The service is being provided using a system from VoiceSage, which calls customers to remind them to pay their latest bill in the next seven days, before the next one is due to arrive.
The system was first tested in late January and, by April, it had been rolled out to all of Otto’s brands – Freemans, Grattan, Kaleidoscope, Look Again, Montage and Oli.
During the trials, 50 per cent of customers received the automated payment notification and the other half did not, so Otto could track how beneficial the system was. The introduction of the service has also reduced the numbers of calls dealing with missed payments and chasing late payments.
Otto UK head of risk management Andy Bolton said the system had become part of the retailer’s normal operations quickly. “It was business as usual within a week of beginning to use it,” he said, adding that Otto was able to adopt the system without much input from Otto’s IT department or off-site training.
The messages that customers hear are personalised by brand, but customers’ personal information is not included in the message. He said that the retailer had received no complaints about inappropriate use of customers’ telephone numbers.
Customers are given 21 days to make a payment from the date of each monthly statement. Previously, Otto did not remind customers in the seven days before the next statement is due, so if they had forgotten to pay, they would not be reminded until they received a letter with their next statement.
Bolton added that, as well as providing a service to customers, the system is helping Otto “make better decisions earlier in the lifecycle of a customer”.
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