Apr 22, 2008
Protect ROI for Mergers and Acquisitions by Minimizing Document Consolidation Costs
Document correspondence systems are one way to streamline the process of customer communication during a merger process. Web-based tools, such as the Elixir Correspondence System, can ensure that each document is formatted appropriately to the customer by managing individual document elements such as logos/graphics, messaging, and legal notices. These systems allow document generation from any authorized desktop allowing both companies to work with their customers from a single system.
One of the benefits of merging companies together is the value brought by gaining access to the customer base of the acquired company. One important factor in making the most of this benefit is clear communication to customers from all the participating companies. If customers are confused about what’s happening or unclear about the affect on them personally, it could cause some to switch to another vendor.
Documents are an important communication method between companies and customers and the merging of all customer communications between multiple organizations can be an expensive management challenge. The potential costs of managing the process of customer communication along with possible customer attrition if communications are not timely can together really take a bite out what should be (could be!) an important ROI factor.
In many cases, each company’s systems are maintained in parallel for some time as the two organizations standardize and fully merge into one system. And though this may be required for certain business processes, there are definite costs and ROI risks associated with maintaining disparate systems for document communications and production.
Following are some areas that highlight the value of a document correspondence system sitting on top of merger activities linking multiple companies together while allowing each to operate separately when and for as long as needed.
Communicating Change
Using the example of Company A acquiring Company B, each customer base (A and B) needs to be informed during the process but they should not be treated (at this stage) as one new body of customers. Instead, creating different messages for each group provides the opportunity to speak to each differently and specifically. Company B customers will ultimately see the most significant change since a new company will be servicing their account.
Some things that are of specific interest to Company B customers include:
- how this change will affect their current products/services
- what new products/services will be offered
- what if any processes will change i.e. customer support
Most likely Company A customers could be kept in the loop differently. For example, while there may not be new products and services for them, there could be a wider network of available locations. Banks, for example, can offer additional branches, retail stores additional locations to shop, etc.
Systems that can manage individual document elements easily bring the greatest amount of flexibility when communicating to two such different groups.
Transitional Branding and Messaging
During the acquisition it may be required that documents reflect the status of the business process such as during the merger as opposed to afterward. There may even be potential situations that need to be considered and planned for.
Rather than pre-printing documents for a “just in case” scenario, a correspondence system provides the ability to essentially “front load” the system with all the potential legal statements and logos that might be needed. Each legal statement can carry a wealth of metadata that determines when and if it needs to become part of a 
document. This provides for potential scenarios without requiring up front printing which would be discarded if not used and a cost that can be avoided.
Systems that support versioning of the individual elements used in the document allow companies to be prepared for any scenario without commitment to pre-printing documents.
Enabling Customer Support
The ability for the customer support team from Company A to field questions from Company B customers (and vice versa) can make the merger more transparent. Online document correspondence systems can serve up a variety of templates that can be used during a conversation with the customer. The document can be formatted in real-time during a call and then mailed or made available via the web immediately. Establishing different approval workflows can also speed up the learning curve for customer support teams. For example, when Company B customer support is working with Company A customers it might warrant a different and perhaps tighter approval process since Company A is not working with their original customer base.
Systems that grant access and permissions across a variety of users allow staff from multiple companies to participate in the day-to-day business activities at a higher efficiency rate.
Provide Valuable Audit/Tracking Reports
There are two sides to reporting on the process; one is understanding what occurred from the overall document standpoint - knowing which document was sent and what it included. The other is tracking how many times and where an individual element (i.e. a text message) is used. Providing a method to see exactly what communications are being sent including the document type, individual components, and the method of distribution gives the company the ability to see their combined document correspondence in the big picture.
Systems that allow individual elements (including the document type) to be flagged as to when and where they’re used provide the means for the greatest detail of reporting on what actually happened.
Solutions like the Elixir Correspondence System can help keep costs low when integrating multiple document-related systems by providing a centralized structure for managing disparate activities.
Allowing content to be leveraged across documents from multiple companies could reduce some of the related management issues by as much as 50 percent.
Communicating a change like this effectively to each customer and increasing the chance that they’ll continue their relationship with the company?
You guessed it. Priceless.