Consolidated Edison Co. of New York (Con Edison) is a regulated utility serving 3.2 million electric customers in New York City and Westchester County. The company recognized that it could realize significant cost savings if more customers would adopt electronic billing, where bills are delivered electronically without a paper version. Eliminating the printing, postage, labor and equipment costs associated with paper billing can result in significant cost savings.
In addition to operational cost savings, further positive results could be gained from driving e-bill adoption, including improved customer relationships and fewer billing-related service calls. According to a Harris Interactive study conducted for CheckFree Research Services, customers who receive e-bills at a biller organization’s website show higher satisfaction levels, with 25 percent of them reporting an improved relationship with their biller as a result of receiving e-bills.
The challenge was how to attract more customers to the low-cost, high-impact online channel for billing activities and shut off their paper bills. To convince customers to change their behavior, Con Edison had to find a way to cost-effectively generate widespread awareness of electronic billing and explain how benefits, such as saving time, reducing clutter and helping the environment, outweigh concerns customers may have about giving up their paper bills.
THE ADVANTAGES OF ELECTRONIC BILLING
Together, Con Edison and CheckFree developed a comprehensive marketing campaign designed to communicate the advantages of electronic billing to as many customers as possible. As a critical first step, Con Edison gained cross-organizational alignment regarding the campaign strategy. Drawing from a longstanding commitment to the environment, the company made a strategic decision to implement an ongoing campaign that conveyed a “Go green with e-bills” message across numerous channels in order to maximize reach within its customer base. Research has shown that when attempting to change consumer behavior, a comprehensive, consistent and widespread marketing campaign is far more effective than “one-off” campaigns utilizing minimal tactics.
In May 2007, Con Edison launched the integrated marketing campaign capitalizing on the wave of consumer awareness on environmental issues. Con Edison promoted paperless billing and electronic payment through a variety of methods and channels, including:
- Customer Emails;
- Direct-mail postcards;
- On-hold messaging;
- Radio advertising;
- Invoice messaging;
- Press releases;
- Con Edison website messaging;
- My CheckFree website messaging;
- Customer newsletters; and
- Internal employee newsletters.
Each communication featured the company’s environmental incentive – for every customer choosing the paper-saving option of viewing and paying their bills online, Con Edison would donate $1 to a local, nonprofit tree-planting fund to help the environment in New York.
To aid in driving awareness, Con Edison made a deliberate decision to create an extended campaign designed to consistently reinforce the safety, security, simplicity and environmental benefits of electronic billing. Based on the success of the marketing activities seen thus far, Con Edison plans to include the “Go green with e-bills” theme in every consumer communication going forward.
THE RESULTS
Con Edison showed persistence and enthusiasm in pursuing a multichannel marketing campaign, and it was well worth the effort. In the first seven months after the campaign was launched, Con Edison generated impressive results, including the following:
- More than 42,000 e-bills activated;
- A 57 percent increase in e-bill activations over the same time period in 2006; and
- A 19 percent increase in online e-bill payments over the same time period in 2006.
Con Edison also has benefited from the positive press and goodwill it’s created in the community. By providing its customers with a better, more environmentally friendly choice for paying and receiving their utility bills, Con Edison is minimizing costs, maintaining operational control, optimizing growth for its business and turning customer interactions into profitable relationships.