Question

Topic: Branding

Branding Our Telephone Payment Service

Posted by JennC on 6/3/2015 at 10:26 AM ET 125 Points
I'm new to the group & this is my first questions so pardon me if I there's a format I'm not following.

I work for a telephone cooperative in North Dakota. We have always taken payments over the phone with a live operator but we have recently switched to an automated operator. Getting customer buy-in for this new automated operator has been tricky for our older customers so we thought about branding the new system.

The automated operator can have a male or female voice so I was thinking of branding it as a "telephone payment assistant" w/a person's name like Penny. The provider of this service says "most people" didn't like the female voice but our live CSR's who've always taken the payments over the phone have been women so I think a female voice would make the transition easier for the customer.

My question to the group is, "How would you brand an automated operator assisted telephone payment system?"
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 6/3/2015 at 11:02 AM Accepted
    Welcome. I'd give customers the option of paying via an automated, female presence OR speaking with someone with a heartbeat. Bear in mind that a high percentage of people over the age of 65 STILL use the Yellow Pages and want nothing to do with machines, with automation, with the Internet, or with anything to do with making life easier for the entities they're receiving goods and services from.

    They prefer to deal with people one-on-one.

    For instance, how would you feel if your question here were answered by an automated system that directed you to a series of pre written answers, few if any of which meet your exact needs?

    Sadly, and whether your company head honchoes like it or not, no amount of branding is going to help sell a service that customers are less than happy with. This applies REGARDLESS of the amount of money you throw at the problem.

    Branding is far less about naming and packaging than most CEOs and CFOs realize. Instead, the processes and long term value in terms of payback of branding lies in the branding's ability to create a memorable, repeatable, and sharable experience.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 6/3/2015 at 12:13 PM Accepted
    This is not so much a branding issue as a communications issue. I'm guessing you've made the switch to save your company money. How does this change help your customer? That's the message you need to convey. Perhaps if your phone automated system produces more complaints than benefits, you'll find that you both need to improve the system and improve your communication. If there's a small minority of people that have problems, then design a system that will make their lives better.

    And if you're looking for a name for the system, a name that refers to your cooperative would likely make good sense. Maybe have a naming contest with your customers?
  • Posted by JennC on 6/3/2015 at 12:41 PM Author
    Thanks for the feedback. You both bring up very good points.

    We've made the switch primarily for enhanced security surrounding the customer's sensitive banking/credit card information. Serving rural communities, they "know us and trust us" with their payment info so in some cases that's a harder conversation. We can add focus on the advantages of the 24/7 availability of the payment option where before they could only call in payments during our business hours.

    Unfortunately, in order for our company to be PCI Compliant, we no longer have the option to accept the telephone payments person-to-person. They can still mail their payments to us and pay online but many of our older customers have always preferred calling in their payments. Maybe it would be a better idea to target our older customer base with more detailed communication about the new service and remind them of our other payment options.
  • Posted by Mike Steffes on 6/3/2015 at 1:21 PM Accepted
    Be careful on the implementation of a more detailed communication. Maybe a Q&A format with the most common issues and a help phone number. And then prep the person/people who answer that number.
  • Posted on 6/3/2015 at 4:32 PM Accepted
    Branding isn't so much the issue as is how you communicate the benefit to your target customer segment. Using a name (like Penny) is fine, but you still need to convince the target audience that using Penny is a better alternative for them.

    Two possibilities:

    1. Start with a mailed brochure with a picture of Penny and some copy that assures folks that for a month or two they can always request a live human to guide them through the telephone prompts if they have any problems. ("Just press the # key and we'll have one of our patient and courteous representatives guide you through the process.")

    2. Get a few quotes/testimonials from pilot test users so that the target audience's anxiety level will go down a few notches. (These can appear in the brochure.) This almost always plays well with folks who are apprehensive.
  • Posted by Shelley Ryan on 6/15/2015 at 7:28 PM Moderator
    Hi Everyone,

    I am closing this question since there hasn't been much recent activity.

    Thanks for participating!

    Shelley
    MarketingProfs
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