“It’s not who you are, it’s who you know.” “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” “You are what you wear!” They sound superficial, but these throw-away lines may hold the key to talking to your customer most effectively.

We talked last time about learning who the customer is for the intended communication, and why it is important. Now that you have begun the task of identifying the customers, their common characteristics, which types of customers drive the most top line and bottom line revenue, and the profile of customers that you would prefer to fire, let’s look at how to turn that into an effective conversation.

Remember that the goal is to turn every communication with the customer, including every bill and statement, into an ongoing conversation that reduces customer churn and encourages wider participation in the products and services offered. We can start by ensuring that what the customer receives is easy for them to understand. Sadly, many documents fail this basic test.

Have you ever looked at a bill and realized that you couldn’t tell what had been purchased? Have you ever called a customer service hotline to report a billing problem and discovered that most of what is on your bill is useless to the customer service person? These are examples of communication that is not effective.

Every part of the customer experience, from the point of opening the envelope or online document to the point of paying the bill or buying another product, should be easy on the customer. Only information the customer needs should be on documents provided to them, which means routing and reference numbers never used can be eliminated, and an attempt to communicate about the relationship with charts and text should be added.

The goal is to only send documents to customers, regardless of the medium, that inform, intrigue, and engage. Any moment spent struggling to use an HVTO document puts the biller at risk. After all, there are a lot of banks, insurance companies, financial services providers, and credit card providers ready to take unhappy customers. If your customer struggles to read your bills, find who to call if there is a problem and find out how to do business with you, they have every reason to move on.

Do a quick evaluation of your own customer communication. Are the type sizes easy to read for an average 40+ person? Can you quickly find the payment date and payment options? Is there easy navigation of the document to locate opportunities to do more business? If you can not answer affirmatively to all of these, it’s time to think about working with a designer to create more effective communication.

Also, take a hard look at your use of color. Is it limited to the logo? Are there a few horizontal or vertical lines? It’s time to rethink!  Color should be your navigation aid. Help your customers understand your relationship with you and the color pays for itself in reduced call center costs, slower churn and more opportunity to use the color to market and upsell.

Come back next time when we take the next step. And, don’t forget. This is a dialogue. Send your questions, ideas, concerns and challenges, and let’s make it a conversation.