CCR2 GDPR
Designing communication to build relationships
A new research project has highlighted the importance of simple language in communications
Dawn Stobart Director of external affairs, Christians Against Poverty
dawnstobart@capuk.org
We are a debt counselling charity helping people out of debt and poverty across the UK. We run a free face-to-face service, which offers both practical and emotional support. Our service is designed to help those with the most complex needs to get out of debt, dealing with some of the poorest in the UK.
Research project We have recently undertaken a research project on client communications, exploring how we can improve response rates. For organisations working in the financial
industry, such as creditors and debt advisers, increasing customer engagement is always an ongoing challenge. For people in financial difficulty, opening
the post can be a daunting task, which many avoid altogether. Although our service is designed to help
clients, there is still a challenge in encouraging engagement, as many people, in financial difficulty, have chaotic lives. In 2017, it was found that, before our help, as many as 75% of clients were afraid
We lowered the reading age of each letter, cutting the use of technical terms and testing each letter using the Flesch-Kincaid readability test
to open the post, proving the difficultly in encouraging clients to engage.
The envelope Because of this, a key step we took was to change the look of the envelope, ensuring that clients could recognise it was from us, setting them apart from the rest of the bills and demands from creditors. We ensured that these envelopes did not display our name, to protect clients’ privacy. Each letter was rewritten by our in-house
Communications team. We wanted to unify all communications, bringing the tone in line
with the other methods of communication, such as telephone calls and the face-to-face contact that we provide. Our caseworkers also received training on how to write in our tone, to further unify our voice.
Flesch-Kincaid test We lowered the reading age of each letter, cutting the use of technical terms and testing each letter using the Flesch-Kincaid readability test. This test ensured that each letter was easy
to understand and in plain English. Where relevant, letters now come with a
separate factsheet that breaks information down into easy-to-understand numbers and tables. The letters were redesigned to include simple icons, improved fonts, and wider line spacing. This improved readability, as well as creating a consistent look that becomes familiar to the recipient. A recent study revealed that, on average,
people only read 20% of the content on a page. With this in mind, we ensured that the basic message of the letter was raised and set apart from the rest of the
text.CCR2
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www.CCRMagazine.com
March 2018
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