually stuffing envelopes, and allows for marketing inserts to be included based on rules and workflows.

4. Fast and advanced printers- The sheer amount of printers necessary to provide fast production of documents is intimidating for businesses with high volumes of customer communications. Additionally, consumers are beginning to expect color graphics and complex imaging in their statements, which requires even more advanced and expensive equipment, and increased capital expenditure.

5. Archival and Tracking Software – Once documents hit the mail stream they need to be tracked, and even after they’ve been delivered, they should be accessible to customer service reps and customers alike. Software that allows for mail tracking and document archival  is critical.

6. Security and Back-up- All customer document data should be backed up comprehensively and securely. A business continuity plan is an expense that, if neglected, could result in serious consequences such as lost business, lost customers, and lost profit.

These costs add up, so it’s no wonder that approximately 50-70% of total indirect spend in the financial service industry is allocated to IT and technology alone, both in the form of software and equipment, and it’s estimated that this spending could surpass $500 billion by 2020.

The good news? Document outsourcing companies, like Lanvera, are here to take these expenses off your hands, decreasing your capital expenditure funds, and providing document processing costs that are predictable, manageable, and in line with transactional volumes. Contact us today to find out how Lanvera can help your business reduce IT spending and improve statement processing operations.

Despite their increased amount of online activity, consumers have been slow to turn off paper statements and fully convert to electronic delivery. Two factors contributing to this trend are:

• Print Default- In general, print is the default delivery platform customers select when creating an account with their financial institute or service provider. Converting to electronic documents requires that they physically change a setting.
• Ease of Accessibility– Print Documents are delivered right to the customer’s mailbox at the same time every month, requiring no additional effort from the recipient.

In general, customers have a tendency to crave the ability to do something to benefit the environment, and  e-adoption provides a great way for people to get involved in the green movement. The two factors above, though they seem to make print statements an easier option, are easily mimicked on an electronic platform.

Setting the default setting to electronic presentment is a quicky way to get the ball rolling with the conversion from paper to electronic, but ensuring continued customer satisfaction once they’re there is essential to keep them enrolled in electronic delivery.

Here are our top 3 best practices for maintaining your highest eStatement adoption rates:

1. Email Documents- Just as print statements come straight to your customers' mailboxes, so should the electronic versions. Emailing documents, as opposed to accessing online only, offers the added benefits of providing customers immediate access to their documents, and provides additional security by eliminating the possibility of mail tampering or lost hard copies.
2. Consistent Design- Providing an exact PDF replica of the paper documents will allow customers to feel more comfortable turning off their paper version, as they know they'll be receiving a legitimate legal copy, easily accessed and printed if necessary.
3. Interactivity- Including interactive marketing messages and direct check view access are both capabilities that are enhanced through electronic presentment . Marketing messages that can be clicked for immediate access to offers, and transactions with links to exact images of checks are benefits that only customers who receive eStatements can take advantage of, and are compelling incentives for adoption.

Electronic adoption is  important to reducing costs in all areas of statement processing, both through printing and production. Make it easy to convert and utilize best practices and your business with quickly start to see the cost savings benefits. 

“Change is Inevitable, Progress is Optional”
-Tony Robbins

When motivational speaker and life coach, Tony Robbins, said this, he was referring to changes in your life- the way you react, what you learn and how you grow from them. When you think about it, it’s a pretty inspiring thought. You get to decide whether or not you make forward progress, and how you do it.
 
Now think about this: Your business industry is changing. In as little as 1 year it will be significantly different. In 20 years it will likely be unrecognizable. When you think about industry change, it’s unlikely you think much about your customer documents, but the truth is, the documents you send to your customers and the way you communicate with them are major components affected by change, and a major opportunity for you to leverage that change.

How Change Affects your Customer Documents    
Regulatory bodies such as the CFPB and HIPAA are consistently making changes that dictate how you communicate with your  customers, and the information your documents must contain. In the past, keeping up with these changes has been difficult. Simple changes, such as a compliance update, could take up to six weeks through some outsourcing vendors. 

You don’t have that kind of time if you want to avoid fees or penalties for ignoring regulations. Changes should be fast, and you’ll need a system that allows for continued compliance through instant updates.

How Customer Documents Allow You to Leverage Change 
Technology is making the customer experience dramatically different. Customers commonly complete tasks that once required an office visit or phone call, remotely via mobile apps and web portals. The lack of personal interaction, via face to face or simply over the phone, requires a new approach to marketing. 

Whether or not your customers are visiting your office in person, they need to know about your new products or services. Customer documents and the customer web portal can allow for new marketing opportunities to supplement for the loss of face-to-face selling. The future of customer documents incorporates personalized marketing with transpromo messaging, statement inserts and envelope overprints.

Bottom Line
The bottom line is this: Industries are evolving due to changing expectation and regulations. The way your customers obtain information, the way they engage with your business, and the way your industry operates in general will be drastically different in 5 years. Everything must become instant and fast, especially the way you respond to change… The progress you make.

When regulations change, you need the ability to easily update documents to remain compliant… When you add new products and services, you need to quickly be able to let your customers know, whether or not you see or speak with them personally. A system that accommodates easy and fast changes to customer documents is essential.

The Solution 
The solution lies in your customer document management system. It should allow for quick and easy updates because at the end of the day, industry wide change is going to happen. A self-service, secure management system will allow you to easily upload new, personalized marketing messages, and make quick changes to your documents to ensure compliance with changing regulations.

As we’ve said, change is inevitable, it’s up to you whether or not you make the progress necessary to ensure that keeping current with change isn’t a painful process. 

At Lanvera, we offer a self-service client portal that is optimized for easy change management, so you can make any necessary changes to your customer documents in a matter of seconds. Contact us today to learn more about our client portal and how it can make compliance and marketing exponentially easier on your business.