Get More Out of Your Transactional Customer Documents

Improve the Impact of Transactional Customer Statements

Transactional customer documents are an integral part of any business. They give your company valuable access to speak directly to your customers regularly. Whether you handle your monthly transactional statements in-house or work with a print-mail vendor like FSSI, understanding the anatomy and true value of a statement, bill, invoice or marketing letters can help you maximize the value of each interaction you have with each customer.

We have almost 40 years of experience with layout, whitespace management, personalization and call-to-action optimized design elements. We’ve seen what works and what doesn’t.

To help you create the most impactful communications, we’ve put together a simple, but effective document design checklist that will almost immediately help you identify how to improve the impact and usability of statements, bills, invoices, and other marketing communication efforts. Even everyday letters and notices can benefit from these time-proven layouts and design insights.

Where to Start?

For best results, we recommend approaching document design from the customers’ perspective. Be honest and objective. Put yourself in their shoes and view each page as if for the very first time. If you believe customers would respond positively to the current content and layout, you’re probably on the right track.

Effective Customer Document Design Elements

There are six essential elements of a perfect document that will both enrich the customer experience and increase the value of each document to your communication and marketing efforts:

• Intended Purpose: Is the document meant to summarize information, encourage payment remittance, or fulfill a compliance requirement? How well is it doing so? Could a simple message, graphic, or color highlighting important information enhance the intended purpose and increase the value of the document to your business?
• Age: When was the document last reviewed or improved? By today’s standards, does it seem old or dated? Does it feature the latest logo and/or corporate branding scheme?
• Layout: Does the information seem cramped or cluttered?  Does it flow logically and seamlessly from one section to the next? Is everything easy to find and understand?
• Content: Does it contain all the information customers would reasonably expect? Can anything be taken out or added to improve their reading experience?
• Color: Are you selectively using color to emphasize or draw attention to vital information, such as transaction dates, account balances, payment due dates, and amounts due? Are you using color ink (vs. black) to enliven on-page graphics or imagery? Doing so can bring them to life and increase reader engagement.
• Voice: (if using on-page messaging): Though an economical and effective method of educating, cross-selling and upselling, not all companies use on-page messaging (aka text or copy). However, if you do, make sure the voice is clear, friendly, accurate and informative.

The value of a well-designed statement, bill, invoice or marketing letter is real and not just marketing hype. Compliant production, digital color, and customer understanding can all increase the business value of your documents. Transform customer-facing financial statements, documents, and marketing mail beyond merely fulfilling their original intended purpose. Below are five document layout design tips that make your customer documents better.

Using Document Design to Improve Your Customer Experience

Whether you use in-house resources or work with a document outsourcing company like FSSI, this simple but effective checklist will almost immediately help you identify how to improve the impact and usability of statements, bills, and invoices. Even everyday letters and notices can benefit from these time-proven customer document design best practices.

For best results, FSSI recommends assessing documents from your customers’ perspectives. Be honest and objective. Put yourself in their shoes and view each page as if for the very first time. If you believe customers would respond positively to the current content and layout, you’re probably on the right track.

Document Design Best Practices

1. Utilize white space: Include all the important information, but don’t overwhelm customers with too much text. White space helps customers better retain information.
2. Don’t waste space: Every single inch of a customer document is valuable; don’t waste any space by repeating messages.
3. Keep it simple: Simplify your messaging, remove duplicate fields, redundant text, and focus on your company’s target message. Keeping things simple leaves space to add marketing messages, coupons, announcements, and other calls to action.
4. Maintain consistency: By keeping these elements consistent across all communication channels in the new omnichannel world we now live in, gives your customers a seamless experience across all platforms, making it easy for them to quickly find the information they are looking for.
5. Use a readable font: This seems simple enough, but many make the wrong choice.

Advantages of Well-Designed Transactional Customer Documents

• They get read
• They are understood
• The help the reader to process the information presented
• They prompt action on important messages

Sending out monthly mailings to your customers can be costly. Well-designed documents result in the most effective communication and maximize the value of each document that goes out.

Free consultation, before-and-after samples

For an objective second opinion about any of your current documents contact an FSSI Marketing Communications Specialist today. This includes layout, color use, whitespace management or copywriting. We have a seasoned staff of in-house graphic designers, writers, programmers, and color experts ready to help. They’ll work with you to improve customer document management value and performance. You may also request samples from our before-and-after archive. We’ve worked with several different companies including banks, credit unions, insurance companies, the healthcare industry and other businesses in the financial services sector.

Importance of Clear Communication in Customer Documents

The old saying goes that you only get one chance to make a first impression. That is never truer than when it comes to marketing communications. Not utilizing proven design optimizations and call-to-action strategies can cost your company valuable business. Document design is a lot like your wardrobe. You wouldn’t want your wardrobe screaming old-fashioned and out-of-date, and stuck in the 80’s, (maybe kids nowadays might disagree) so why should your monthly mailings be any different?

A statement, bill, invoice, direct mailer, or even a compliance letter is a valuable opportunity to communicate with the people who drive your business. Even a few small, seemingly simple changes to your design, layout, and color usage can drastically improve your response rates, increase ROI, and transform your customer engagement and retention efforts.

Elements of a clear communication strategy:

• Plain language
• Psychology
• Graphic design
• Usability
• Context considerations, like personalization

Combining Transactional and Marketing Strategies

There are many missed marketing opportunities when it comes to transactional mail. By combining your transactional and marketing efforts can be an effective way to get more bang for your marketing buck. Many of our clients have taken advantage technological advances like variable data printing, multichannel advertising with Direct Mail 2.0, eStatements, and SMS integration to streamline their customer communications campaigns.

Looks Do Matter: Free Consultation, Before-and-After Samples

Looks do matter, especially to the younger generations of Generation Z and Millennials. Are all your documents only printed in black and white? This may seem like an unimportant detail to some companies, but our eyes are drawn to color. We are all surrounded by a vast amount of information every day of our lives. The importance of cutting through the digital and informational noise has never been more important than it is right now. Without something to set your information apart like color, you may find that people easily skip right past the key points of the document.

For example, FSSI’s Color Specialists add variable color to black-and-white statements to highlight the most important messages. By adding color, the important information “pops,” and stands out, to the reader. “Billing Due Dates” are a great example of where to add variable color to a customer statement. The reader’s eyes can immediately find the information they are looking for. Consequently, when customers don’t have to scan the entire document for important info, they take action faster.

Next Steps

For an objective second opinion about any of your current documents including layout, color use, whitespace management, or copywriting/content – contact an FSSI Marketing Services Specialist today. We have a seasoned staff of designers, writers, programmers, and color experts in-house. They’re ready to help you improve your overall customer experience. You may also request samples from our before-and-after archive. Click to see a list of industries served, including credit unions, auto finance, banks, and other financial institutions.

Creating a balance in your statement design is essential to your overall customer communications strategy. Make sure you are getting the most out of your documents. We can show the steps today to take your document design to the next level. Contact us today 714.436.3300. For more information about document design best practices check out our Document Value Checklist post to see new ways to increase the value of each of your customer documents.

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