When was the last time you received a handwritten letter in the mail? For the majority of us, this has become a seldom occurrence. And although some may miss the nostalgia of receiving personal letters outside of the holidays, very few would be willing to trade this with the convenience of email.
So with the average person spending more than 30 hours online each month and the proven fact that the Internet can change a person’s behaviors, why has e-billing adoption stalled? Do consumers really prefer to receive a stack full of paper bills or is the online option falling short of the optimal customer experience?
For years the telecom industry has been pushing to move consumers online. The promise of significant cost savings has remained promising to carriers, but despite continuous marketing efforts, customer incentives, and even charging for paper bills, adoption has stalled at 10-15 percent, with many operators achieving less than 5 percent.
Although carriers have invested heavily in the consumer self-service space with comprehensive online portals, integrated support tools, and dedicated marketing dollars, there seems to be a gap between what the customer wants and what an operator provides. By taking a step back and looking at what drives consumers to shift their behaviors from offline to online, we can define some key criteria for providing a customer experience that is not only welcomed, but preferred.
Will This Save Me Time?
Convenience, convenience, convenience. Regardless of the demographic you are targeting, providing an experience that saves time is a must for changing consumer behavior. With email, we are willing to sacrifice some level of personalized communication for the ability to increase the frequency and reach of our communications. In the time it takes me to write one letter to one person, I can send 10 emails to 100 people.
Although many e-billing solutions send email notifications alerting consumers that they have a bill to view or a change in status, very few operators take advantage of leveraging that preferred communication channel to help their customers save time. Instead of following the notification with an added step of portal log in to actually view the information, why not save time by incorporating it in the email?
