It was great to be back in person and present at Document Strategy Forum ’22 (DSF). This premier event for the customer communications management (CCM) industry, held April 4-6 in Chicago, focused using communications to improve customer experience.
Key Takeaway #1: Technology delivers critical value at every stage of CCM maturity.
- Digitally transform and automate customer correspondence. We talked to plenty of companies looking to invest in a CCM system. They want to eliminate siloed systems and data and manual processes. Consolidating customer communications on a shared CCM platform could revolutionize their productivity and efficiency to free up time for new priorities.
- Expand multichannel outreach. Now that they’ve streamlined document composition, some companies are eager to add email, text and mobile wallet delivery options that cater to consumer preferences.
- Enhance personalization. With a multichannel strategy in place, executives looked to leverage communications technology to strengthen customer satisfaction and build relationships. Nordis led a session on this topic with our client Tom Donovan, principal solutions consultant for payments giant ACI Worldwide. We showed how personalizing messaging and delivery channels accelerate payments and increase positive responses to other calls to action.
Key Takeaway #2: Companies need a digital-first and especially a mobile-first approach to communications.
People are doing more personal and professional business on their smartphones. It’s no longer enough to use responsive design and adaptive content so documents fit on small screens. Companies need to utilize their CCM systems to put mobile channels front and center when developing, designing and targeting customer communications.
One fast-growing option that ACI and Nordis highlighted at DSF is the mobile wallet delivery option via Apple Wallet and Google Pay found on virtually all modern smartphones. We featured proven use cases including insurance member cards, claims tracking, billing statements and due-date notifications with links to payment portals. For 30 million payment notifications, ACI found that among consumers who tapped the link to pay on the same day they received the mobile wallet alert:
- 25% did so within 45 seconds.
- 60% did so within four minutes.
Key Takeaway #3: CCM leaders are moving from documents to experiences.
Keynote speaker Kaspar Roos, founder and CEO of Aspire Customer Communications Services, made the case that the natural progression of content and communications is experiences, especially digital ones. Emerging technologies including natural language processing and artificial intelligence will elevate the strategic importance of these customer interactions, moving them from “dumb” print and digital communications to real-time, meaningful digital conversations, he said.
One step along the continuum, available today, is interactive personalized video (IPV). According to Richard Huff of Madison Advisors, IPV solutions generate unique videos on demand and customize them to each consumer with real-time data, such as account balances. IPVs are particularly helpful for complex interactions, such as choosing and signing up for an insurance plan.
Keeping communications customer-centered
It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of new technologies, including those on display at DSF. But it’s important to start with what customers want, need and expect. The springboard is versatile technology that enables different consumers to get the experience of their choice, from mail to mobile.
