Expresso users value the control, security and ease of operations that comes from consolidating their omnichannel customer communications on one platform. Not only do you eliminate the inefficiencies and effort of juggling different vendors for print, email and text, but you have the flexibility and power to easily satisfy customer communications preferences and deliver personalized messaging, offers and interactions.
Now imagine the advantages of managing your entire cycle of billing communications and payments from one dashboard.
Making billing and payments a seamless operation propels company productivity and performance. More than that, it can simplify and streamline your efforts to improve key steps in the customer journey, strengthening the overall customer experience.
According to 2021 IBM research of 3,000 CEOS, 60% of outperformers say developing a better customer experience is their top priority while 55% of those outperformers say their second priority is building stronger customer relationships. Customers agree—79% of 12,000 consumers say CX is as important as quality in purchasing decisions and three out of four (76%) say they expect consistent interactions across departments, according to 2020 Salesforce research.
How connecting billing and payments drives CX
Few processes play a bigger role in making or breaking a customer relationship than billing and payments. For vacation owners, customers, and patients, billing and payments continue long after the courtship and sale, financial agreement or treatment phases. For mortgages, annual fees, and other financial obligations, these interactions can last for years or decades.
How people are treated during the billing and payments process affects everything from repeat business, referrals, and retention rates to social media reviews. It can even affect getting paid: Nearly 25% of hospital patients who were very dissatisfied with the billing process didn’t pay anything toward their medical bills, according to a 2018 Connance survey of 500 consumers.
Integration boosts business results
Connecting customer communications management, print/mail and electronic delivery and digital payments technology can make the process smoother, easier and more personalized for consumers. For billers, it improves consistency, collaboration, and compliance.
The benefits are particularly pronounced when companies use Expresso and ExpressoPay, our electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) solution:
- More secure. Improve security and lower risk by sharing customer data with just one solutions provider instead of multiple vendors.
- Seamless bill presentment. Any statements created and sent in Expresso are automatically presented in ExpressoPay so customer service reps and customers can view current or archived statements while making online payments. This e-presentment feature is fully integrated between the two and doesn’t require any IT development and integration as with other payment processing systems that are not connected with billing communications.
- Consolidated reporting. View, produce and analyze integrated billing and payment reports, including payments made through ExpressoPay and IVR, on the Expresso dashboard. Instead of needing to generate and reconcile two reports, the integrated system produces a single report on balance, accounts receivables, IVR dropped calls and a host of other data.
- Influence customer behavior. Easily coordinate messaging on transactional documents about electronic payments, such as encouraging automatic deductions for installment loans or offering payment plans for large and unexpected healthcare balances. An integrated communications and payments platform provides omnichannel touchpoints throughout the billing cycle to engage customers, such as sending due date reminders that encourage prompt payments, marketing offers and digital payment confirmation receipts.
- Capture channel preference changes. When customers pay online at ExpressoPay, they can self-select new communications preferences, such as switching to ebilling. Customers that pay online have a higher propensity to opt-in for digital statements while reducing the biller’s print and postage costs.
Integrating CCM and payments technology also enables companies to personalize offers, communications and interactions. More than half, or 52%, of people expect companies to always personalize offers, up from 48% in 2019, Salesforce found.
Better billing and payments = Better CX
Once you’ve added a customer, it’s the billing and payments process that plays a pivotal role in how satisfied that customer remains. By integrating billing communications and payments, you create an immediate platform for improving that customer experience through frictionless billing and payments that offer convenient omnichannel options and more personalized interactions. This often-overlooked touchpoint is an ideal opportunity to engage customers each and every month.
Contact us to learn more about the benefits of integrating your communications and payments.