Tactics to achieve greater digital adoption
In a time of increased postage and paper costs, supply chain issues impacting print supplies, and postal delays, it is no wonder that financial service companies are more focused than ever on initiatives to move customers from printed communications to digital experiences.
In a recent Doxim webinar, “Insurance Transformation: Building Omnichannel Customer Experience Journeys,” industry leaders shared some of their strategies for moving customers to digital experiences, as well as roadblocks they had encountered and how they had overcome them.
Watch webinar on-demand: Insurance Transformation: Building Omnichannel Customer Experience Journeys
Drivers for moving customers from paper to digital communications
The shift to digital adoption in communications was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial services leaders seem to agree that they do not expect digital customers to revert to paper, but that an optimal digital experience is vital to ensuring this outcome. Increased costs for paper communications and postal service delays are also driving organizations to further maximize their digital adoption rates.
To encourage even greater digital adoption, leaders are using several tactics, according to Keypoint Intelligence research conducted on behalf of Doxim:
What are the top three tactics to achieve paperless adoption targets in the next two years?
When asked about their tactics to achieve paperless adoption targets for bills and statements in the next two years, the results were as follows:
Making it easier for customers to switch: 48%
Creating a better customer experience: 46%
Educating customers on the benefits of paperless adoption: 37%
Putting these tactics into play, however, requires financial service organizations to overcome a few obstacles. Key obstacles are outlined below, along with pragmatic tips for overcoming them.
1. COLLATING DATA AND EXPANDING YOUR LISTS
Financial services organizations often have multiple back-office systems containing client information, including email addresses. Reviewing these data sources and consolidating lists of email addresses can help organizations uncover a new source of leads for paperless adoption campaigns. Some organizations have found that they already have thousands of email addresses which they are not leveraging fully, waiting to be discovered in siloed back-office systems.
2. ENCOURAGING PAPERLESS ADOPTION
Several of our roundtable participants indicated that they had found success in encouraging digital adoption by running contests and promotions which included capturing new email addresses and getting permission to communicate with customers digitally. In particular, Prudential Financial’s Jennifer Daniele discussed how Prudential ran a very successful digital adoption sweepstakes campaign.
Other panelists also highlighted the importance of showcasing how digital consumer experiences are richer and more personal than paper documents. Keypoint Intelligence research indicates that the majority of organizations surveyed offer their customers a variety of incentives for moving to digital communications, as outlined below. These advantages can be outlined in a digital adoption campaign to maximize uptake:
Q35: Which of the following incentives does your organization offer customers for going paperless?
- Interactive Statements: 43% 43%
- Reduce monthly/annual service fees: 42% 42%
- Additional services free of charge: 40% 40%
- Free credit monitoring: 37% 37%
- Biometric authentication: 24% 24%
- We don’t offer incentives: 19% 19%
- Don’t know: 1% 1%
N = 147 Total Enterprise Respondents
Source: Doxim CCM Vertical Market Study (US): Keypoint Intelligence 2021
3. REDUCING “DOUBLE DIPPING”
Another challenge, when moving customers from paper to digital experiences, comes from the so-called “double dippers” – customers who enjoy the convenience of digital communications, but are unwilling to turn off paper statements. These customers are more expensive to serve than either digital or paper-only consumers, and they can make up a substantial portion of your customer base. In fact, Keystone Intelligence found that roughly a third of customers were communication “double dippers.”
A Keypoint Intelligence report reveals the following when it comes to financial services customers:
Financial services customers receiving print only 37%
Financial services customers receiving digital only 32%
Financial services customers receiving print and digital 32%
In two years, the percentage of digital only customers is expected to increase to 36%, at the expense of the print only percentage, which declines to 31%. But the number of double dippers is expected to remain the same.
Finding innovative ways to entice these customers away from paper might include activities like “go green” campaigns, contests, or giveaways, or even a plan to begin charging customers for paper statements or to not offer paper as an option to new customers, except where mandated by regulations.
In general, organizations reported to Keypoint that at present they were focused on marketing programs that highlighted the benefits of digital-only communications, vs. taking a more hardline approach with double dippers. Should the cost of postal mail continue to rise and the service experience more delays, financial services organizations will want to put more emphasis on reducing double dipping.
The time is right for digital transformation
With benefits that include reduced costs, increased communication agility and interactivity, along with new revenue opportunities, it is no wonder that financial services industry leaders, like those on our roundtable panel, are pushing hard to move customers to paperless adoption. This digital shift is also in line with changing customer preferences and expectations. A McKinsey study, for example, found that COVID-19 has accelerated the digitalization of customer interactions by three to four years.
Today’s customer expects organizations to communicate in a digital-first fashion, and not through only a single digital channel. They expect to be able to carry hyper-personalized, consistent interactions across whichever channel is most convenient to them at the time and with the ability to get the answers they need instantly.
That means that in order for financial services organizations to provide an enhanced customer experience, they will need to be able to meet this new and evolving customer expectation and overcome the internal challenges and barriers that many organizations face.
How Doxim can help
As a single, trusted partner offering a holistic CCM solution, Doxim can help you operationalize your digital transformation strategy, reduce your paper and postage costs, and make every customer interaction count.
Doxim’s omnichannel CCM platform can empower your business users to generate the frequent, ongoing, and personal interactions your customers crave, and distribute these communications through multiple channels, including a host of digital options (PDF, HTML, email, text, online interactive experiences) as well as print for those who demand it.
The omnichannel capabilities of the platform are such that when a customer calls in to speak to a service representative or engages with a chatbot, both human and machine can provide immediate assistance by calling up the communication or document that the customer received. This keeps every customer communication connected, making hyper-personal, omnichannel customer interactions a reality.
