When a customer cannot pay their bill in full and becomes past-due, their journey becomes fractured.
The journey starts with a customer being notified that their bill is available and what the total amount owing is. They are then directed to a customer portal where they must log in and pay the balance. If they cannot pay their bill in full, the disconnect begins, and the responsibility falls on the customer to contact an agent to come to an agreement to settle their account. The lack of payment options in the customer portal creates a large problem on the journey.
Past-due payment portals as an additional collection tool
A past-due payment portal can act as an additional collection tool to help eliminate the need for agent intervention. Offering several options through a payment portal like making a payment in full or setting up an arrangement lets customers navigate the past-due payment journey on their own terms. Having both portals working towards the same goal helps companies collect faster and make the past-due payment journey more positive.
While some may think that having a customer service portal is enough, the addition of a past-due payment portal has benefits that complement each other. We recently published an Ebook on how they can speed up the collection process.
Below are our top 3 reasons why customer portals would benefit from an additional collection tool:
One Specific Objective
Customer portals include several different features that can create friction between the payment experience. The past-due payment portal has one fundamental objective in mind: to collect payments on past-due amounts.
Login Free Access
Customer portals require login credentials to access accounts. With the past-due payment portal, customers can make secure payments without the need to enter login information. This allows for a faster, more efficient experience when customers want to make payments or arrangements. It also eliminates any additional steps that may hurt conversion, as that can give customers the opportunity to ask themselves if they really want to do it. Once you have their attention, conversion as soon as possible with menial effort is imperative to past-due payment collection.
A Better Customer Journey
The customer journey should be seamless, even when customers are past-due. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and when full payment is not possible, they are required to contact or are contacted by an agent to make an arrangement, thus fracturing the journey.
As a paying customer, the experience is full of positivity and promise, but the minute they become past-due, the experience turns negative, stressful, and often intimidating. With the addition of the past-due payment portal and friendly email/SMS reminders sent with the right tone and messaging, companies can rectify the situation without damaging the relationship. Fostering relationships with your customers no matter their financial situation is imperative to keeping the overall customer experience good.
Outlining the importance of both the customer and past-due payment portal and how they can help make the customer experience positive is essential to improving the collection process. Both portals complement each other and provide crucial tools to help past-due customers rectify their accounts seamlessly and quickly.
Past-due customers are an indispensable part of any customer-centric business, and their experience should be just as positive as those who are current on their bills. Both of these portals will help get them there and cement the incredible customer journey they deserve.
Download our Ebook today to learn more.
