Writing And Designing Customer Statements
The word statement has lots of meanings from its application in language as a clear
statement of something expressed, for example, through to press or political statements, which are formal accounts of events or facts intended as official records.
When we think about customer statements we immediately think of financial, bank, and credit card statements. But in fact we all receive and access lots of different kinds of printed and interactive statements:
Usage summaries such as an annual energy usage statement
Transaction summaries a trading statement, for example
Investment or portfolio summaries a pension or investment statement
Account status summaries a loan repayments statement, or a business accounting or tax statement
Statements that require a response or a payment like a credit card statement, for example.
What do they all have in common? Theyre all formal accounts or records and they all provide a snapshot of the state of product, service or relationship at a specific point in time.
Its often a requirement of a product or service provider to send regular statements of this kind, and generally customers will open and, however briefly, read them before filing or discarding. They therefore provide an ideal platform for customer communication.
This article lists my top tips for optimising this channel of customer communication.
1. Remember that statements are primarily operational in nature. Appropriate tailored marketing messages are welcomed by most customers but statements provide an excellent opportunity to remind the customer about the product or service theyve signed up for, how long its got to run, and what penalties they might incur if they end their contract early, for example.
They are also a great place to forewarn customers about planned price increases, interest rate changes, or changes to their terms and conditions.
2. Conform to standards make sure that business statements conform to business accounting standards, for example. Where industries like the financial services and utility sectors are heavily regulated, ensure that regulations are carefully followed this will result in a level of consistency, which can then be built on to provide individuality.
3. Where appropriate, provide graphic snapshots that visualise and illustrate data content. Pension statements, for example, provide complex information about a customers investment split, growth, payments, etc.
Many customers faced with this complexity find pie charts and line graphs easier to comprehend. Pie charts are excellent for showing proportions (e.g. fund splits), whilst line graphs are excellent for tracking performance over time (e.g. a funds performance). Bar charts are good at visualising differences in usage such as in utility statements.
4. Optimise the application of colour many organisations now have two, three, or four colour capability. Dont over-use colour, and dont use colour just for the sake of it. Used in a controlled way colour can be a very effective tool to engage customers, and reinforce the important message in
statement designs .
by: Andrew Boag
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