Communication - Don't Blow It

Is your organization doing enough to differentiate itself from the bank down the street???  I look at organizations all the time who claim to have significant differentiation in place for products and services but, when looked at closely, there is nothing significant except the same old differences in rates and fees.  To better address this, ask yourself today what would be the number one pain point for your customers today if they left?  If you are having trouble answering that question, it is time for you to get busy!

The timing of this post is directly related to a customer that I am working with who really understands how to differentiate themselves from their competition.  They are working on utilizing their enterprise customer communications management software to make charge-back notices with item images available real-time.  This is great differentiation as it provides significant value to their commercial customers and none of their competitors can come close to offering similar functionality.  Their customers will need to give up significant value to move their relationship.

Most organizations have a tremendous amount of data available that could be used to differentiate from the bank down the street.  Enterprise Communications Management will empower your organization to deliver true differentiation by providing this to your customer in a timely and relevant way!      

Many financial institutions are looking to achieve significant cost savings with the rollout of eStatement and iStatement solutions.  However, many organizations are not achieving the desired enrollment rates.  We have worked with many organizations to successfully increase their adoption rates and have the following observations...

ROLLOUT
Technology is only half the equation.  Organizations need to develop detailed rollout strategies to ensure they achieve their desired adoption rates. 

UNDERSTANDING YOUR CUSTOMER BASE
Take a look at the demographics of your customer base; what percentage are over 50?  What percentage of your customers uses online banking and how does this compare to industry averages?  Understanding your base is critical to developing effective rollout campaigns.

ONLINE:  TARGET EARLY ADOPTERS
Where is your biggest bang for the buck???  Existing online banking customers are the easiest target market.  Go after them with a vengeance again and again!  Don't stop with the first campaign; you will be surprised at how this will impact your overall adoption rate. 

Have a low online banking adoption rate???  Offer electronic statements with effective campaigns and get double the return!

EXISTING PRINT
The most effective way to target people getting is to imbed graphical marketing within your statements.  This is very cost effective and has great results. 

BRANCH
An employee/customer rewards program for signing up for electronic bank statements is a great way to get results.  A few banners, posters, and employee buttons are all it takes to make this a great success.

PRODUCTS
The most simple of them all; all free accounts require iStatements!!!

METRICS
The most boring component but absolutely essential to success.  Institutions must periodically monitor the results from the various campaigns.  Do not overcomplicate this but make sure you do it.  Over a period of six months, it will become apparent what campaigns are working and which ones aren’t. 

Hello Everyone!  My name is Pete Stoughton and I am the CTO and co-founder of Optria.  This blog will cover many areas but the primary focus will be on what organizations can do to achieve GREAT customer communications.

I will be providing regular updates as to what Optria and our customers are doing  to achieve great results.  In the meantime, please check out our iStatements solution at http://www.optria.com/solutions/istatements.html and our latest tweets at www.twitter.com/Optria.
 

We have recently signed another customer in Califronia for our iStatements product!!!  Check our news section for details, http://www.optria.com/news/index.html.