Regional Tax Group finds an innovative partner in AddComm for customer communication
It is not only commercial organisations that are increasingly putting the customer at the centre. A local public authority such as the Regional Tax Group (RBG) also recognises the importance of this approach. Their mission and vision are clear: know your customer. And that is no small task. RBG serves no fewer than one million customers.
Although people do not actively choose to become customers of RBG, Production Coordinator Roger Visser fully understands how important a customer-focused approach is. In this interview, he explains how he works together with AddComm on innovative projects to achieve optimal customer communication.
Transition from traditional enforcement to socially responsible debt collection
When we ask Roger about his role within RBG, he explains, “I am involved in legislative changes, but my main focus is optimising internal processes. At the moment, we are in the middle of a transition from traditional enforcement to socially responsible debt collection. To make this work, it is essential that both the assessment and collection of taxes run as smoothly as possible. We serve around one million households and have access to a large amount of historical and current data. Until recently, we were not really using that data at all. By analysing it more deeply, we can serve our customers much better. Their ability to pay is now at the centre of our approach.”
Automation as the next innovative step
To work in a more customer-centric way, RBG collaborates closely with AddComm. Roger explains, “We started working with AddComm five years ago, initially for mail processing. Over time, AddComm has truly grown into a strategic partner for customer communication. It is a highly innovative organisation, where everything revolves around customer-focused thinking.”
Connect, control and challenge
At present, RBG still communicates exclusively via postal mail, but Roger would like to see that change. “Our tax system can only generate communication by post. We want to go much further and learn from the large commercial organisations AddComm works with. Think of automating customer communication processes. Automation enables you to work in a far more customer-centric way and respond immediately when something happens.”
“That is why we ran a first successful pilot last year using AddComm’s platform to automate various communication scenarios. The next step is to integrate that platform with our tax system, allowing us to automate and optimise our customer communication.”
Communicating on a personal level
One of the projects Roger is working on together with AddComm is called Preventing problem debt. This pilot involved seven thousand customers who were either unable or unwilling to pay, with the goal of preventing unnecessary accumulation of debt.
“How do you do that?” Roger explains. “By analysing contact behaviour, payment behaviour and payment capacity, we gain deeper insight into our customers. These seven thousand customers had an average of four outstanding tax years, and we were essentially chasing our own tail. Two hundred thousand contact moments had not resulted in payment.”
“By looking at individual situations, we have now reached a solution with fifty percent of these customers. Instead of sending a bailiff, we started a dialogue through outbound calls and home visits. This approach was very well received by our customers.”
“The next step is to automate part of this process, so we can detect issues earlier and contact customers directly via email or voice messages. That is where AddComm comes in again.”
Proactively improving customer communication
Together with AddComm, Roger has implemented several improvements in customer communication over the past few years. “AddComm truly thinks proactively with us,” he concludes. “We have segmented our customers for more effective communication and now use digital solutions for personal and secure contact. From paper to email, phone calls and SMS, it is a huge benefit to have everything handled by one partner.”
“Whatever our needs, AddComm always looks for a solution. That is how a true strategic partnership has developed. At the moment, our tax system is still a limiting factor in further automation, but I hope that together with AddComm we can take this next step soon.”
Are you also looking for an innovative partner for optimal customer communication? Feel free to get in touch. We are happy to make complex challenges simple for you.
