How to achieve a 90 percent Response Rate with this powerful nudge
The handwritten BRFkredit success story
The challenge: Getting a response from customers
Effective communication is always a two-way process, i.e. it requires an interaction between the sender and the receiver of your message. The sender is the person who initiates the process of communication by sending a message. The receiver is the one to whom the message is to be delivered, with the objective to ideally cause action.
But getting a response is especially difficult in the context of financially distressed customers. So how can you interact with them, to propose them an advantageous refinancing solution? They simply don’t open grey envelopes anymore.
This target group is known for not opening letters at all because of the psychological distress caused by the financial troubles they are facing. When the letters start to pile up, debtors tend to develop a certain fear of window envelopes.
The solution: Hand-addressed Envelopes
BRFkredit (renamed Jyske Realkredit in August 2018) replaced the traditional window envelope with one where the customer’s name and address is written in an employee’s handwriting and the company logo is not displayed on the envelope
The results why sending hand-addressed envelopes
BRFkredit achieved an unparalleled response rate of 90%, i.e. the customers responded to the letter by contacting the local branch (N= 1300 cases). BRFkredit stated that they have been able to bring those home-owners back on their feet because engaging with the bank saved them and the bank between 100 and 150 million Danish kroner (18-27 million USD).
This public success story is a great example of the importance to stand out. There is plenty of research available to demonstrate the measurable impact of hand-addressed envelopes in comparison to printed ones. Sending handwritten notes or handwritten letters is always great because the recipients will dedicate more attention to your message. But sometimes already a hand-addressed envelope can be sufficient.
