Bring paperless to your customers for bigger benefits

Going paperless by investing in the appropriate document imaging services and technologies to eliminate any need for printers and the like has myriad benefits. However, some firms are finding they can extend these advantages by pushing their paperless initiatives to their customers as well.

Some firms have found that by utilizing paper conversion services in conjunction with their customer relationship management solutions, they are able to reduce costs and enhance the customer experience by demonstrating quality and dedication to environmental efforts. Additionally, consumers will be able to reduce their own expenses by keeping digital invoices, receipts and related information, rather than trying to store paper documents for their records.

Beyond CRM efforts, improving content management services can have several beneficial effects on customer service. Streamlining access to client records by integrating them into an easier-to-use, accessible electronic system will keep service representatives on top of customer needs, while making it easier to update orders, client account information and more. Filling out, filing, searching for and distributing paperwork can be a cumbersome process, taking up valuable time that could be better spent actually communicating with customers and improving operations on a broad scale.

Business processes can be enhanced greatly with the proper application of document management software. Firms can optimize service, production and internal administrative efforts such as HR. However, companies have to ensure they are implementing paperless strategies properly in order to harness these improvements. Investing in the technology is the first step, but businesses have to focus on training, proper infrastructure and enforcement to make new policies truly successful.

Setting paperless policies should be a natural second step in implementing such a strategy. Informing employees of the benefits and encouraging them to adopt paperless initiatives is one thing, but they must also be trained in the proper use of document conversation services and the technology used to access data. Then, a company can require the use of these services, rather than simply suggest it, and enforce that requirement. Removing printers, filing cabinets and paper products from the office will be a major step in this direction.

Ultimately, paperless efforts are a multi-tiered initiative that companies have to implement and stick with to see real ROI over time, but by driving the efforts through all areas of operations, including customer service, firms will see results faster, and be able to demonstrate the benefits widely.

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