Tough market dynamics, economic uncertainty, and supply chain disruptions have set a volatile course for banks, insurance, and utilities companies over the last few years. The pressure is on:  

• Last year, the retail banking industry sent 69 million households paper statements, averaging about $9 per customer¹
• 37% of global households experienced challenges paying their energy bills in the last 12 months²
• 81% of consumers are interested in the energy transition, yet only 46% are willing or able to pay more to support clean energy initiative²

At the same time, customers are demanding more—expecting the same seamless, personalized, and proactive service they receive from digital-first leaders in other industries. The opportunity? Win customer loyalty while lowering costs and improving efficiency. 

There’s certainly room to grow customer satisfaction: a recent study found nearly 32% of utility websites and apps do not meet fundamental usability standards, and 28% of utilities do not offer a mobile app.³ The path forward for leaders is to achieve great customer experience while driving down costs and boosting efficiency. 

Here are five strategies to do just that, while also shrinking your environmental footprint. 

1. Accelerate the shift from print to digital 

Did you know that one statement delivered electronically saves 0.25 gallons of water and 67 grams of greenhouse gas?^[4] Moving more customers to paperless delivery reduces costs, improves delivery speed, and supports sustainability goals. Most consumers prefer digital statements: a 2023 study showed 56% prefer digital while only 17% prefer paper and 27% prefer a blend of both.⁵

With  OpenText™ Document Presentment for SAP® Solutions, you can adopt a digital-first approach that makes the transition seamless for customers. 

2. Deliver timely, mission-critical digital notifications  

Outage updates, billing reminders, and urgent alerts can make or break customer satisfaction. McKinsey research shows: 

• Beyond a 30-minute delay in outage restoration updates, satisfaction drops sharply. 
• 50% of customer sentiment during outages depends on communication timeliness, clarity, and accessibility.⁶

With Document Presentment for SAP Solutions, you can map the customer journey by using flow models and outcome mapping to route by event type, priority and customer segment, tailoring messages to each stage, and ensuring critical updates reach customers fast—whether by email, SMS, or mobile app. 

3. Power process efficiency at scale  

When it comes to high-volume document output, process improvement and streamlined workflows are the name of the game. Global leaders like L’Oreal have reduced document creation costs by 20%  with Document Presentment for SAP Solutions while Puget Sound Energy optimized document production – cutting costs, archiving data instantly and scaling to millions of customers.  With Document Presentment for SAP, Orchestrator automatically hands off documents and business metadata to SAP, enabling direct archiving within the SAP environment. 

4. Empower customers to self-serve 

Most customers value the ability to complete transactions on their own. McKinsey found that well-designed digital channels perform as well—or better—than traditional ones, at a fraction of the cost. From account updates to service requests, Document Presentment for SAP enables secure, user-friendly self-service options that boost satisfaction and free up your teams. 

5. Turn every bill into a catalyst for connection 

Every billing communication is high-value real estate—an untapped moment to educate, inspire, and engage. With advanced targeting, you can deliver personalized messages that matter: from sustainability initiatives and energy-saving tips to tools that strengthen financial health and build long-term wealth. Add in relevant up-sell and cross-sell offers, and each statement becomes more than a transaction—it’s a chance to deepen trust, drive action, and champion a greener, more prosperous future. 

Ready to transform your customer communications? 

See how OpenText Document Presentment for SAP Solutions can help your organization reduce costs, streamline operations and delight customers – all while advancing your sustainability goals.  

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