Talking to Customers? Watch Your Tone

When was the last time you reviewed your client communications wording, tone and layout?

When was the last time they were changed?

If the answer to the above is more than a year, you may want to consider conducting a review.

Why? Because however carefully crafted your messages are — and I assume you tested them in champion / challenger mode — they will grow stale over time, and when they do your customers will tune them out. This is especially true when you’re “reminding” lazy payers and other repeat offenders to make their payments. Sending the same message month after month can elicit a “Yeah, yeah” response, diluting any sense of urgency on your part.

In collections, even when lenders change the tone and wording of their messages, the layout is often overlooked. The positioning of the current situation, amount owed and consequences of nonpayment can be crucial to conveying a clear message to the customer.

FICO recommends an annual review to sharpen your messages across all business decision areas and products. And, as noted before, use champion / challenger testing to make sure your new messages are as effective as they can be.