The Benefits of Electronic Billing

Outsourcing departments, especially billing services, has becoming quite popular nowadays especially for smaller businesses. If you outsource utility billing, your customers may be able to get a more comprehensive and understandable bill because the outsourced company will have the time to really sit down and figure out what some improvements to the billing process could be. That is, if your customers are still receiving print and mail services. Even if you outsource utility billing, customers should still be encouraged to cut down on paper and print services by switching to the electronic method of billing. Here are a few benefits to electronic billing done by outsource utility billing.

Quicker Availability
If someone has access to an online profile or account then they will be able to look up the information they need, much quicker. For example, if you needed a statement from past months, if you only have paper billing, then you would have to wait an average of seven to 10 business days in order to receive the statement. But online, you could click and immediately download the month that you need the statement for. You can also look up your agreements, deals and discounts availability as well as much more information, of course including your due date and how much you owe.

Easier Reminders
Some people prefer the printed bills because this is how they remind themselves that their bills are almost due. However, when you set up your online account, you can add into the settings that you want reminders. They can send them to your phone via text or email you a few days before your bill is due so that you can be prepared. It is a more efficient method than waiting for a paper bill because mailed bills can get lost, show up late or any number of problems. An email or a text will be instantaneous and it’s very hard for them to get lost.

Better Organization
Keeping track of paper bills end up building up clutter and disorganization around your house. It’s hard to throw away those kinds of things because you always wonder if you are going to need those bills later on down the line for something. Keeping everything in your online account will automatically date things so that you can find them easily. It’ll keep it organized for you and you don’t have to worry about clutter or losing a paper. Should you need a physical copy, you could easily print off whatever you need to have in hand.

Communication with Company
When you call the 1800 number for a utility company, you’ll be lucky to get through within 20 minutes. Unfortunately, those lines are usually so tied up it’s almost impossible to get through to anyone. However, the online account will usually offer email capability to contact the company or sometimes they have a live chat service where you can talk with a level one representative regarding your issue. You don’t have to worry about the line dropping or the call cutting out after waiting so long on hold and most questions can be answered online anyway.

Money Saver
Being able to track your usage online will help you to make sure that you are using your utilities efficiently. Some websites even have real time assistance regarding how much energy you are using. If you only have paper billing then you miss out on the opportunity to watch how much you are using and potentially cut down on areas where you have excessive usage. The hard part about trying to do that with a paper billing system is that you have to wait month by month to see if you are doing better. If you are online then you can just pull up your account and see what has happened or changed almost immediately.

If you are wanting to outsource utility billing then it would be a good idea to let them encourage your customers to partake in the online billing system. This will make life a lot easier for the outsourced company as well as for the customer. Keeping the customer happy should be your number one priority but sometimes, the customer doesn’t know that they could be happier than they are now. You have to show them.