Billing Services Analysis: Can Billing Improve Customer Service?
Last week I found myself sitting down with friends over a couple beers when the conversation turned to the woeful state of the US economy. One of my peers, a document management salesman, lamented on how difficult his business had become. Customers, he said, simply wanted to buy based on price, and as a distributor (read middleman) it was becoming more and more difficult for him to undercut larger manufacturers, many of whom were now selling direct into his market.
So, what does this have to do with medical or energy billing? Everything… and nothing at all.
From E-Billing to Mobile Billing, Been There, Done That
Not a week goes by when we don’t hear a customer tell us how unique their billing process or
situation is. Whether it is medical billing services, each thinks they are absolutely the only company ever to want to add hand written notes to their bills, pull specific invoices for hand delivery, or edit a transaction before it goes out.
Utilities, distributors (and every other vertical specialty you can think of) – they all want the benefits of outsourcing their statement printing while maintaining the flexibility to control and manage the process.
Having difficulty knowing where to start? Here are four starter questions you should ask when considering your billing services and systems:
1. Why does my customer need my product/service; what problem or challenge does my
product/service address?
2. After my customer acquires my product/service, is there anything else they need in order to address the problem or challenge and is there any way I can provide it to them?
3. Can I leverage my team’s experience and expertise to add additional value, perhaps in a consulting capacity, to my product/service?
4. Is there anything I can offer pre-or-post delivery of the product/service that would be
meaningful to my customer?
Today’s market economy is tough, but you can improve cash flow, customer satisfaction (or patient satisfaction), by focusing on the solutions that make customer communications for billing simple for them, and seemless for your organization.
Turning a Minus into a Plus
Wondering how you can turn your billing system into a cash flow asset for your organization? Or are you trying to increase customer/patient satisfaction by making their information east to access? Contact me to see how the right (not the least expensive) billing system and expert services can help you to improve your customer service.
Photo source: Wikipedia Commons