Customer communication in the 21st century

Increasingly, sophisticated customers expect more when receiving communications from businesses.
​Now, people want different forms of communication: sometimes print, sometimes digital and at other times in a cross-channel format. A degree of agility is required, which makes the once relatively simple method of getting in touch with customers a more complex process than ever before.

Maximise your resources

You may expect large organisations to have the manpower to deal with complex communications. But the reality may be different, particularly when different divisions are involved – IT for data management, marketing, accounts departments for billing and so on. Meanwhile, smaller organisations may lack the resources to deal with the complexity of customer expectations, especially when it comes to liaising with printers and data sources, formulating the right messages, and then delivering them in a timely fashion. New data protection legislation in the form of GDPR also present new challenges.

Ask the experts

Working with a specialist communications provider can help businesses to formulate innovative, relevant and personalised messages for their customers, whether they are delivered through one or multiple channels.

Even businesses with in-house provision are finding it more efficient to outsource not only print but all communication production in order to access the latest technology and enjoy advances in speed, quality and cost reduction.

Providers can access customer data and use it to provide the most relevant documents. Personalised brochures, for instance, can be produced that are tailored to each individual customer, containing the key information and offers relevant to them.

The right partner will manage the entire process, whether producing the most sophisticated, personalised print documents, delivering multi-channel messages across digital and email platforms, or handling in-bound responses from consumers.

Such companies can operate as an extension of their client, with an account manager or dedicated team on-site to manage communications, freeing up resources to concentrate on their core business. Alternatively, it may be possible to establish a ‘self-serve’ option where once a system is set up, businesses can then operate it themselves without the involvement of a third party.

Simplifying the whole process can bring all requirements from different departments together to ensure all messages are on-brand and offer operational and cost savings. Valuable employee time is no longer spent printing out a letter or composing an email campaign, while using one print supplier can reduce production costs.

Entire databases can also be managed to the highest standards of secure practice – particularly important with the introduction of GDPR.

In summary

Outsourcing customer communications can ensure a coherent, all-inclusive service covering all channels, from personalised printed communications to managing and securing databases. Leading companies will employ the very latest technology to create on-brand, engaging messages delivered across multiple channels, while analysing customer responses and delivering full legal compliance.