Insights
Welcome to OSG Insights
Neil Metviner
Executive Vice President
Integrated Communications
Note from our EVP, Integrated Communications
To our valued OSG customer,
The countdown is on! As the new decade creeps ever closer, we as individuals begin to examine the landmark changes that have taken place not just in 2019, but in the last 10 years. The technological boom of the past decade has facilitated ever more advanced capabilities, bringing with it even higher customer expectations. In this issue of OSG Insights, we explore the intersection of customer experience and digital transformation, driving forward the growth of businesses and industries alike.
2019 was a prolific year for OSG, marking a strategic focus on expanding our capabilities to truly capture the ongoing needs of a customer throughout the entirety of their journey. In exploring our suite of solutions, we sought to incorporate products that answered the needs of these technologically-driven consumers. A Year in Review looks back at the changes that have driven us forward as a company.
Digital Corner unlocks the core benefits and capabilities of OSG Lockbox, showcasing yet another alternative for customer payment options.
In Marketing Minute, we go on a journey with your customer, expanding upon the critical engagements and interactions that drive a loyal customer relationship.
From our business to yours…thanks for joining us and have a roaring 2020!
“The Venn diagram formed by the intersection of data, analytics and CX gives organizations the tools they need to drive clear business decisions, achieve outcomes and operate more efficiently.” – Forbes
2019 brought industry trends and buzzwords galore, but while many have vied for the top spot, two trends proved their impact moved beyond a fleeting fad: positive customer experience and digital transformation. These two most ubiquitous topics span businesses and industries, revolutionizing how companies strategize, organize and monetize. Whether it be hordes of potential loyal customers or operational perfection, each represent a unique and ostensibly underutilized resource.
Positive Customer Experience:
The ability of a company to repeatedly engage customers, creating thoughtful and beneficial interactions throughout the entirety of the customer lifecycle.
Digital Transformation:
A company’s transition from traditional paper-based systems to technologically-driven operations, with a focus on incorporating Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Analytics capabilities across departments and functionalities.
These drivers are often analyzed under two different microscopes of business acumen, but in our current climate, they actually belong on the same slide. According to Gartner, “More than 40% of all data analytics projects will relate to customer experience by 2020.” This surge in corresponding projects underscores the interactivity of these company drivers—impacting and propelling each other forward.
The digital transformation seen across companies and industries has created a revolution for the customer experience. The drastic increase in both the quantity and the quality of customer data available has given companies direct insight into their customers like never before, leading to refined communications, interactions and product development.
But such is the nature of human interaction that as soon as the expectation has been met, the bar is raised again. The perpetual race to meet the latest level of customer expectation acts as a stimulant for evermore enhanced digital solutions, feeding back into the cycle of new products and solutions driven by the customer.
At the core, OSG’s solutions combine critical technological developments with rising customer expectations. We continue to meet and then exceed our client’s expectations because we base our ongoing advancement on the foundation of what propels our clients—their customers.
Leveraging our unique and diversified capabilities we have consistently brought to market the latest solutions, going further than industry trends and standards to raise our own bar and that of our clients. Whether in our transactional, payment or marketing communications, our strategic integration of new resources allows clients to advance their capabilities, driving forward their digital transformation through our own.
Intertwined with the future of a company’s customer experience is the digital transformation that company find themselves in. As one marches forward, inexorably so does the other, demanding a continual advancement between and through each other.
A Year in Review
December 31st marks the end of a decade – one filled with smartphones and even smarter consumers. As the year comes to a close, we reflect back – examining the transformation that we as a company and our industry as a whole underwent; and it is through this lens of transformation that we look towards the new year.
Over the last decade, the rising level of customer expectations has become interwoven with the digital transformation of businesses and industries alike. This ongoing transition has led the demand for comprehensive, integrated solutions to become a primary focus of industries across the globe. As a leader known for innovative, technology-enabled solutions, OSG continues to position itself at the center of digital transformation, helping our clients revolutionize their businesses. In 2019, we strategically invested in more digital tools than ever before, which we know will propel our clients forward on their own digital journeys.
Our suite of digital solutions enables clients to leverage services according to their unique needs, empowering them to proactively engage their customers, be it an individual consumer or a business. OSG Business to Consumer (B2C) Payments integrates multichannel payment options into one unified platform, allowing clients to meet the end consumer at their preferred point of connection. OSG B2B Automation transforms manual processes, creating paperless networks of buyers and suppliers, thereby improving communication, process flow visibility and operating efficiency. Be it integrated Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable solutions, we continue to provide clients with the resources they need to differentiate themselves in a competitive landscape.
Engaging today’s technology and information-laden customer is no easy feat. In order to capture (and keep) audience attention, brands must find a way to deliver their message in a way that showcases their understanding of the customer as an individual. Doing so requires proper utilization of both channel and message, creating a fully-formed experience specific to that customer’s needs and preferences.
Combining industry-leading knowledge and resources, OSG Marketing Services brought to market strategic solutions encompassing the entire spectrum of the customer experience. In developing our marketing services, we looked for opportunities to complement our existing capabilities, embracing our established solutions, while expanding upon the customer engagement opportunities we offer clients. Incorporating design, customer service, reporting and marketing strategy, OSG offers the building blocks to increase brand affinity and customer satisfaction. At its core, OSG Marketing Services is a resource for clients, filling in the gaps in customer engagement strategies and helping clients achieve their marketing goals.
Over the past few years, OSG has grown from a singular transactional billing company to a family of companies, offering distinctive solutions across the entire customer journey. While we previously operated primarily under the overarching “family of companies,” 2020 will see the launch of the new OSG – one company, with one voice. The new brand will encompass our entire suite of offerings, expanding the breadth and depth of the solutions we bring to the market. Keep an eye out for more information to come as we launch this new chapter.
Take Five
The OSG family of companies is no stranger to amazing women making key strategic and tactical decisions that push an organization forward. We spoke with women throughout our company, tapping into those powerful minds, gaining insight on everything from the inspirational to the creative to the career advancing – and you can quote us on that!
Account Manager
The meaning of professional success has changed for me throughout the years. At first, it was about working for high-profile companies in the city, making a good living. Never really being 'off the clock.' But now it means holding a position that challenges me, but not so much that I take it with me everywhere I go. It means not getting that sick feeling in my stomach on Sunday nights, because I love what I do and where I’m going on Monday morning. It means having collaborative and successful working relationships with clients and coworkers—having a healthy balance.
Program Analyst
Professional success is different for everyone, but I have noticed that it is proportionally correlated to personal success. Being successful in a professional environment is a product of doing what you love (so you are able to get up and happily go to work every day), working with a great team (people who you trust, respect and can eat chips with every day) and being challenged to become a better version of yourself.
Manager of Production Graphics
I believe it’s important for all businesses to engage creativity and innovation amongst their employees—it’s a vital piece of business success! Engaging my team is the first step to getting the creative juices flowing. Having an open dialogue tends to motivate my team and gives them the inspiration to keep going or try again. Encouragement can go a long way, which tends to result in creative solutions! As a manager, I make sure to take the time and really listen to my team. It’s important to understand their struggles or concerns and ask questions to engage the conversation. Good communication helps the team work together as a whole, as well as grow individual relationships. I find these things are valuable to the accomplishments of your team and your business!
HR Manager, OSG & Operations for Billing Services
My advice is about health, because listen to me: Your career doesn’t matter without your health. Tell your story. Talk to the women around you about what you’ve been through and urge them to tell you the same. Tell your story, and then be a generous listener. You’ll see lives change because of that.
Executive Vice President
Product Development
Digital Corner
The ongoing digitization of the payment landscape has brought about an explosive growth of new payments solutions, with digital services popping up seemingly overnight. And while consumers and businesses are increasingly transacting through these new digital channels, there remains a sizeable population that continues to rely on checks as their primary payment method. In fact, check payment is so prolific in the U.S. that it currently makes up 35 percent of consumer payments and 45 percent of business payments. With the continued customer demand to use a variety of payment methods, companies are looking to invest in both digital and traditional paper processing solutions. Based on the results of our recent customer survey, our clients are no different, with 29 percent of respondents showing interest in Lockbox services.
As a leader in the transactional and payments industry, OSG recognizes the responsibility to provide our clients with the products and services that encompass the wide range of payment methods. OSG Lockbox provides our clients with a simple, efficient means of accepting checks from your customers. Tightly integrated with our transactional suite, OSG Lockbox offers yet another route for customer payments, expanding clients’ omnichannel payment capabilities. The nationwide offering helps our clients achieve check processing cost savings, reduce Days Sales Outstanding, improve service quality, gain data visibility and comply with continuously-evolving data security requirements.
Marketing Minute
Want your (customer) relationship to last longer? Developing a lasting customer relationship doesn’t happen overnight, it takes a series of consistently exceptional interactions to move a customer through their journey. In fact, the customer experience is so pivotal that according to Gartner, “Two-thirds of companies compete on customer experience, up from just 36% in 2010.” The OSG Marketing Services Group has developed a new program to engage customers by filling in the gaps in our clients’ lifecycle marketing strategy. The Customer Journey Solutions program allows our clients to seamlessly connect with customers throughout their lifetime, leveraging each interaction to build a stronger, more loyal relationship.
Designed to enhance our clients’ marketing strategy with more innovative solutions, OSG’s new program focuses on incorporating omnichannel engagement techniques across the customer lifecycle, creating more opportunities for our clients to connect with their customers. Incorporating personalized direct mail and email, targeted advertising, customer data management and both inbound and outbound telephone/SMS campaigns, our clients are able to meet customers on their terms.
The results? A boost in the number and quality of leads, proactive marketing campaigns spanning from initial customer acquisition to customer win-back and unique strategies that create the exceptional experience customers have come to expect.
For more information, please contact your account manager.
President of Garfield Group, An OSG Company
Trending Today
In this issue of Trending Today, we sit down with Larry Garfield, President of Garfield Group, An OSG Company, to discuss the power of a strong brand and brand experience throughout the customer journey. Garfield Group is a branding and creative agency which specializes in creating unique brand experiences through a wide range of marketing services.
What strategic role do a well-defined brand and brand experience play in creating an overarching positive experience across the entire customer journey?
A consistent brand and brand experience are absolutely critical to customer success in today’s fragmented marketing environment. At its core, a brand is a promise—a promise to deliver something of value. So, when you consider brands like Amazon, Apple, Starbucks and Disney you can understand that a brand promise is worthless if the brand experience doesn’t deliver.
The same holds true for every brand—from healthcare to telecom, financial services to utilities. An exceptional brand experience can turn a customer from lukewarm to fiercely loyal. What’s needed is a way to deliver on your brand promise in a consistent, unified way across every touchpoint—from initial engagement through the website, to the mobile app, customer service, billing and beyond. Finding ways to make every customer interaction more personal. More relevant. Easier. More enjoyable.
The CMO Council reported in May 2018 that 41 percent of marketers say the greatest roadblock to the successful execution of their customer experience strategy has been fragmented platforms and systems that fail to connect a unified view. Which is why OSG (and Garfield Group as OSG’s branding agency) has focused a lot of our attention on helping our clients create omnichannel communications programs that unify connections across print, digital, email and billing. We arm our clients with the brand creative, technology and services needed to fulfill the promise of a unified brand and brand experience—unlocking higher levels of revenue, loyalty, engagement and customer advocacy.
Off Topic, But on Point
A new year only means one thing—resolutions. Be it running a marathon or finishing a new book series, your resolutions help you achieve goals and make life a little bit better. Looking for your first 2020 New Year’s resolution? Avoiding stress is one simple and effective resolution to improve your life, especially in the workplace. Even though a certain degree of stress is unavoidable, implementing a few small changes allows for a better overall experience both in your personal and professional life.
Looking for a few tips and tricks? We’ve gathered our top five to help relieve stress.
Looking for a quick read? Check out our latest blog posts to keep up to date on the latest trends and topics.
Books are digital. Photos are digital. Your main form of contact with that one sort-of-friend from high school is digital (Hello, Facebook). So why aren’t bills?
Take a walk down to your accounting department and you’re guaranteed to see a team of people handling incoming bills, outgoing bills, invoice payments and check deposits.
In honor of Customer Service Week, we’ve gathered our top ten favorite quotes that illuminate, elucidate and explicate everything that is the customer experience.
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