At its core, “YouX” serves as the foundational principle that places the user experience – and more importantly, the user – at the heart of the billing and payment strategy. This can take many forms and is defined by several key characteristics, but it always answers one simple question:
The challenge for many organizations seeking to become more YouX oriented is not one of will but of technical capability. The company culture may be built around putting customers first, but it’s the billing and payment solution that will ultimately determine how simple and satisfying the customer experience will be.
To that end, let’s explore a real-world example of how a legacy billing and payment solution impacts YouX by not offering a personalized experience.
Meet Michelle, Your Average Bill Payer
Michelle is a Gen Xer who loves using credit cards and shopping online. She’s as digitally savvy as they come, and has many of her bills set to AutoPay. Unfortunately, the legacy solution employed by her water provider is not exactly digitally advanced and does not offer payment channels such as AutoPay.
Additionally, paperless eBilling is not available so each month, Michelle is forced to receive her water bill by mail. This month, she discovered that it’s nearly twice as high as last month. She received no warning and could not check consumption data in the online portal. The bill she received also does not showcase any flexible payment options, and the only number she is given to call is a general number that forces her to wait to be transferred to the correct department.
To make matters more difficult, Michelle’s electric bill and credit card bill are both higher than expected this month. Not only is she forced to prioritize which bills to pay now, she must also remember to come back and pay her other bills once she receives her latest paycheck.
YouX In Action
It’s likely that a few thoughts immediately popped into your head as to how YouX can be deployed to correct this unwieldy experience. Let’s start at the beginning.
A robust online customer portal that offers both payment and consumption data gives organizations the ability to go above and beyond for customers. Not only can you keep customers informed on items such as their monthly usage, you can also use these analytics to send proactive reminders that a bill is upcoming or that their monthly usage is exceeding typical norms for their account.
And when we say send proactive reminders, we’re not talking about mail. Emails and texts provide the fastest, simplest and most cost-effective means of informing your customers about important account information. Receiving a text message that informs you of an impending bill and its amount, with a link to the customer portal to make a payment? That’s YouX.
Armed with this information, Michelle can adjust her monthly spending and in one click, be taken directly to the customer portal where she can pay her favorite way (or even pay within the text itself). Ideally, Michelle has her account set to AutoPay and is receiving these notifications to stay up-to-date on her account. But should she prefer the control of making the payment herself, she can do so and view all bill details. The ability to pay how you want, when you want in a matter of seconds? That’s YouX.
Let’s not forget that Michelle had a few additional bills impacting her ability to pay. While she still may need to wait to make her water payment, she can do so with the peace of mind that she will receive a reminder notification – again by text or email – that her bill is still due, complete with a link to make a payment. The best part is that given her financial situation, she can take advantage of flexible payment plans that allow her to pay down her balance using methods such as digital wallets. Flexibility to meet a specific customer’s needs? That’s YouX.
Personalization Throughout the Process
It’s important to remember that throughout this example, everything was geared toward Michelle. Notifications and reminders adhered to her preferences and billing timeline. She was able to view her account details through a portal that maximizes personalization in the form of her specific usage data.
What’s more, Michelle can further personalize her experience by selecting her preferred payment methods and channels, whether they be credit cards, digital wallets, cash at local retail stores, chatbots or yes, by things such as in-person kiosk payments.
Consider your experiences as a bill-paying customer. Which bills do you find yourself paying first: ones that offer empowering self-service options or ones that offer just a few ways to pay and paper-based processes? The choice is clear, and the best part is that the answer to this YouX challenge already exists in the holistic, best-in-class Paymentus billing and payment solution.
For more information on YouX, visit our Era of YouX website or contact us today to speak with a member of our team. Paymentus experts will be glad to demonstrate how the Paymentus solution can solve your organization’s YouX challenges and transform your billing and payment experience.
