Customer Communications: Transparency is Key
Thanks to the Internet, consumers have dramatic access to more information than ever before. So while organizations can no longer hope to “control” the message, they can at least “inform” the message to the greatest extent possible by providing a rich array of open and honest communications. These communications should serve as a transparent window into the organization and its people to show how they are working each day to deliver a valuable product or service. This kind of transparency helps to maintain credibility and trust, something you really can’t put a price on.
When I worked as the publications editor for United Water, maintaining the public’s trust regarding our product — clean, fresh drinking water — was paramount. In that role, I was responsible for writing and producing consumer communications that were sent to over 1 million homes in the metropolitan New York area. Every quarter I would write the bill inserts sent to each customer, and annually I would produce a government-mandated water quality report. For particular service territories such as Toms River, N.J., I generated a special newsletter as an added level of outreach in addition to my responsibility for facilitating Customer Advisory Panel meetings in that city.
Each of these consumer communication projects required the management of many details, including editorial planning, copy writing and fact checking, art selection and procurement, desktop publishing, printing contracts and distribution coordination.