October 14, 2002 (Computerworld) --
Electronically sending bills and receiving payments has been a tough sell to consumers. But your customers don't have to come online in droves for you to quickly achieve a return on investment in an e-billing system. Without question, business-to-consumer e-payment adoption rates have been disappointing. This year, less than 1% of all worldwide consumer bills will be paid electronically, according to TowerGroup, a banking and financial services research firm in Needham, Mass. But don't let the paltry acceptance rate scare you off too quickly. Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn., has concluded that e-billing pays off for companies when as little as 9% of their customers opt to use electronic systems. In June, Gartner surveyed 101 companies that send bills to consumers electronically and 336 companies that send bills to other businesses electronically. Companies surveyed represented the telecommunications, insurance, credit card and utility industries. Gartner found that, on average, the companies saved $13.1 million annually, thanks to decreased call center costs, faster dispute resolution and lower paper-based payment processing costs. These same measurements have played a key role in determining ROI in e-billing at Sprint Corp.'s Tulsa, Okla.-based Mass Markets Organization, which includes the company's residential long-distance service. Sprint uses a homegrown e-billing system that's built into a Web-based consumer self-service application called My Sprint Account Manager, or MySAM. Even though only about 5% of its long-distance customers pay their bills online, Sprint has achieved cost savings by lowering paper invoice production and postage costs, streamlining payment processing and reducing customer service calls, says Claudia Moore, a senior marketing manager. "Naturally, with fewer incoming calls, we are able to manage our workforce accordingly," Moore explains. "It doesn't necessarily mean fewer reps, but it may mean more of them are available for cross-selling or handling inbound sales calls." She notes that the company saves "$80 per customer for everyone who chooses to use MySAM over the course of one year." Customer turnover for Sprint's residential long-distance service group has also declined, thanks to the system. Thirty percent fewer e-billing users switch carriers compared with those who use regular mail to pay their bills, says Moore. Meanwhile, at Sprint's local telephone service division, only 4% of all customers pay their bills online. The slow adoption rate isn't considered a failure, however, says Patty Montague, manager of online billing. "We're on track with what we expected in terms of adoption. Our focus is not just on e-billing, but also online customer service and sales," Montague notes. Like its long-distance counterpart, Sprint's local service division measures ROI not so much in dollars saved, but by how much revenue is generated by other services offered alongside
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