We all know they are out there – paperholics. Living amongst us without concern or detection. In many respects it’s not their fault – they were brought up on a diet of paper – they were addicted at a young age. Letting go after such a long time is hard  (nigh impossible for some), but for most people all it takes is some specialized intervention from the paper suppression experts.

Paperholics still read their newspapers on broadsheets. They print documents to read later and they get all their statements and invoices through the post. But we can change that – provided we present them with the perfect substitute and make the intervention process as pain-free as possible.

The switch to paperless – specialized, painless intervention

If you are expecting your paperholic to trade-in his bleached white, tangible, trusted piece of paper for the inconvenient, complicated journey of an online version waiting somewhere for him in cyber-space, I rate your chances of weaning him off paper to be pretty low.

Intervention has to come in the form of something that closely represents the paper version to satisfy his craving for its presence in his immediate world. It’s simple. Even the die-hard luddites of today are connected. Email penetrates the lives of people across all demographics.

Winning the trust of a paperholic simply requires you to show them that there is a simpler, easier more convenient process. Striata has helped hundreds of billers wean millions of paperholics off their old ways and into the future with secure electronic document delivery. Bills, statements and invoices are easily turned into electronic equivalents.

The key to making the switch – you (the biller) should engage in the Striata 12- step program:

Step 1 – Take the reins! Is your paperholic going to proactively want to wean himself/herself off paper? Unlikely. Recognize that you control the specialist intervention he requires.

Step 2 – Harness the power of email as your primary communication channel for secure document delivery.

Step 3 – Get his email address. As I said earlier – even the most die-hard of luddites will have one email address.

Step 4 – Deliver a sample (parallel run): Show your customer how similar the experience of receiving a paper envelope vs. an email attachment is. Keep sending the paper version but say you’ll switch off paper in 3 months

Step 5 – Get consent electronically (eConsent) – make the choice easy, a simple Yes or No!

Step 6 – Send his Secure Electronic Document by email. Just like the postman used to deliver to the postbox, you deliver your customer’s eBill directly to their inbox.

Step 7 – Turn off the paper. How many of your portal based customers are still getting paper?

Step 8 – Include payment in the attachment, and watch your DSO drop!

Step 9 – Educate: show your customer that you’ve included recipient and sender authentication. Help him/her recognize your legitimate email from a phishing attempt.

Step 10 – Offer the paperless switch for all your communications: Once again, make it easy for your customer to switch off paper, as all your documents and transactional messages can be delivered directly to the inbox

Step 11 – Include personalized, targeted messages – track, track, track. Understand your customer’s engagement and use the data to get to know your customer and personalize his/her experience with you

Step 12 – Enjoy the spoils of reducing your operational costs and seeing a positive ROI in a matter of months.

The first step in any program is generally the hardest – but in this case it’s really easy – simply call Striata.