businessinfomag.uk
magazine
34
COVER STORY
This summer, many UK holiday
makers will have checked-in and then
boarded their flight with a simple
flash of their smartphone. Not for
them, the inconvenience of printed
tickets and paper boarding cards;
instead, the wave of an on-screen
barcode downloaded to an app or
sent as a link in a text message.
This is just one example of how
digitisation is transforming the
customer experience and the business
processes on which such interactions
are built.
When it comes to digitisation,
people often focus on paper-savings
– the use of web forms instead of
printed ones; scanning to reduce filing
requirements and the amount of paper
circulating in a business; electronic
bills and statements to save print and
postage costs; using a smartphone to
capture and process receipts and other
travel expenses.
Such steps will help businesses save
money and improve efficiency. However,
in adopting these measures,
it is important not to lose
sight of the customer
– especially when it
comes to customer
communications.
Replacing paper
with digital files
might work for you,
but is it what your
customers want?
Yes, some will like
the immediacy of an
email, but others might feel
more comfortable receiving printed
communications. Some will respond
instantly to an e-shot; others will prefer
to receive direct mail that they can give
their full attention to when they have
more time.
In a recent Royal Mail study,
Smart
Marketing for Small Businesses
, almost
half (46%) of SMEs surveyed said they
use direct mail for marketing purposes.
Of these, three quarters believe it
delivers a good return on investment.
Satisfy your customers
For some, postal communications have
an emotional dimension that digital
alternatives lack. Many of the 4,000
Armed Forces personnel serving overseas
like to send physical letters to loved ones
back in the UK. In the interests of morale
and well-being, the MoD enables them
to do this, while also offering a choice of
digital channels.
Significantly, support for printed
communications doesn’t require the
MoD to maintain a slow, inefficient
paper-based process alongside secure
internet calls and email. Instead, a hybrid
mail system by Neopost makes use of
digital technology to provide a better
and more cost-effective way to send
postal communications.
Service personnel with internet
access can now type letters up to eight
pages in length – a vast improvement
on the old one-page ‘e-blueys’ – and
upload high definition photographs and
scanned documents from anywhere in
the world for printing and mailing
in the UK.
Offer a choice of media
For Phil Hutchison,
Marketing Director,
Neopost Limited, this
application highlights
a number of key points
about digitisation
and customer
communications.
“First, it shows the
importance of offering a choice of
communication channels. The MoD
does this in the interests of morale and
welfare. For commercial organisations,
having the flexibility to meet people’s
preferences can strengthen customer
relationships, improve satisfaction levels
and lead to more business,” he said.
“Secondly, it demonstrates how
Neopost has produced a new guide explaining how businesses can
improve their customer communications by integrating printed and digital
communications. Here, we look at some of the ways in which the company
is helping customers improve the efficiency of key business processes by
breaking down the barriers between paper and electronic documents
The benefits of integrating
mail and email
digitisation can address the shortcomings
of an existing paper-based process, not
by replacing it with a digital alternative
but by using digital technologies to make
it better. In this case, the new hybrid mail
system lets service personnel send longer
letters, high quality photographs and
scanned documents.
“Thirdly, it shows how digitisation
makes it possible to improve a service
and cut costs at the same time – the
MoD is anticipating savings in the region
of £500,000.Whatever reason Neopost
customers have for embarking on a
digitisation project, many are delighted
by the ripple effect of their investment.
A document management system
introduced to speed up document
storage and retrieval might free up space
for a new meeting room. Likewise, an
e-invoicing system introduced to save
money on printing and postage could
help you get paid faster and improve
cash flow.”
Talk to the experts
Neopost has been meeting the
communication challenges of its
customers for more than 90 years.
During this time, it has continued to
expand its product offering to take
advantage of advances in technology.
Today, in addition to its established
mailing productivity solutions, its
portfolio includes a range of solutions
and services for automating key
processes at every stage of the
lifecycle for inbound and outbound
communications. These include output
management software, e-invoicing
solutions, scanning and electronic
document management systems,
£
Whatever
reason Neopost
customers have
for embarking
on a digitisation
project, many
are delighted
by the ripple
effect of their
investment
