With outsourced printing and mailing services, efficiency is achievable and sustainable. Streamlined workflows cut out the waste and get letters in the mail stream on time.

Running an In-Plant Is Expensive

The capital needed to run, maintain, and scale print and mail is considerable, and costs are rising. These expenses include:

• Material costs: In this category are costs for paper, ink, and toner. Paper has the highest price tag. Most companies don’t have the volume necessary to receive the best rates. Print and mail companies do and often have special contracts with suppliers.
• Equipment and technology: Inkjet printers, intelligent inserters, and technology to steer workflows and accuracy are huge capital expenditures in the seven-digit range. Additionally, there’s the cost to maintain and upgrade. Costs from physical servers on-site and software add to this expense category.
• Labor: Skilled workers to operate your in-plant are another considerable cost. Because of the time factor in compliance communications, overtime may be a norm that increases this budget item.
• Postage: Postage costs will increase again this year, and it’s hard for a single company to qualify for the best rates or take advantage of postage optimization strategies, including pre-sorting, commingling, address hygiene, and other volume discounts.
• Overhead operational costs: The final area of costs is the infrastructure to run an in-plant, including rent, energy, utilities, and security.

You can realize significant cost savings by outsourcing.

The Cost Savings of Outsourced Print and Mail

All the expenses listed above will no longer apply. Your provider is responsible for all these costs and has strategic approaches to reducing them. The high volume enables better pricing for materials and postage. Facilities typically run 24/7, so there’s no overtime. All the overhead costs no longer exist, and they own the equipment and technology.

Transactional print and mail are now an operating expense that’s more consistent.

Achieve Cost and Time Savings with Outsourced Print and Mail Services

Cutting costs is part of business. Some benefit you more than others, and outsourcing print and mail delivers so much savings in terms of time and money. You can then take that and reinvest it into other parts of your company to fuel growth.

Make the decision to transition today with the support of our team. We’re experts at turning inefficiency and overspending into efficiency and savings. Contact us today to get started.

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Working with a professional printer that leverages a White Paper Factory (WPF) framework enables personalized messaging. The WPF marries fully digitally composed files with in-line production and intelligent insertion. As a result, dynamic printing allows you to customize messages by customer. This segmentation provides a way to personalize communications that are most relevant, which could be introducing more services or promoting specific programs.

You also can avoid pre-printing of templates and inserts with the WPF.

Are Mainframe Systems an Issue for Improving Bill Design?

You may think you won’t be able to take advantage of retooling statement layouts because of your use of mainframe systems. If you’re using this to produce invoices, you know the limitations. However, they don’t impact the ability to revamp bills. You’ll send the data to your printer, and they’ll apply it to your new layout.

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How Do Quality and Accuracy Improve with Outsourcing Utility Billing?

Quality and accuracy are essential in transactional mail. They are the priority of your operations, and you don’t want to compromise either. You’ll be glad to hear that professionals take both very seriously.

The best print and mail companies incorporate quality into all they do, leveraging things like Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. They also focus on quality assurance versus quality control, baking it into the process with standard works that they continue to audit and improve.

These practices support accuracy, as well, but there’s more. Accuracy is dependent upon the correct bills going into the right envelopes. It seems simple enough, but it’s a complex process. We’ve developed a method called LetterDNA.

It involves intelligent insertion with 2D barcodes, the USPS Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb), and high-speed cameras to track documents from production to USPS delivery. Integrity cameras read each 2D barcode to check that each letter folds separately into the envelope. Another camera takes an image of the inserted envelope to validate the correct insertion. These practices result in our industry-leading accuracy rating of 99.9999%.

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Will Outsourcing Protect Compliance or Create More Risk?

Compliance is a pillar of any transactional print and mail company because it’s part of every production run. Being compliant in operations includes the basics of certifications regarding regulations and rules. The best companies go much further, ensuring they’re central to all processes and workflows. You’ll have an audit trail of every piece of mail to demonstrate this. We also have a full-time compliance officer whose sole focus is to address and minimize risk.

How Complicated Is Transitioning to Outsourcing?

Moving from in-house operations to a partner can be challenging. We have extensive experience doing this for organizations with a proven plan that would include assessing your current in-plant, identifying gaps, delivering recommendations for improvement, and defining an implementation timeline.

We have dedicated resources to support this migration and thoroughly test and adjust processes to ensure accuracy, quality, and compliance.

Do You Have Additional Questions about Outsourcing Utility Bill Printing?

If you’re considering outsourcing your utility statements, we’re glad to answer any questions and provide you with expectations. Contact us today to get started.

A Higher Quality Statement Leads to Customer Engagement

If you haven’t redesigned your statements in some time, you likely aren’t getting much customer engagement. Beyond communicating usage and the amount due, your utility bill can do much more.

With a new modern design, you can create spaces for custom messages to customers. They are all variable with dynamic printing. Use that section to replace inserts. The content can change every billing cycle. For example, you can include messaging about conserving energy or water during peak months. Another option is to add communications about programs the utility offers.

Updating your statements and personalizing messaging are benefits to outsourcing utility bills.

Enhance Compliance and Reduce Risk

Outsourcing utility bill statements can improve compliance with regulations. The caveat is working with a partner that does more than the minimum. Compliance will be top of mind always, supported by technology, processes, protocols, and a chief compliance officer. When considering options, ask questions about accuracy rates, compliance certifications, and what their procedures include.

Cut Costs and Reduce Internal Strain

Last but not least is the money savings you can realize by outsourcing. The cost for you to do this continues to go up with material, equipment, and postage increasing. You can track this by looking at your expense to process a single invoice. Shrinking that number is possible by outsourcing.

When you choose this model, you no longer have to be responsible for the space, equipment, technology, or labor. Your partner takes on these responsibilities, and you have an operating expense only. With their ability to buy materials in bulk and use postage optimization tactics, the costs drop.

Like any organization, reducing costs is critical to healthy operations. This is one aspect that you can hand off to decrease internal strains on budgets and resources.

Outsourced Utility Billing with PCI Group

Outsourced utility billing can be simple, easy, and beneficial with PCI Group. We work with many utility companies to provide this service, decreasing their costs and boosting quality and accuracy. You can trust our experienced team to take over this task. Contact us today to see how we serve utility companies.

Commingling Groups Like Mail for Savings

Commingling involves combining and organizing mailing by zip codes to qualify for volume and other postal discounts. Since we produce large quantities of mailings every day that have zip code overlap, we can use this tactic to reduce postage and delivery costs.

USPS Postage Promotions

USPS offers postage promotions every year. We regularly monitor these to ensure we take advantage of these deals. Here are some examples:

• Earned Value Reply Mail Promotion: This offer is a credit for eligible businesses who use IMbs on their Business Reply Mail® (BRM), Courtesy Reply Mail™ (CRM), and Share Mail® pieces and register their Mailer ID. You receive a credit for every scan during the promotional period. Currently, it’s $0.02.
• Personalized Color Promotion Discount: By using color, dynamic print, and personalization on statements and letters, USPS will reward you. It enhances the communication for the end-user, and the current discount is 2% off.

Electronic Return Mail

Return mail equals wasted postage. While address scrubbing eliminates much of this, you’ll still receive return mail. However, it’s possible to manage this electronically and update the address database. A digital file of Change of Address (COA) and Undeliverable as Addressed (UAA) is created in this process. We match that to our tracking database and can then manage revisions in real-time when possible, saving money on postage from incorrect addresses.

Standardization of Mail Sizes

The size and shape of a letter impact its cost to send. It’s a good idea to standardize this. Most transactional mail is a #10 envelope, but sometimes they are larger, depending on the contents. We work with our customers to ensure they get the best price while also maintaining the integrity of their mailings.

Paper Stock Weight

The weight of the paper you print on also contributes to postal fees. There was an increase in maximum weight for automation letters to 3.5 ounces, which offers more flexibility. We use a white paper factory method for printing, so our stock is always within this range, guaranteeing the best rate.

High-Volume Capabilities Deliver Savings

If you’re managing your own in-plant, your volume is likely decreasing. That’s not the case for transactional printers. Our volume remains steady and rising, so we can qualify for discounts related to volume.

Reduce Postage Costs and Much More with PCI Group

The best way to reduce postage costs is to partner with us. We leverage technology and standard processes that provide us with the best postage rates. We pass those savings on to our customers. In addition to saving on postage, working with us drives so many other savings, too. Explore what those are and learn more about outsourcing with us today.

Display Transactional and Customer Communications in One Document

There are two areas of design for your bills—the transactional part and the communication part. Transactionally speaking, you want it to be easy to confirm:

• Amount currently due
• Due date
• Usage
• Statement period

In considering design for this aspect, you want the relevant information to be bold and readable. Ensure it’s at the top of the statement. You can use boxes to highlight certain things.

The rest of your bill is open as a blank canvas for communicating notices and marketing messages. Because customers connotate trust with a utility bill, they are more likely to read it in full. Additionally, many people hang on to these for reference for tax purposes, so they have a way of sticking around.

Simply slipping in inserts won’t have the same effect, and they’ll likely end up in the recycling bin.

How Can You Enhance Utility Bill Design to Include Marketing Communications?

There are several options when thinking about updating utility bill design to drive marketing messaging. Consider these ideas.

Keep Branding Consistent

As a utility company, you have logos and colors. It’s a good idea to maintain those throughout the bill. If you divert from this, customers may see the content as less trustworthy and consider it to be ad space.

Use Color to Highlight Specific Information

Here’s the chance to use those brand colors to highlight critical information. You may already be using it in the transaction part, but it can work in this section, too. Headlines are the best for color, as they are the most important.

You may also want to use specific colors for different types of messages. For example, you might choose one color for notices about rate changes. Then use another color for special programs customers can sign up for, like those related to energy efficiency.

Create a Layout That’s Easy to Read

The document layout is critical to engagement. If it’s haphazard, people won’t know where to look. Boxing can work in the marketing aspects, and it’s a good idea to keep sections the same size.

Consider how a customer goes through their bill and try to mimic that experience in the layout.

Include Charts for Data Visualization

When you add charts to the statement, it helps people better visualize the information. Providing graphs on usage through the months might be helpful to customers so that they can budget accordingly.

They’ll have a complete understanding of their consumption of water or energy, so they know when they are using the most.

Insert Personalized Messages

With dynamic printing, every bill can be different, depending on the customer. Beyond just the graphs, you can communicate one-to-one here on things that might be useful to that customer.

Targeted messages always get a better response than that which is broad. This is especially helpful for utilities that have multiple products. You can provide special incentives for customers to sign up for other services. You can also track the performance of these messages by using unique phone numbers, emails, or website pages for the customer to visit to inquire.

Add a Clear Call-to-Action

What do you want your customer to do? Most importantly, you want them to remit on time most conveniently, so a CTA that says “Ways to Pay” with the list of options could be helpful.

For other marketing messages, you can have additional CTA’s like “Subscribe Now” or “Learn How to Conserve.” When you provide customers with a clear sign of what to do next, they are certainly more likely to do it.

What Are the Benefits to Better Design?

If you are thoughtful and strategic with your design, you can expect:

• Faster remittance: The information is easy to find and highlighted. You can even track this to see if on-time payments increase after the redesign.
• Happier customers: They’ll feel less frustrated with a professional, clean design that gives them all the information they need.
• Fewer calls to customer service: If you answer customer questions on the statement, they won’t need to call you. Your agents will then have shorter queues and be able to address more significant customer issues.
• Better informed customers: The more you can educate your customers and deliver data to them, the more informed they are, which can lead to paying on time and following your tips on conservation or relevant information.
• More opt-ins for programs or added services: With those dynamic messages in place, customers may be more apt to join programs and add services.

How Will You Enhance Your Utility Bill Design?

Utility bill design doesn’t have to be boring, dull, and dated. With color, great layouts, graphics, and branding, your statement turns into a customer-driven communication.

If you’d like to learn more about modernizing your utility statements and engaging customers, connect with our experts today.

The second trend that applies across the board is the use of dynamic messaging. With the right technology and data sets, you can personalize the messages in your statements. These messages are often marketing-related. In terms of streamlining bill payments, sections could provide information about where they can remit payment and any opportunities, such as the customer activating auto-pay to reduce the bill. This is a popular option for mobile carriers.

Color and personalization can spark engagement, but what about other specific elements?

Define the Options Clearly

Do your customers know all the ways they can pay? Is it clear to them on the statement? Statements can often be clunky and hard to follow for some. By boxing out critical messages, like how to make payments, could make a difference. Make this area stand out with color and design so that the options are immediately visible.

Allow Payers to Remit Fast and Securely with QR Codes

QR codes aren’t new, but they did have a resurgence during the pandemic as a contactless way to access online information. They can also direct customers to personal landing pages where they can easily remit payment. Some options allow users to make a one-time payment without going through registration, which can cause friction.

It’s easy to add these QR codes to your statements in the dynamic sections. To gauge its effectiveness, look at the data on on-time payments and sources after you deploy.

Integrate Digital Wallets with Your Statements

The rise in digital wallet adoption is another byproduct of the pandemic. A report by a procurement intelligence company reported that the mobile wallet adoption rate in the U.S. is currently at 22-25%. Those using them the most are millennials and high-income households.

Digital wallet providers, like Apple Pay and Google Pay, do enable statement management for both you and your customers. This process can streamline bill pay because these apps are native to the devices, requiring no additional downloads. Users also appreciate the near real-time information about their account that’s easy to access.

Support Cash Payers with Unique Barcodes

According to the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), at least 5.4% of U.S. households (approximately 7.1 million) are unbanked, meaning they do not have an account with any financial institution. They are cash payers but still must make payments on various accounts. Paying with cash isn’t easy and requires physically visiting your location to receive such a remittance. This is inconvenient for customers and may impact their ability to pay on time.

There is a simple solution called cash barcodes. It allows users to turn cash payments into digital transactions at participating retailers like convenience, drug, or grocery stores. You receive the digital payment instantly.

Are You Optimizing Your Statements to Streamline Bill Payments?

By leveraging these ideas and opportunities, you could see a stabilization around bill pay remittance. Providing information and options for your customers is critical, so you’ll need a well-designed statement and a transactional print partner with the right equipment and technology to execute. PCI Group is here to help. With decades of experience and the most advanced technology, you can optimize your statements to improve cash flow. Learn more about working with us today.

Outsourcing Doesn’t Mean You Give Up “Control”

When you work with a professional invoice printing and mailing company, you still have controls in place. You are not out of the picture. Rather, you’re part of the ecosystem, except the operational function is no longer on your property or balance sheet.

Your partner takes over production, warehousing, technology, and security of your invoice printing and mailing. However, you’ll have the opportunity to track every piece of mail sent to your customers. Through an application, you can view status reports, process management, add new letters, and view postage costs. There’s complete transparency, so you have full visibility, but the heavy lifting is with the experts.

Invoice Printing and Mailing Represent Your Brand

Another thing to think about in invoice printing and mailing is that the letter you send represents your brand. So how it looks matters. An invoice isn’t solely utilitarian. It should reflect your company’s visual identity with colors, logos, and more.

If your invoices appear outdated or ugly, customers will have a response to this. Even it’s just subconscious; branding does impact perception. You care about your digital branding and user experience. Printed and mailed invoices should be in that same conversation.

When you have a well-designed invoice, which may not be possible without the most advanced inkjet printers, you can begin to see invoices in a new light.

Rethinking the Purpose of Invoice Printing and Mailing

While invoices are transactional mail, they have multiple purposes. The primary one is to receive payment, and a better process could lead to more on-time payments and more stable cash flow.

They are also a means of communication with your customers. You can include messaging that they need to know. That varies depending on the industry. Some examples include advising of water days for utility companies or warning about scams for financial invoices.

The third opportunity for invoices is upselling or cross-selling. We see this as common practice for telecom or cable companies. They often offer multiple services, but customers may only subscribe to one. Through data segmentation, you can put the right messaging in front of the right customers.

Are You Confident in the Accuracy of Your Invoicing?

As noted, accuracy is a pillar for invoicing. It can slip without advanced technology that ensures the right invoice goes in the right envelope. Accuracy also correlates with compliance. Because if your inserter misses something, you could find yourself in breach territory.

The best way to operationalize accuracy and compliance is with the right processes and sophisticated technology. These are non-negotiables in transactional mail.

So, how many errors are you aware of either with your in-plant or provider? What’s a good error rate? Zero would be ideal, but nothing is perfect. A “gold standard” in the industry has been 99.6%, which sounds impressive. Unfortunately, that’s still 4,000 errors in every one million invoices.

You’ll agree that’s not acceptable. What is? Our accuracy rating is 99.9999%. That’s one error for every one million pieces. If you don’t have this level of accuracy, you deserve it.

Down to the Dollars

We touched on the cost savings in the introduction, but any business deciding on invoicing understands this is a driver in decisions. Here are the costs you eliminate or reduce with outsourcing:

• Equipment (i.e., printers, inserters)
• Software to run equipment
• Labor
• Energy and utility
• Postage
• Compliance
• Space
• Materials (i.e., paper, ink, toners)

Those savings quickly add up to be very significant. When you look at the differences in costs, you’ll have money to redistribute to other areas of the business.

The Process Is Easy and Secure

A final note about invoice print and mail revolves around the process. You send your data through encrypted channels to ensure security. While the data is in transit to the machines, it continues to be handled with privacy and security in place.

Then you can customize the messaging, as notated in your data files. We make it very simple for our customers to run invoicing through us, and they appreciate how secure our facilities are and our certification in numerous compliance and regulatory areas. Our objective is to make invoice mailings easy, safe, and compliant.

Invoice Printing and Mailing: Get All the Benefits by Working with an Industry Leading Partner

How you print and mail your invoices matters for so many reasons. Your operations and processes can create opportunities or increase your spend. You’ll be able to reap all the benefits of highly technical and innovative invoice print and mail when you partner with PCI Group. Get in touch today to discuss how we can help.

Mainframes Are Foundational for Utility Companies

As an operating system, for many mainframes play a pivotal role in operations for the utility sector. Until the mid-1990s, mainframes were the only option for data processing. That included payroll, general ledgers, and invoicing. 

Utilities and other industries use mainframes because they are reliable, scalable, and stable. That’s why they use them to host such mission-critical applications. Mainframes continue to evolve and retain the traits that embody consistency. It’s also highly secure, which is critical when dealing with customer and financial information. 

When most people think of mainframes, they think of the “green screen” terminal, but the interfaces now look similar to any applications used on computers. They are often the brains behind the most critical processes of transactions, resource access, database management, and large bandwidth communication. 

While mainframes are vital to the utility business, they do have limitations. For those that use their mainframe system to produce invoices, there’s little room to improve on these. Beyond basic information, there’s no way to update the look or add dynamic details. However, you aren’t without options. With the right mail and print partner, mainframes don’t have to hinder the design of utility bills.

Utility Bill Design: Beyond the Mainframe

Modernizing your utility bill design can deliver many benefits, but you likely haven’t thought of those. It’s hard to imagine what’s possible if you believe you’re stuck in a situation. First, let’s talk about the process of going from mainframe to four-color dynamic printing. It starts with advanced technology that allows print and mail providers to manage your templates. You simply send the data securely in files. 

With the template in place, which can include bright, vibrant design, the data from your files fills the pages, including customer, account, and fees information. The formatting can change, making the bill easier to read and understand, which your customers will appreciate. Instead of just text, you can also insert charts that show usage over time. 

But there’s more. Along with restructuring and revising the pertinent information, you can also include dynamic messages. Those can change based on the customer. The data in the file addresses which content to print. That could include:

• Energy-efficiency program promotion
• Information on solar panels
• Watering schedules for cities that have restrictions.
• Scam alerts.
• Other services you offer that customers don’t currently purchase.
• Announcements on rate changes or other important information. 

These integrated marketing messages and precise ways to present information can positively impact your customer relationships. You may receive payments faster because bills are easier to understand. Customers may be more likely to sign-up for services or promotions. Further, you may have fewer residents breaking usage restrictions. 

Considerations in Redesigning Your Utility Bill

Now that you know you have the freedom to change the bill’s design, what are some best practices? 

• Include the customer’s perspective in the process: You can do this in several ways. If you have a good grasp of a customer persona, start with this. However, it’s not a bad idea to ask for feedback. You can do this on your website, via email, or on social channels. Listen to what customers say they want. Make understanding the bill and any actions receivers need to take easy and simple.
• Create hierarchies of information: When we read anything, we appreciate it when it has visual cues of hierarchy and importance. Using headers, subheaders, and other formatting draws attention to the most vital aspects of the bill. Primary messaging would include consumption, amount due, and due date. Secondary information would be charts, announcements, and marketing messages. 
• Use color and white space: A four-color invoice looks sharp and professional. It will immediately elevate the experience of customers. White space is crucial, too, as it simplifies the layout and enhances readability. It’s hard to read documents with tight text too close together. Spread things out and use your brand colors throughout. 

Ready to Modernize Your Utility Bill Design?

Now that you know mainframes don’t need to hold you back and all we need is your data, it’s time to create a utility bill design that serves your customers and reflects positively on your organization. Get in touch with our utility invoice specialists today to learn more.  

This study is just one example of the many linking the importance of design with engagement and performance. If your invoice still looks as it did 20 years ago, with no color or appeal, your customers aren’t going to read beyond the amount due and due date.

Whereas full-color, vibrant statements, customers will find them easier to read and pay more attention to the content. Humans are visual creatures, so when something attracts the eye, we intrinsically remember it better, as well.

Your Bills Can Be Modernized No Matter What Technology You Use to Generate Them Today

A common misconception is that older technology systems prevent you from updating the appearance of your bill or statement.  That’s just not true.  Today’s progressive print and mail providers can take your data and reformat it so that your bill can take on the appearance you desire.  Best of all, it’s not expensive to do so.

Your Bills Are Another Communication Channel

Most utilities use a variety of communication channels to engage customers. They use email marketing and traditional outbound advertising on TV and radio. Your bill is just one more avenue to connect with consumers and provide relevant messaging. Most brands are leveraging an omnichannel approach for customer engagement, so don’t miss out on this opportunity.

What Messages Can Utility Bill Printing Services Include?

When employing the services of a vendor, you have lots of options with your statements. The most important of these is the ability to personalize at scale. With advanced technology at their disposal, you can choose what segment of users receive what messaging. That could include by state, product, or new vs. existing customers.

Here are a few ideas:

• Energy efficiency programs: Looking to up enrollment in a program? Make it a callout on your bills.
• Alerts on scams: Utility scams are becoming more prevalent, and you want to advise your customers on their dangers.
• Energy snapshots: Use simple charts or graphs to track usage over periods of time, which can help users conserve better.
• Safety tips: Include seasonal tips for your customers around electricity or water usage.
• Usage restrictions: For areas with limitations on utility usage by schedule, make this prominent and include any fines they could face for noncompliance.
• App promotion: If your utility has an app, add content around how to get it, what it does, and why it can be valuable.
• Solar information: Describe any solar power initiatives by your utility for non-users. For those with solar panels, advise them of the generation that period.
• Other services: If you provide other services, your bill is a good spot to cross-sell or upsell.

Ensuring Messaging Meets the Needs of Customers

In considering how to redesign your utility invoice, you should be considering customer needs.

A study by a consulting firm found that even the best-designed utility bills are falling short of customer expectations.

While utilities strive to bring clarity to usage and charges, the research project found that three areas needed work:

• Explaining the value behind the invoice: Consumers don’t know technical language; instead, they want to know what it costs to use power or water. Smart meters are one way to break this down to more useful information.
• Helping customers prepare for bills: Many of your customers have tight budgets and would like predictability in billing. Utility costs fluctuate every month, but you have historical data at your disposal. Adding a “bill forecast” for this next month could reduce anxiety and uncertainty.
• Giving customers a choice: Consumers have more information at their disposal and desire choice. Bringing simplicity and transparency to rate and payment options could improve their sentiment toward your brand.

Message on Your Bill, Not an Insert

Many utilities employ inserts in their statements to message, and it’s not effective. Those pieces of paper will likely be tossed or recycled without a glimpse. Consumers are “insert blind,” meaning they discount them as anything significant.

Messaging on the invoice has a much better chance of recognition by the recipient. If you’re wondering how you’d track this, include special phone numbers, email addresses, or website pages for users to learn more. You could also inset unique QR codes for customers to scan, taking them to a personalized page. By merging print and digital engagement, you have more chances to engage and delight.

Utility Bill Printing Services and Messaging: Get It Right with PCI Group

PCI Group is a leading print and mail provider with a long history of serving the utility industry. We can bring your invoice into the 21st-century and deliver information your customers actually want and need.

Learn more about utility printing services today.

Outsourced utility billing services is a smart move for the industry. Spending time and resources on statement printing and invoicing isn’t your core competency. Billing is certainly a critical function, but that doesn’t mean you need to perform it in-house. With outsourcing, you gain substantial benefits that will positively impact your bottom line and increase customer engagement.

So, why outsource your utility bills? Let’s find out.

Outsourced Utility Billing Services Helps To Save Money

Starting with reducing costs is always an advantage, and outsourced utility billing services can do just that. Running an in-plant requires a lot of capital for equipment, space, labor, compliance measures, and technology. That list is just the beginning. Other total cost of ownership (TCO) expenses figure into this number, as well.

Are you aware of your current cost to process an invoice? According to data from 1,485 organizations, the high end is $10, with the median $5.83. That’s a substantial amount that you’ll only be able to reduce via scale. However, you are likely printing fewer paper invoices every year.

The only way to gain efficiencies is to outsource to a professional print and mail provider. Because they print and mail greater numbers per day than an individual company, the cost per piece is much less. You also no longer have to budget for all the other in-plant expenses discussed above.

Receive More On-Time Payments with Greater Efficiency and Accuracy

Utility companies depend on the timely payment of bills, but those that internally handle invoicing don’t always have optimal workflows. Additionally, your operations may lack accuracy with addresses. Both of these contribute to bills arriving later than expected with the possibility of missed payments.

Our outsourced utility billing services process is a streamlined, efficient practice that’s backed by 99.9999% accuracy. If your accuracy is less than this, then you’ll be upgrading on that aspect of mailing. With precision in mailing and the most advanced equipment and technology, bills are more likely to reach consumers promptly.

Track Your Communications with Ease

With mailed bills, you need to ensure that these important communications reach their destination. To do this requires advanced technology that most organizations don’t have or would be too cost-prohibitive. However, a web-based business document management tracking system is available from vendors when you outsource. With the trakPCI Dashboard, you’ll have the ability to monitor communications from production to pick-up to delivery.

trakPCI Dashboard also provides real-time status updates, letter change request options, and access to cost data to better understand expenses.

Engage Customers with Great Visuals and Communicate Updates and Offers

Your invoices are more than just a bill; they offer another channel of communication to your customers. If your bills look tired and dated, they aren’t much of a communication tool. With full-color design, customers will find invoices easier to read, which they’ll appreciate. They may also pay more attention to the updates and offers.

If you need to advise of regulatory news or rate changes, your invoices are a great medium. When you outsource, you can ensure these areas are eye-catching. Promoting energy efficiency programs or other offerings can get the same treatment. Personalized messaging is possible at scale, so you can customize what consumers need to know based on where they are and what services they use.

How can you track the effectiveness of engagement? For updates and offers, create a unique phone number or email address for inquiries specific to invoice messaging. Further, you can also compare on-time payments and see if they rise once you deploy a new, well-designed invoice.

Decrease Risks Associated with Lack of Redundancy

Every utility company has a business continuity (BC) plan. They cover the most critical infrastructure, but your in-house billing capabilities may not be part of it. It’s often overlooked in business continuity because other things are higher priority, but you still need to send invoices.

When using outsourced utility billing services, you can have fewer concerns about disruptions to billing and invoicing. Redundancy is a pillar of any critical communications print and mail company. Downtime is minimal, and the strategic approach to BC is to be proactive, not reactionary.

Ensure Compliance

Utility bills are subject to several compliance criteria. Working with the right critical mail provider will ensure that you are staying up to date with all of the latest protocols. At PCI, we have a compliance team that focuses on ensuring consumer communications are printed and mailed accurately and in accordance with all of the latest federal regulations.

Ready to Learn More About Outsourced Utility Billing Services?

In consideration of all these benefits and reasons to outsource, you should explore the idea more. By talking to bill outsourcing experts, you can learn more about how it works and all the advantages you’ll gain. Contact us today to see how PCI Group serves the utility market with print and mail services.