Part Two of our Take 5 Interview with Brendon Gory, Director of Client Implementation

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

Take5_logoWe continue our segment with Brendon Gory, Director of Client Implementation

4. With electronic bill payment and presentment on the rise, do you see common concerns that customers face?

Adoption is always a hot topic. Fortunately, there are a wide range of opportunities available to transition customers over to EBPP. An additional concern is security, especially in the financial services vertical. Financial data and email content encryption is very important. When we start working with a company, we meet people from many different departments (Marketing, IT, Accounting) all at once and the one thing that resonates with all of these departments is the significance of data security. It’s necessary to remain compliant and we offer a suite of product solutions to address this concern.

5. Is there any insight you’d like to share on what you’ve seen clients do right or wrong when it comes to invoice or statement development and presentment?

With all of the new technology and options offered for invoices or statements, such as color and graphics, there is a lot of excitement around the creative options that clients have to transform their documents. Sometimes, enthusiasm wins out and clients get carried away with too many messages and too much color. We’ve heard examples of people throwing their bills away because they misinterpreted the document to be an advertisement or a flyer soliciting business. The bottom line is our customers want to improve cash flow and get bills delivered as fast as possible so that they can get money back into the company faster. We don’t want them to jeopardize that by putting too much “fluff” on their document.

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Take 5 Interview with Brendon Gory, Director of Client Implementation

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

Take5_logo

Continuing our interview series that showcases OSG colleagues, Brendon Gory shares some insights on changes in our industry and how OSG has adapted to shifts in the marketplace over the years. Here is what Brendon had to say about his history with OSG and what he sees for our customers in the future.

1. How long have you been at OSG and what is your role?

I started as a junior-level developer. Today, I serve as the Client Implementation Director where I’m responsible for overseeing the analysis, project management and development for all new clients that do business with OSG.

2. You’ve seen a lot of changes at OSG over the years. What changes have you seen in the way invoices and statements are used?

Clients are increasingly focused on creating a positive experience for their customers. By providing services that make a customer’s busy life more convenient – like offering electronic and mobile payment solutions and targeted messaging – our client’s customers are more likely to remain loyal.  To enhance the customer relationship, more clients are taking advantage of our Campaign Composer solution which lets them manage media and promotion within their invoice or statement package.  Campaign Composer uses filters to ensure the timeliest and most relevant messages reach each of their customers.

3.  Where do you see the future of the billing industry headed?

I see electronic bill presentment and payment increasing more and more. We have some clients that don’t even want a printed bill, invoice or statement; they just want us to send their transactional document electronically. Also, the methods consumers use to pay their bills will be rapidly changing in the next few years. Consumers will rely more heavily on their smart phones and tablets to make payments and billing decisions as these devices become more popular than PC’s.

Please see the rest of this interview in our blog post next week.

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Our New Branded Look

Posted on May 2, 2013 by

branded

Mindful of our consistent and steady growth over the past two decades, and focused on new goals and ambitions for the next 20 years and beyond, OSG recently rolled out a new branded look. New collateral and an updated website showcase a more energetic color palette indicative of the change and energy surrounding our markets today. Streamlined and modern, our new branding is reflective of our ongoing transformation as a company. From dependable print and mail and modern electronic solutions to relevant customer communications and trusted partnerships, OSG is a next-generation technology provider. Our new branding showcases our fully integrated, multi-channel approach to billing and statement presentment and our secure state-of-the-art process.

Check out our website or request a demo or a white paper. We hope you like our updated look as much as we do.

Posted in Best Practices, Bill Presentment, Customer Communications Management, Marketing | Leave a comment

Observe Earth Day Every Day of the Year

Posted on April 24, 2013 by

hand holding plant

Earth Day was officially celebrated earlier this week on April 22nd. But Earth Day is something we should observe every day of the year. “Go Green,” once a very hot topic that faded into the background during the recession, is now making a comeback. And as the economy slowly recovers, businesses are once again focusing on other commitments and concerns that are not always driven by the bottom line.

And from our perspective, we are noticing that it’s true. More and more, we are fielding questions about our environmental practices and how our technologies are designed to reduce our carbon footprint. We are acutely aware of the importance of taking steps to lessen our negative impact on the environment and are committed to sustainability. Throughout the entire workflow process, from the initial file upload to the actual presentment of documents, companies such as ours can lessen our carbon footprint and remain environmentally aware.

A good place to start is with the operating facilities. Alternative energy-saving solutions, such as low ambient air conditioning, high efficiency lighting, sensor lighting and more efficient printers help to ensure that we use less toner and less electricity. Plus, good waste prevention and management practices that encourage reusing and recycling are employed.

In an effort to use fewer resources per unit of output in production, we use environmentally preferable papers and ensure that documents are well-designed utilizing best practices to reduce waste. Strategic document formatting and maximized design can help to reduce the pages of a document by up to 48%.

In our industry, an important “Go Green” initiative is to offer Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP). When customers switch to electronic bills, statements and payments, the average household can save 6.6 pounds of paper and save .8 trees a year.

Celebrating Earth Day this week served as an important reminder that the small changes we make in our workplace today can have a rewarding impact on our planet in the future.

Posted in Best Practices, Ebpp, Graphic Design, Marketing Services | Leave a comment

Boost your Member Statement with PFM

Posted on April 18, 2013 by

More and more, credit unions are offering personal financial management (PFM) tools to their members.  PFM gives your members on-demand tools that help them manage their banking relationships all in one place. Empower your members with the knowledge of their entire financial picture and engage them in a way never before possible.

The average consumer accumulates multiple financial relationships over time. With PFM, you will see where else your members bank, borrow and invest, giving you opportunities to create additional relationships.

PFM uses account aggregation, which involves compiling data from your members’ additional financial relationships – even if they come from sources outside of your credit union. This can include additional bank accounts, CD’s, IRA’s, credit card accounts, brokerage accounts and other consumer or business accounts and presenting it in a single place.

Providing PFM content means that you will give your members a valuable and easy-to-understand snapshot of their finances each month. PFM allows your credit union to:

  • Offer members a custom user experience
  • Give your members a snapshot of their finances all in one place
  • Leverage member data to help better meet their needs
  • Target members to sell relevant additional products and services
  • Promote member satisfaction and retention
  • Use member data to study trends and better support their needs
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Saturday Delivery is Not Going Away Yet

Posted on April 12, 2013 by

Just when you thought you knew everything going on with the USPS, it changes again.  The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that for now Saturday delivery is back!  Despite the $16 billion loss in 2012, the Postal Service’s board says that it will continue to deliver mail six days a week. In an effort to reduce the financial bleeding, the agency announced back in February that it had plans to stop delivering mail on Saturdays, except for packages and express mail. But, Congress, citing a mandate from the 1980’s about Saturday delivery, passed a funding measure to keep that mandate going.

Last month, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said the current law requires the agency to continue six-day delivery. The USPS’s plan to end Saturday delivery was not in direct violation of the law, because they were not completely ending the six-day delivery, only changing it, since packages would continue to be delivered on Saturdays. But the U.S. Government Accountability Office disagreed.

In a statement, the USPS board said, “Although disappointed with this Congressional action, the Board will follow the law and has directed the Postal Service to delay implementation of its new delivery schedule until legislation is passed that provides the Postal Service with the authority to implement a financially appropriate and responsible delivery schedule.”

So what happens next? The USPS will probably look into cutting employee costs and raising postage rates. The USPS statement said that the Board of Governors had told management to “seek a reopening of negotiations with the postal unions and consultations with management associations to lower total workforce costs, and to take administrative actions necessary to reduce costs.”

And, experts say that it’s still too soon to declare Saturday letter delivery will continue indefinitely. We will keep you posted!

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Stretching your Marketing Budget

Posted on March 26, 2013 by

stretch your marketing dollars

Looking to get more bang for your marketing buck? Stretch your budget with transpromotional marketing. Whether your customers receive their communications through the mailbox or inbox, integrating targeted and relevant marketing messages into your bills, invoices and statements is widely recognized as a cost-effective way to engage your customers. But it’s not just about the economical benefits. Transpromotional marketing also helps to retain customers, improve the customer experience and increase cash flow.

Retain Customers

Acquiring new customers can be a challenge but so is keeping your existing ones. Use your transpromotional documents for promotional offerings, new product releases or thank customers for their business on the outside of the envelope. Include an insert like a useful calendar or local football schedule to stay in front of your customer all year long.

Improve the Customer Experience

We live in world where information is instantly at our fingertips. Consumers want questions answered fast and problems resolved quickly. Use the valuable real estate your document provides to educate your customers. Explain the customer process, capture address changes or show customers how to read their bills on a backer or additional page on your invoice.

Increase Cash Flow

Improving cash flow and reducing DSOs is a priority for any company. Use transpromotional marketing to get paid faster. Call attention to due dates and payment amounts through colorful design. Or for ebill customers, announce your AutoPay option to improve payment consistency and end-user alerts and notifications to remind customers of due dates.

Posted in Full Color, Graphic Design, Marketing, TransPromo | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment