No e-mail address, no bill

A key challenge for an organisation embarking on an e-billing drive is the acquisition and storage of that all-important, enabling piece of information - the customer`s e-mail address. For some, this process represents a potential stumbling block made up of numerous tasks affecting different areas of the business.

Put together, the sub-challenges can appear to add up to a huge project. But tackled one by one in a logical process, the tasks become manageable.

An important point to understand is that there are two objectives:
1) Getting addresses from brand new customers.
2) Getting addresses for current customers.

Let`s start with the first objective: changing registration or sign-up processes for new customers to include getting their e-mail contact details. Identify all of the customer entry points into the business, and make sure that each process gets amended to include a request for the e-mail address. This could mean amending the physical registration or contract forms, the Web sign-up or even the process that field operatives follow.

Fortunately, e-mail billing provides fast, definitive reporting on the success or failure of the delivery.

Alison Treadaway, Striata sales and marketing director

To get a step ahead, don`t just ask for the e-mail address during registration. Also get permission to communicate with this new customer electronically, and ask them specifically to sign up for electronic billing. It`s wise to also get their mobile phone number and permission to communicate by SMS, as text messaging can be used to great value in integrated electronic communication programs.

On to the second objective: gathering e-mail addresses from current customers. Identify all the customer touch points and make sure each process includes asking for their e-mail address. This includes training sales and account management people, customer care centre staff, the accounts team and anyone else who interacts with the customer.

Again, when you put a program in place to achieve this goal, don`t ask just for the e-mail address, but also for permission to communicate (and bill!) electronically.

The next challenge is storing the e-mail address. This may seem simple to organisations that have relatively new customer information systems (just add a database field) - but to those with legacy systems, this is often easier said than done. The primary goal is to create the appropriate fields in the customer information database to record the e-mail address, and if possible, to record the e-bill indicator and electronic communication permission. If the company`s legacy system does not allow for this, then a standalone profile database should be created that simply holds a unique identifier for the customer, plus e-mail address and communication preferences.

The next goal is to make this information available in the statement and invoice run to be used as the billing address. Should this not be possible (and it often isn`t), the two data sets can be extracted separately, and merged during the e-billing process.

Of course, when the e-mail address is added to the compulsory customer information fields, there must be a clear and easy process to update this field. If there is already a customer-driven process to update contact details on the Web, then adding the e-mail address should be simple. It is also good practice to train customer care teams to check vital contact details (such as physical or e-mail billing address) each time they engage with the customer.

But by taking a reactive stance to updating e-mail addresses, the result may be that the delivery rate of bills steadily decreases over time as e-mail addresses become outdated. Fortunately, e-mail billing provides fast, definitive reporting on the success or failure of the delivery. With this information available shortly after the e-bill run is completed, the customer can be contacted to update their details on the system, thereby ensuring that the bill reaches the correct destination.

Adapting the business to include electronic billing means not only some technical amendments, but also process changes, staff training and updating documentation. The cost of these interventions should be easily recovered in the first months of the e-bill program, assuming that the normal paper bill is suppressed to achieve the cost savings offered by electronic billing.