The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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44 OCTOBER 2016 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com BUSINESS OPERATIONS NEWS BY COLLIN SULLIVAN, NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER, AVATAS PAYMENT SOLUTIONS Every day we see it: people, especially younger people, with their eyes glued to their phones. Whether this is good or bad is widely debated, but the importance of mobile phones is not. These devices will continue to play important roles in how we get information, keep in touch with others, manage our lives, and yes, capture Pokémon too. The question that we should ask as energy marketers is how to position ourselves to not only accommodate the mobile wave, but also take advantage of it. Here are some of the trends that reflect this shift to mobile and some of the new tools that are out there to enhance your offerings and meet new demand. Trend 1: Mobile phones are an important part of people's lives. Anecdotally, you know it's true. Whether you are out eating at a restaurant, standing in line or even walking around, there is always someone who is checking their phone, taking a picture, or texting. In fact, according to a recent Deloitte study, Americans check their smart phones more than 8 billion times a day. That translates into some 46 times a day per person. This is up from 33 times per day in 2014. But it isn't just that we are just checking our phones, we are also spending a significant 4.7 hours a day on them, according to a survey last year by research firm Informate, based in Seattle, Wash. Trend 2: The way people pay and manage bills is changing When you think about how convenient your phone can make things and combine that with how widespread cell phone use is, it isn't too surprising that people are moving toward mobile payments. According to Forrester Research, mobile payments are forecast to grow to $142 billion by 2019, up from $52 billion in 2014. This is supported by statistics from the Federal Reserve that show almost 30% of smart phone owners have used mobile payments and more than 50% of them use online banking. Trend 3: New homeowners are younger and more tech savvy. As you look around your neighborhood you probably see it: older homeowners are downsizing or relocating and younger families are moving in. In fact, the largest group of home buyers in 2015 comprised those under 34, according to Realtor.org. This higher proportion of younger homeowners is important because these customers have been raised using mobile phones and the internet for everything, including payments. WePay has found that 52% of millennials never use checks and 64% of all Americans write fewer than three checks per month. So what does this all mean for my company? I know our industry isn't the most progressive when it comes to embracing technology, but if the trends are any indicator, then we need to change, or at least work to accommodate these more technologically savvy custom- ers. The companies that are able to do this will give themselves a competitive advantage—they'll be more likely to get a bigger slice of the new business while also keeping their existing customers. What types of new tools are out there? Text billing: This is new functionality in the industry. The way it works is that your customer can opt to get a text message on their mobile phone when their bill is due. To pay, they send a text back with a security PIN and it's done. It also allows you to notify them regarding any service alerts, delivery schedules or anything else. Pay by voice: This functionality allows customers to use their phone to pay without having to speak with customer service. Customers call a toll-free number and use their voice to interact directly with the database to set up and make payments. This is an especially valuable tool for customers who aren't quite ready to go fully mobile or for people who like to pay their bills outside of normal business hours or while they are on the go using a mobile phone. E-billing: With this tool, your customers get an email and can navigate directly to a secure site to make a payment. This is particu- larly valuable for customers with smart phones. They access email on their phone and pay by just pressing a couple of buttons. It is also a great way for you to reduce your printing and postage expenses. Mobile optimized tools: Online bill pay is probably one of the most valuable tools you can provide to your customers and one of the best ways to keep your costs down. But with these types of services, make sure your tools are optimized for mobile phones. If your customers can't get to your payment site on their mobile device, you are limiting its effectiveness. Security: This isn't as much a tool as it is something you should think about. The number one reason why people don't do more on their mobile devices is because of security. Steps to protect data include data tokenization, secure information vaults and enhanced encryption. Make sure your vendor uses these tools designed to enhance security. l F O N AVATAS Payment Solutions is a payment processing company for the energy and service industry. Collin Sullivan can be reached at 866.298.7836 or by email at info@avataspayments.com. Demographics and Mobility Reshape Payment to Marketers