In This Edition
Setting the Table
I want to start this edition with a confession. I hate using QR codes to order at restaurants.
I’m a sucker for an old school, hard-copy menu. The form and styling of menus feels like an essential way of informing me about the experience I’m about to have. A stylized, leather-bound menu tells me that I’m likely about to have a memorable (if pricey) experience. A gigantic, laminated piece of paper with loud colors and dozens of options? Ok, I might be at Denny’s.
"The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don't really even notice it, so it's part of everyday life."
Maybe there’s also a PTSD factor from the QR code mania that swept through restaurants during & after the pandemic.
Despite my arbitrary preferences, I’m going to recommend - strongly - that you incorporate QR codes into your communication strategies.
If you’re already using them? Great! I bet you can dig deeper and find more use cases.
If you’re not? No problem. Let’s help you get started.
36% (amount that postage costs have increased over last 5 years per USPS). Doesn’t include cost of vendors/staff to print & send letters.
36%
The increase in cost of postage since 2018, per USPS.
Postage costs are skyrocketing, plain and simple. This doesn’t even include the costs of paying your team to print/mail documents or outsourced vendors that do it for you. (BTW, these costs are also increasing quickly!). Smart companies are offsetting this by relying more on emails, text messages and other digital communication strategies.
But print mail is still required in many situations - and can also be quite effective. But if you’re going to spend this much for each communication you send, you better be damn sure you’re doing everything you can to make the letter effective.
This is where QR codes come in.
Why QR Codes?
QR codes have two primary benefits:
They increase response/action rate. QR codes direct users to exactly where you want to send them. This reduces friction for the user and helps to eliminate user error.
They improve action attribution. In the old days, you’d measure the effectiveness of a letter by using a unique phone number to track how many inbound calls it prompted. But what if the letter prompts someone to make an online payment or visit a website? QR codes allow you directly track when they’re scanned so you can measure the exact response rate.
Let’s double click on #2 above. I can’t overstate how important this is. In my decade plus of leading operations at our collection agency, I’ve learned just how difficult it is to track payment attribution. Someone made a payment on our site/portal. Great! But what drove them there? Was it a call? Email? Text message? Letter? Some combination of all of these? Links within emails/texts and QR codes provide a convenient solution that help cut that Gordian Knot. This unlocks our ability to A/B test on our letter strategies and improve them over time.
Quick aside: QR codes naturally work best in print or other hard-copy media. If your communications are digital, you’re typically better off using hyperlinks to direct consumers. In my experience 80%+ of digital communications are viewed on mobile devices - and consumers can’t scan a QR code being displayed on their phone with the same phone.
Another positive: QR codes are cheap to create. Try Googling “free QR code generator” to see what I mean. I’ve found that free versions work great for most use cases and that paid platforms aren’t really necessary until you start needing advanced use cases.
Uses for QR Codes
QR codes are commonly used to direct users to a specific URL. But they are surprisingly versatile and have many use cases beyond this. Some examples:
Link directly to payment site/portal (even better if the QR code can pre-populate account number or other info to streamline the login process).
Link directly to a “quick pay” page
Link to a feedback/survey page/Google review invitation (think both consumer-facing and within your teams)
Link to make a call to a specified number
Link to text a specified number (You can even pre-fill the message that will be sent)
Link to email a specified email address (You can even pre-fill the subject and body)
Because we’re already approaching 1,000 words, I’m going to carry this over into a second part. Stay tuned for next week, when I’ll cover strategies for creating QR codes that drive real results and strategies for measuring the impact. Stay tuned!
Tip of the Week
Use project management tools like Notion, ClickUp, Asana or Monday to manage your external projects, not just your internal ones. Providing guest access to vendors, clients and freelancers can be quite powerful. Examples:
Vendor Projects: Onboarding vendors always goes just as advertised, right? Take matters into your own hands by creating your expected project plan, including timelines and deliverables, that you expect the vendor to adhere to. Even better, incorporate this project plan into your agreement with the vendor.
Client Onboarding: Reaffirm that your new client made the right decision through your structured, organized onboarding process. Even better, you can use the project management tool to automate due date reminders to your client so the tool, not you, is the “taskmaster” that ensures deliverables are completed on time.
Last Week Lowdown
ICYMI: Highlights from last week’s edition. Click here to view the entire post.
Differentiate yourself by being one of the select few that actually implements what they learn at work conferences.
Strategies for accomplishing #1.
Ideas for using recording software (like Loom) to improve communication and refresh your client, vendor and new hire onboarding systems.
Are we on the same wavelength? Check out EngageARM.com for resources, networking, and in-depth tutorials to help you build a highly-effective recovery department.
I’d like to close this with a quick ask. If you enjoyed this, please share with a colleague. Even better, take advantage of the referral program (linked below). If you disliked it, let me know why. All feedback is good feedback, after all.
Cheers,
Nate