|
Search News
Daily News
|
A recent YouGov survey commissioned by Skywire Software, a provider of Customer Communication Management (CCM) solutions, has shown that 30% of Britons delay paying their monthly bills. Only 8% actually deal with their bills straight away and 2% of Britons ignore them altogether -- with ages 18 to 29 being the worst offenders within this last group. Whilst 2% may seem like a small number, in terms of UK citizens aged 18 and above that figure represents approximately one million people who ignore their bills altogether.* Against a backdrop of record levels of credit card debt, rising bankruptcies, and an increase in repossessions, this passive attitude to dealing with personal debts is consistent with a broader trend. But the survey showed that the organisation and readability of the actual bill also plays an important role in shaping consumer bill-paying behaviour. A full 14% of respondents said that the printing on their bills was either too large or too small. Whilst 58% of Britons said that the use of colour highlighting would make their bills easier to read, and that red highlighting in particular would spur them to make a payment more quickly. Tracey Robinson Vice President Managing Director EMEA and APAC of Skywire Software commented: " Receiving timely payment for bills is a major issue for financial services and utility companies in terms of managing both cash flow and customer relationships. However many don't realise the impact that a well-designed bill can achieve in terms getting bills paid on time and grabbing people's attention." Tracey continued. "The figure that really did shock me was how many people preferred the use of colour to black and white. Colour is an effective graphic tool so it is intuitive that it could apply to bills & statements, but we didn't realise the extent to which the public agreed." The survey also produced some variation in relation to geography and bill payments. With London and Scotland being the best at dealing with their bills straight away. Michael Turton of Cavendish Consultants, which specialises in the area of document presentation, commented: "Many of the utility bills, credit card and bank statements consumers receive today look as though they were created 50 years ago, long before the advent of CRM systems or the sophisticated customer communications solutions available today. They have simply not moved with the times, so it's not surprising that they fail to engage customers with 21st habits and expectations." The survey, conducted by YouGov in January 2007, sampled the attitudes and opinions of 2,060 adults around the UK. * National statistics web site -- ends -- About Skywire Software About YouGov YouGov has pro-actively recruited respondents from all ages, socio economic groups and regions of Britain. The sample for each survey is carefully selected and controlled so that it is representative of the adult population as a whole - or the specific audience that the survey is designed to measure. Because of our online data collection methodology, YouGov's data is of higher quality and our cost base is lower than that required by the use of conventional market research techniques. This means that YouGov can pass on this cost savings to its clients. YouGov offers unprecedented value for money. YouGov offers a full market research and consultancy service, collaborating with other agencies in Britain and abroad. NOTES TO EDITORS: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,446 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 29th - 31st January 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
Tags: Media, Internet, High Tech, Computers and Electronics, , Banking and Finance, Business _ _    Is your favorite bookmark site missing? Ask for it.
|
|
