Reduce Bill Confusion With Proactive, Personalized Outreach
“Why is my phone bill $40 higher than last month?”
We’ve all had a question like this after reviewing a statement. Think back to the last time you were confused about an increase in a recurring bill. What did you do?
Drop what you were doing and investigate—looking up (or digging out) your previous statement and making comparisons to try and diagnose the increase
Put it off for later because you didn’t have time to look into it
Call the contact center to speak to a representative
Whichever option you went with, it was likely a frustrating experience. Nobody likes a bill increase, but the confusion makes it worse, and it’s an all-too-common experience in industries that have subscription offers and monthly recurring bills, including the telecommunications industry.
As end consumers, we often avoid reading our bills because many statements are confusingly designed. One of the top five billing statement sins that damage customer experience (CX) is “not explaining changes since the previous bill.”
Not only is this a major shortcoming in the current billing experience, it’s also a key driver for unwanted inbound calls. According to research conducted by CSG across more than 64 enterprise organizations, nearly half (41%) of respondents said billing-related calls made up 25-50% of their total annual inbound call volume.
This creates a huge opportunity for telecommunication providers and other businesses to improve bill comprehension and reduce billing-related inquiries by simplifying the billing experience —that is, clearly explaining charges and proactively outlining changes in monthly bills for targeted customers.
The High Cost of Confusing Bills
A recurring bill is the primary customer experience touchpoint for wireless and internet service providers. Typically, these customers don’t have any contact with the business unless there’s a problem. This makes communication surrounding the billing statement a critical determinant of CX and trust in the brand. When a recurring bill differs from the previous month, consumers:
Experience confusion—even irritation. Bill confusion was the main driver for billing calls, according to 69% of respondents in the same CSG study. Generic messages or bills are often overlooked by customers, so they often discover changes through their bank statements rather than their interaction with your brand.
