8 Ways to Get Your Borrowers to go Paperless

By now you’re aware that there are so many benefits to switching your customers from paper to electronic statements. And you know that it will save your company lots of money (if not, check out our Save Millions with eStatements post). But how exactly can you get your customers to switch?

8 Great Tips for the Switch

We know that this question is on your minds, so we decided to dive in and come up with eight great tips to help you get your customers to switch.

1. Everyone is Doing It

It may seem silly but one of the strongest ways to get people to do something is still peer pressure. People don’t like feeling left out or left behind. So let your customers know that lots of people are switching to electronic statements and then invite them to join in. Something like, “656 people just like you switched last week. Want to join them?” can go a long way. FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is real. Use it to your advantage.

2. Make it Easy

Make it extremely easy for your customers to switch. It should literally be as simple as clicking a giant YES button on their email. If it takes too long or is too complicated to switch, most customers will leave well enough alone and you’ll lose out on saving money.

3. Explain Show

Explain to your customers why electronic statements are better and, more importantly, show them. Let them know that with electronic statements they can access their statements whenever and wherever they want. Plus, they will have access to more account history and more information. And make sure to show them a great picture of an electronic statement so they can see what it is you’re trying to sell them.

4. Reduced Clutter

Paint a picture for your customers about a life without paper statements. Let them visualize the hassle of handling and storing paper statements. Let them think about having to search through mounds of disorganized papers to find the statement they need. And then let them know that they don’t have to do that anymore. There’s a better way. With electronic statements they have their own, private virtual filing cabinet so they always know where their statements are. Electronic statements are cleaner, they minimize clutter, and they’ll make your customer’s lives easier, but only if they switch.

5. Eco-Friendly

Now it’s time for a little guilt, or a feel-good moment. Explain to your customers that electronic statements are good for the environment. Detail how replacing paper statements saves trees and reduces the greenhouse gases associated with paper manufacturing, printing, and mail transportation. Let them know that everyone (insert peer pressure) wants to help out the Earth and by switching to electronic statements, they can help save a tree or a forest or the air we breathe. And, on the opposite end, if they don’t switch they are the grinch who wouldn’t save a tree. (You shouldn’t actually tell customers this, but the implications are loud and clear.)

6. More Secure

Everyone fears identity theft these days and electronic statements are one way of combating this fear. Let customers know that by switching to electronic statements, their financial information will be more secure. Explain that there are firewalls, online authentication, transaction monitoring, etc. that are all working to keep their information safe, which is a lot more than their filing cabinet can do.

7. Make Electronic Statements the Default for New Customers

One simple trick to getting more customers signed up for electronic statements is to make that the default for all new customers. If they want paper statements, you can make that available but make it a little hard to switch. Bury it in your menu or options so that it isn’t easy to find. Most customers won’t go to the trouble of switching to paper statements if they are automatically set up to receive electronic ones.

8. Offer the Chance of a Reward

If you still can’t get customers to switch, offer them the chance of a reward. Let them know that if they switch, they will be entered into a drawing for a $500 gift card or something like that. The money you spend on gift cards will be repaid ten-fold once your customers are using electronic statements instead of paper ones. And you’re bound to get customers to switch over, because who doesn’t like winning?

Conclusion

Obviously, you shouldn’t try all these tips at once but feel free to mix and mingle. You can use these tips on your website, in text messages, or in emails. You can even throw some messages on the bottom of the paper statements that you are still sending out. Get creative and, who knows, maybe by this time next year you’ll be able to donate all those printers to someone who still uses them.