December 2006

n  MARKETING
 

Designed Right, Your Tuition Bill Will Increase Collections Rates and Improve  Student Experience

Did you know that a bill has the highest response rate of any direct mail device in circulation today?
 

Have you ever thought about the fact that the tuition and fees bill may be the most frequently read communication of any that your institution sends to your students and parents? 

Would you believe that your tuition and fees bill has the power to improve communication, reduce customer inquiries, streamline payment processing, increase collections rates, and enhance the image of your institution to your core constituents? These are not fantasies; these are the realities that business officers are experiencing right now.

To capitalize on the potential of the bill to be an effective communications vehicle, it must be designed for the benefit of the payer – the parent or student – to ensure that they quickly see these three priority messages:   

The bill must convey information that can be easily read and understood by the payer. Follows are best practice design techniques that have been applied in tuition bills within the last year with proven results*:
 

Top 10 Best Practices in Bill Organization and Design 

1. Identify the most important data point that the reader must see to take action on the bill: What I owe. Highlight it graphically and put it in a prominent location, as in the upper quadrant of the bill.
   
    

2. Avoid data overload: prioritize the information that you must convey on the bill; use this to decide what will be placed on the top third of the bill.
   
    

3. Present information sequentially and consistently: the eye naturally travels from upper left to lower right.
   
    

4. Use one color: black on white paper. Use vertical rules, boxes, bolding and capitalization to group and/or differentiate data. Use light shading to highlight important information.
   
    

5. Present Data in Summary Form in as few columns as possible, with column header descriptions. Make sure these titles convey exactly what the data represents in simple terms. Label sub-data with a clear, descriptive title. Present sub-totals for each column followed by the balance due. Place detail, supplemental or supporting data (such as class schedules or transactional detail) on the back of the bill, or on page two.
   
    

6. Save space for Important Messages; title the area and place it in a lightly shaded box to add visual prominence. Use this section to convey variable messages such as registration alerts; financial aid status; changes in the bill; reminders of critical due dates; account status; new services.
   
    

7. Group your institution’s name, logo, address, website address, email, and phone contact information in one prominent place, preferably upper left or right quadrant.
   
    

8. Review/proofread the bill from the user’s perspective. Make sure the bill is clear and concise, yet descriptive.
   
    

9. Test the new layout with a small sample of people who are not familiar with your institution. Observe how they read the bill; obtain feedback and consider changes that would improve or clarify the bill. Rewrite phrases/titles that are not immediately clear to readers. Reposition data elements to make sure they “pop out” at the reader.
   
    

10. If you offer e-billing or e-payment, direct the payer to “View Details of your Account” at your institution’s EBPP portal to keep the detail off the bill.

*As reported by 387 tuition payers responding to a January 2006 survey administered by RC Communications which tested their reactions to the new bill format as shown below in Figure 1.