For several posts I've talked about the examples of communication that have arrived in my own mail box. Some were from financial service providers and some from government entities, all in need of extreme makeovers. This time let's go to the next level and talk about what really changes the game for businesses of all sizes. Whether you are a small business, a home-based business, or one of the largest enterprises in the world, we have something for you!

Let's start with the SOHO businesses. You might hope there is nothing you need to do but invoice for your services or products, tend to your web page, and get out of the way while the money pours in. It rarely works like this, so how to you get to BAM? TransPromo! Really!

Look at the invoices, packing slips and other statements you send to your customers. Even if you generate them in MS Word or out of QuickBooks (or other favorite program), you can use these documents to tell your marketing story! Especially if you are using your ESP 9 or other Kodak All in One printer for your printing, you can integrate color, images, and targeted messages to your customers to cross sell and up sell!

If you are using a billing service, check with them to see if they would accept a library of marketing files to be added when the bills go out!

For larger businesses using higher volume printers like the Kodak DIGIMASTER for billing, TransPromo in black and white can be incredibly effective if you tune your messages to your customers needs and spending habits!

And, for the largest businesses, data-driven conversations on the bill or statement should be an integral part of your customer communication program!

Have questions? Drop me a line! I have lots of examples!

This is another tail from my post box, again related to a mailing from a government agency. This time it is the Internal Revenue Service and the notice is a review of a 2007 tax form filed by a family member. The notice in question claims to be a CP2000 notice, but I have no idea what they think that means.

I am picking on this notice for several reasons.

1. It claims to have been mailed on the same day it was received. Neat trick!
2. It provides a telephone number to call for assistance, but if you call the number (and I did) there is no way to get to a person. The assumption of the IVR system is that you don't understand something on the document, not that you have a question about how to get the correct information into their hands.
3. It doesn't provide a way to respond to what must be a common situation.

Let me say that in terms of design this document gets high marks. It is well formatted, the text is readable, and key areas have navigation hints that make the form easy to follow. Where it falls down is in information content. And, as we know, style without substance is simply not acceptable!

It starts by highlighting when the response is due. Well formatted and easy to understand.

It then tells me why I am getting the notice, and provides a box with proposed changes to the tax filing. My quarrel here is that it assumes they are right. In my case, we don't agree with their proposed changes and this is where it starts to go off the rails.

The next item tells me what steps I should take. I should review the tax filing, compare the return to what they have provided, determine if their information is correct, complete the response form, and complete and return the payment plan. Wait! What was that last item? What if I don't owe anything?

The response form is easy to read and navigate, starting with Option 1: Agree with all changes. Option 2 is that I don't agree with some of the proposed changes, and Option 3 is that I don't agree with any of the changes. I don't agree, so I mark that.

Going on to the next step I only have three options: Pay in Full, Partial Payment and Payment plan. None of these apply! There is no option for my situation, which was a missing dividend form which will cause us to submit an amended 1040.At that point they will actually owe more money back to my family member.

The moral to this story? If you are sending notices to your customers and they need to take action, be sure you give them the ability to select all appropriate options. Allow for the exceptions where a checkbox will not do. Last time I talked about ensuring that the basic "What, Why, Who, When, What to do next" information is covered and that the customer is given appropriate means to communicate. It's more important now than ever!

Need to know more? Let me know!

If you grab your post from the postbox and find a letter from a government agency, what's your first reaction? Does your stomach go into a twist? DO you rip it open immediately, or set it on the desk and hope it was a figment of your imagination?

I have to admit to being one of those people that has to take a few minutes before I open it. Just this week I found a letter from the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation in my box.

My first thought - "What did I do?" I just couldn't think of anything. Taxes are always filed on time, or early. No crimes I know of. What did they want with me?

Reluctantly, I opened the envelope. It's all black, no color at all. This cannot be good. The top right has the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI-New York and the address and a phone number.

My first question here is once they said Federal Bureau of Investigation, why take up a line for FBI-New York, but that's just me being picky.

It identifies me as PC McGrew, which is a bit odd. For some reason the FBI doesn't actually know my first name. Maybe that's good?

My address is correct, but only the five digit zip code.

The subject line says that it is regarding a case number that identifies it as owned by the NY office. Then, it says "Dear PC McGrew:"

Clearly, they aren't sure if I am male, female or alien.

The letter follows with, "This letter is to provide you with updates to the case by which you were previously referred to the FBI's Victim Assistance Program."

Interesting, but I've never had any communication from them before!

It goes on to say they have closed the investigation and tells me I made an important contribution. Finally, there is a phone number to call if I have any questions related to this matter. Oh, and no signature. It would have been easy to decide this was some sort of hoax or phishing letter.

Well, who wouldn't have questions? This two paragraph letter from the government provides no semantic or informational content. It directs me to a phone number to tell me that the letter refers to a case where customer data went missing from a credit card provider and that I should put a fraud alert on my credit files. The recorded message also tells me that I should call all three credit bureaus and provides the phone numbers to call, as well as information about a website I might want to go check, but it doesn't tell me why.

Think about the notices you get, and the notices your company sends. How many are guilty of the three deadly sins:

1. Fails to provide the reason for the letter using basic "What, Why, Who, When, What to do next" information.
2. Directs you to a second information source when the basics could have been in the original notice.
3. Fails to demonstrate that it should be taken seriously.

As we start to see the government chime in on regulating our bills and statements, it is reasonable to expect that they would regulate the content and presentation of regulatory notices. I wonder if they will take their own advice and force their own agencies to communicate more effectively.

Need to know more? Let me know!

Coming up on October 1, 2009 is the first milestone for anyone producing customer-facing bills and statements in the consumer credit card or consumer loan space. Beginning in October and ending July 1, 2010 are a series of hurdles that redefine the requirements of what must appear in these customer-facing documents. The new rules govern everything from formatting requirements to additional types of information to be provided on page one.

For most billers this is old news. Keeping an eye on regulatory guidelines and changes is part of the requirement of printing bills and statements. Most billers have active projects to redesign their customer-facing documents to meet the new regulations so they will be ready well ahead of the deadlines.

In addition to simplified disclosure language, some of the design requirements to be met by July 1, 2010 include:

A summary table, with specified type sizes and weights, and specific placement of some information.
- Interest charges & fees must be grouped separately, w/ a monthly total for each.
- Interest charges must be itemized according to the type of transaction (such as interest charged on purchases, and interest charged on cash advances).
- Separate year-to-date totals for fees and interest charges are also required

Rules require some specific formatting that could add requirements for 3-4 inches on statement page 1
- New line item breakout for fees and interest paid
- Late payment warnings located close to due date
- Reporting for year-to-date fees and interest paid
- Minimum payment due must identify time to payoff making minimum payments. If only an example is given there must be a phone contact to get customer actual information.
- The Schumer Box (required since 2000) includes:
    - Annual fee (if applicable)
    - Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for purchases
    - Other APRs (balance transfers, cash advances, default APRs)
    - Grace period
    - Finance calculation method
    - Other transaction fees (balance transfers, cash advances, late payments, over the credit limit)

Credit card companies are required to list long-term rates in at least 18-point type and other key disclosures in 12-point type.
- New sections needed if terms are changing; 45 day advance notice.

While these requirements start out for credit card statements, they are being adopted for consumer loans, education loans, mortgages and most other billing applications in financial services. It also appears to be moving into the area of solicitations, so even direct mailers will need to keep an eye on the regulations!

Need to know more.. let me know!

In the last installment I promised that this time we would visit TILA and UDAP - The 1968 Truth in Lending (TILA) statute that includes Regulation Z and the Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices (UDAP) section of the FTC Act that includes Regulation AA, focusing on consumer credit cards. On July 1, 2010 the requirements for disclosures, the time to make payments, and even formatting constraints will be regulated by these two regulations and more that are likely to follow. While the initial push for Regulation Z is to create a more customer-centric approach to disclosures, notifications, and changes, and Regulation AA impacts how much time consumers have to make payments and how interest rate increases must be managed, there will be many more changes that emerge. In the short term the biggest changes will be in the requirements for Page One of consumer-facing credit card and consumer loan statements.

For the first time the government will regulate the content and some of the formatting of any consumer-facing document that contains credit information. Combined with the requirement for 21 days between mailing date and payment due date, you can guess that this will have a wide ranging impact on many of the organizations that print bills and statements, whether they are in-house or print for pay.  Some estimate that even the most basic application of the new rules could cause the addition of billions of pages each year.

Need to know more.. let me know!  And stay tuned. We'll look at more detail in upcoming episodes!

In a recent blogpost one of the folks I read, Oscar Dubbeldam, postulated that TransPormo is really fiction because people only those over 55 who work in marketing were the likeliest participants in TransPromo interaction.

It's an interesting theory which Mr. Dubbeldam derived from a LinkedIn poll (which I participated in). But, honestly, is that a fair review? I think not!  The folks who come to LinkedIn are internet-savvy and generally more wired than most. Further, the questions did not give you a lot of options.

Here is my response to Mr. Dubbeldam:

It's an interesting take. I generally look at TransPromo as just one more tool in an Integrated Customer Communication toolbox. It's the the goal. It's just one possible option. When I was speaking regularly about statement-based marketing throughout the 1990s it was always with the caveat that using the statement to expand the conversation with the customer only works if you take the time to create a great user-friendly communication design and ensure that you use what you know about your customer to ensure that you only speak about timely and relevant things. And, that means timely and relevant to the customer, not the company.

I'll disagree - I don't believe it's fiction. I have evidence from around the world that well-practiced transpromo will provide value and ROMI.

What do you think?

Have a question? Drop me a note at pat.mcgrew@kodak.com or DM Twitter at PatMcGrew to get my attention!