Companies risk losing valuable customers if they drop paper statements
4 February 2008
Companies could lose one third of their customers to rivals if they stopped sending them one simple thing – their monthly paper statement, new research revealed today.
A study by Henley HeadlightVision, conducted on behalf of Royal Mail, revealed that utility companies would be at most risk to customer defection with 35 per cent of people saying they would switch to a competitor that did provide statements through the post.
And almost one fifth (19 per cent) of people said they would switch banks if they were told they could no longer receive a paper statement.
The Henley HeadlightVision study, which investigated consumer attitudes to their financial, mobile phone and utilities supplier communications, also revealed that 68 per cent of online banking customers still like to receive statements sent through the mail.
In addition to this, the research found:
70 per cent of all respondents said they would prefer to receive statements and bills by post only
67 per cent also agreed that it is easier to deal with post than email communications
70 per cent of consumers believed it is more secure to receive confidential information by post
“Many companies are currently actively encouraging people to transact with them online, but they need to ensure that this is what their customers really want,” said Abi Wood, Head of Financial Sector Marketing at Royal Mail.
“It is important for companies to embrace the breadth of communication channels available and offer their customers a choice. Companies that scrap paper communications without asking their customers first will lose a significant number of them to rivals.”
She added: “This research demonstrates the importance and value that many people place on having a hard copy record of their transactions to the point that they would look elsewhere if their company stopped sending them.”
