Keeping customers, with excellent communications

Case study

How full-service provider regiocom simultaneously increased customer care and improved the customer experience thanks to Quadient’s® multichannel-output management.

At the beginning, there was a project at regiocom - one that could not be managed with the existing printing systems. Peter Reinäcker, Lettershop Director at regiocom AG, recalls: “It was a C4-size mailing, with a covering letter, two different multi-page contractual documents, T&Cs and a bonus card.” The entire thing had to be distributed to more than 100,000 recipients. “And we only had two weeks,” emphasises Reinäcker. Canon Germany were the ones to recommend implementing the campaign using Quadient Inspire. “Of course, it was a gamble to do such an important job with an unfamiliar solution,” reports Reinäcker. “But we’d always had positive experiences with Canon.” The software was purchased via Quadient partner Canon, and within a few days, it was installed. Canon helped to create the first letter layout. Then Reinäcker got involved. “I was surprised at how easy the solution was to use. We actually managed to send the mailing on time and without any errors.” That was eight years ago now. Today at regiocom, six specialists work with Quadient Inspire, producing and delivering one million personalised print pieces each month. On top of that, millions of documents are distributed electronically via the Quadient platform. “Looking back, the introduction of Quadient Inspire was one of our most strategically correct investments,” says Klemens Gutmann, Managing Director of regiocom.

regiocom AG is one of the largest independent full-service providers for the energy industry in Germany. Managing Director Klemens Gutmann clarifies: “We provide it all, from invoicing and customer support to usage measurement for suppliers and network operators.” Regiocom operates its own high-performance data centre and a powerful printing service. In total, the regiocom group comprises over 5000 employees at 18 locations in Germany, as well as in Vienna, Varna and Sofia. The turnover generated by the regiocom group this year is around 230 million euros.

“Yesterday’s letter is tomorrow’s call”Indeed, the letter shop is just one part of the comprehensive range of services that regiocom offers. The company is headquartered in Magdeburg, and is one of the largest full service providers in the energy industry. “Firstly, yesterday’s letter, as we all know, is tomorrow’s phone call,” says Gutmann. That’s why it’s important to automate the creation, release and archiving of customer communications documents as much as possible. That’s the basis for consistent transparency and centralised control of the communication processes. “And secondly, with Quadient Inspire, we don’t only manage printed documents,” adds Reinäcker. The Quadient solution has long been developing into the basis for digitalised, omni-channel communications at regiocom. Specifically, this means that: Each month, millions of archive PDFs, emails and HTML documents are created and distributed with Quadient Inspire. Quadient technology ensures that the documents display correctly on the end customer’s preferred device (PC, smartphone, tablet). And, according to Klemens Gutmann, this service is gaining more and more importance for the regiocom customers. “The digitalisation of customer communication is progressing. Our customers’ young target groups expect to be able to communicate with their energy suppliers, telecommunications companies, financial and other service providers via their preferred channel.”

Action required?Despite this, traditional post continues to play an important role for most companies within the mix of communication styles. Particularly in sensitive situations, nothing has changed. “Action required!” That could apply to payment reminders or warnings. “Incoming payment receipts are significantly higher when a reminder letter is sent instead of the same letter being sent via email,” explains Gutmann. And even in the case of higher invoice amounts, if the bill is sent on paper, many companies notice shorter payment periods. According to Gutmann’s experience, each service provider has specific rules on when information is to be sent via email or instead in printed format. If emails are repeatedly undeliverable, or documents cannot be retrieved from a self-service portal, then the postal service can help to find out if a recipient has moved. “Finding the right format for each instance is a central feature of our services,” clarifies Gutmann. “And Quadient helps us with the automated management of print data, from different source systems, right through to a legally valid document that meets all regulatory requirements. That means we are able to automatically deliver a document via the most appropriate channel.” That might be a text email, a PDF attachment, an invite to log in via a web portal or even a letter sent by post – perhaps even as registered mail.

Making complexity easierYet it is not just these complex campaigns where regiocom benefits from the Quadient technology. “Often, a document’s complexity is not visible at first glance. It hides in the details of the development process,” says Lettershop Director Reinäcker. For example, statements from energy providers or telecommunications companies: “Here, each document combines data from several different source systems. Not just the sender, recipient and consumption data, but also the network operator and supplier number must be specified. There are also additions from external systems, such as the authority responsible for arbitration or the current price of energy on the electricity exchange in Leipzig. All this information will be put together for tens or hundreds of thousands of documents and must be processed through a print data stream offering consistent quality. We base our efficient working procedures on the high quality of these processes. At the same time, we help our business partners by enabling them to offer an excellent customer experience, thanks to seamless mass shipping of error-free documents and the support offered by our employees in the Contact Centre. Almost every case where an agent initiates customer communication runs through the Quadient system. Every action in the Contact Centre can trigger printing. Frequent options are invoices, invoice corrections, confirmations or individual letters.”

Why QUADIENT?Although our decision to choose Quadient software to carry out a specific project was made very quickly, they never seemed unprepared. Peter Reinäcker had already spent a good while looking for ways to not only meet the varied requirements of highly individualised customer communications but also, to work more efficiently. Several software applications were considered and three made it to the shortlist. Convincing technology was the deciding factor, according to Reinäcker. “Quadient works with its own high-performance engines for the individual output channels. They deliver the high data quality and the processing speed we need for smooth processes.” On top of this was the intuitive interface, which ensures minimum training requirements and short training times.

Can be expanded... flexiblyOther key arguments for the Quadient solution were the multi-channel capability and flexibility on offer, says Reinäcker. “In fact, back in 2009, we hadn’t really thought about omni-channel communication and HTML5 output. But being able to work with scripts and write additional functions with Java – that freedom was important to us. Other applications didn’t offer this. With a little experience in Java, you can quickly add a function in Quadient. We need this flexibility for our customers.” Such extensions could be data conversion functions or comparison operations, following patterns such as this: If value X is found, a specific text or image element is integrated. The objective is to personalise documents as much as possible. “We know from our customers that personalisation is a key criterion for high satisfaction with our services,” explains Klemens Gutmann, not without pride.

RESULTS• Output Management with Quadient

Inspire installed and operational in less than two weeks

• Print more than one million personalised documents per month, with the Quadient solution

• Processing times for print release are dramatically shortened, sometimes down to just a few minutes

• Introduction of automated workflows for individualised multi-channel communication

• Ongoing digitalisation of customer communication, introduced in messaging and social media

Quadient® and the Quadient logo are registered trademarks of Quadient group AG. All other company and product names may be trademarks and are the property of their respective owners. All information in this document, including descriptions of features, functions, performance and specifications is subject to change without written notice at any time. www.quadient.com

About Quadient

Quadient is the driving force behind the world’s most meaningful customer experiences. By focusing on four key solution areas including Customer Experience Management, Business Process Automation, Mail-related Solutions, and Parcel Locker Solutions, Quadient helps simplify the connection between people and what matters. Quadient supports hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide in their quest to create relevant, personalized connections and achieve customer experience excellence. Quadient is listed in compartment B of Euronext Paris (QDT) and belongs to the SBF 120 index.

For more information about Quadient, visit quadient.com.

Running tests for even more personalised communicationThat’s why regiocom is currently testing further products from Quadient Software, in order to be able to offer an excellent cross-channel communication customer experience in the future. Peter Reinäcker explains: “We’re currently working on interactive billing. That allows a customer to calculate an alternative tariff offer right from their bill.” And if they’re convinced by the result, then the contract can also be concluded digitally, right away. Data is captured automatically, and the finished documents are sent to the customer immediately. To be able to implement such scenarios, regiocom is currently testing further products from Quadient Software, such as Quadient Interactive, Quadient Dynamic Communication and Quadient Content Manager. “Going forward, the aim is to involve chats and social media in customer communication. And so far, these tests have been very positive,” smiles a satisfied Peter Reinäcker.

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