Optimizing The Paperless Trail

There’s more to going paperless than cost savings. Paperless, reinvented, can serve as a channel for brands to reach consumers in an entirely different (and captivating) way. Chuck Cordray, CEO of Inlet, joined MPD CEO Karen Webster to offer a glimpse into how digital delivery can change how companies digitally engage with their customers and improve both the top and bottom lines.

Despite the fact that moving from traditional paper-based delivery to digital channels is a significant cost-saver for companies, the adoption of paperless billing and statements is stalling.

According to Cordray, the source of the problem is simple: Companies may be shifting toward digital document delivery, but they still aren’t solving their consumers’ true pain point.

Digitally minded consumers are inundated with electronic communications from multiple sources, and what they desire is a single place where those digital documents can be managed, Cordray explained. The key to getting this right goes beyond just delivering paperless bills and statements; it requires supporting a digital mailbox where all of these communications can be delivered conveniently to the consumer.

It also means digitally meeting the consumer exactly where they want their bills and statements delivered, whether it’s through their online banking site or one of the many cloud-based offerings.

“About half of consumers want this to happen within their bank, and half want it across everything else. So, a part of what we do is we manage all those connections, so a single company — for example, a credit card company — doesn’t have to do a dozen integrations so they can support Dropbox, Amazon Cloud, Evernote, banking sites and all of the array of options,” Cordray said.

“Inlet manages the technology and security that connects a company, a company’s documents and their customer service support information to a consumer’s preferred destination,” he added.

Cordray said the goal is to help companies make distributing a paperless bill or statement to the consumer a much more interactive and engaging experience.

As MPD CEO Karen Webster noted, in many cases, paper-based communications can still serve an important purpose, such as physically reminding a consumer to pay a bill, which can be especially helpful when electronic inboxes become overwhelmingly full.

Inlet’s technology platform enables its partners to customize and format the notifications their consumers receive based on the digital destination or channel they prefer. This may come in the form of an SMS message on a mobile device noting the minimum amount due or an email message alerting the due date for an upcoming statement; it’s all about ensuring convenience to the consumer.

The creation of the digital mailbox can also reduce the issue of consumers having to manage multiple passwords for multiple destinations, while also simplifying the ability to pay, track and manage bills and statements from one place.

“It’s really all tied to having that digital relationship with a consumer,” Cordray pointed out. “Most research says consumer satisfaction is much higher when they have a robust digital experience.”

While paperless delivery can help companies save on paper and postage, which are both tangible and impactful, Cordray made it clear that the biggest benefit comes from a brand being able to support a stronger digital solution and relationship with its consumers off its own site.

“Being able to replicate the interaction that happens on their own website on third-party sites, like banks and cloud destinations, enables a company to really expand that reach of the digital relationship,” Cordray said.

To learn more about the right digital strategies for keeping a brand top of mind for consumers and supporting a company’s multichannel distribution strategy, join the upcoming live digital discussion presented by Inlet CEO Chuck Cordray and VP/GM Chris Johnson and hosted by MPD CEO Karen Webster.

To attend this live digital discussion on February 2, 2016, at 1:00 P.M. (EST) please complete the registration form shown below.