Table of Contents

1. Identify Reasons to Move Towards Autopay
2. Should You Promote a Specific Type of Autopay?
3. Identify Customers Using Paper Billing
4. Announce Your Autopay Initiative
5. Activate the Change
6. Review and Audit Your Initiative

Step 1: Identify Reasons to Move Towards Autopay

Brand your campaign and give customers clear reasons why they should make the move to autopay:

• 'Go Green' Initiative – Good for the environment, saves time, money, and paper
• Flexible Autopay Dates – Sign up using AlarmPayments.com
• Enhanced Security – Avoid sending PII (Personally Identifiable Information) in the mail
• Consistent Schedule – Avoid late fees and missed payments
• Help Keep Costs Down – Reduces operational expenses
• Avoid Printing/Mailing Costs – Saves money for the dealer
• Customer Convenience – No need to pay for postage when mailing payments

Step 2: Should You Promote a Specific Type of Autopay?

Consider encouraging customers to choose ACH over credit card autopay for these benefits:

• No expiration date monitoring – No need to worry about expired cards
• Lower pass-through fees – Reduces transaction costs for your business

Step 3: Identify Customers Using Paper Billing

Cornerstone can assist you with identifying customers using the Inquiry/Mail tool.

Use the tool to determine how many customers currently have their invoices printed and mailed. This data will help you plan your communication strategy and estimate the scope of your initiative.

Step 4: Announce Your Autopay Initiative

After identifying how many customers receive mailed invoices, decide on your best communication method.

Key Communication Tips

Important: Make sure your initiative includes an 'as of' date that is prominent in any communication.

Communication Options

Option 1: Mail and/or Email a Letter

Consider the breakdown of your customer base:

• Customers with email addresses can receive electronic communication
• Only customers without email addresses need printed/mailed letters

Example: If 2,113 customers receive paper invoices but 1,694 have email addresses, you only need to print/mail 419 letters.

We can assist you in using our Inquiry/Mail tool to create the letter and print/email or print AND email to the correct subset of customers. Customize your letter to encourage customers to visit alarmpayments.com to sign up for autopay.

Option 2: Use Invoice Backs

The printed invoice back is a great way to reinforce and advertise the initiative – it's free and can be customized with your details.

We can even place a custom front graphic on printed invoices to draw attention to the important information on the invoice back.

Step 5: Activate the Change

Important Note: All of these methods require regular monitoring of recurring codes.

Method 1: Create a Paper Fee Recurring Charge

Charge a paper fee for all customers who are NOT on autopay.

Pros:

• Encourages customers to sign up for autopay

Cons:

• Requires consistent monitoring to identify customers still on PAPER billing method and those who have stopped autopay
• Credit card rules require an email receipt of recurring transactions. Customers without email addresses cannot be set up with cards and should be encouraged to sign up with ACH

Method 2: Move Customers to Email Billing Method

Move all customers who are NOT on autopay to the email billing method.

Pros:

• Immediately eliminates the need for printer/paper invoices

Cons:

• Email providers' SPAM algorithms can cause invoices not to be delivered. For example, companies with Microsoft O365 may experience emails from "trusted addresses" being quarantined. If using email only, we recommend turning on 'statements' so a paper record of amounts past due is always sent
• Many older customers do not have email addresses

Method 3: Add a Discount Recurring Charge

Offer a discount recurring charge to all autopay customers.

Pros:

• Encourages customers to move to autopay

Cons:

• Recommend using a specific recharge code for easy identification
• Requires constant monitoring of recurring charges to ensure the discount is stopped if autopay is stopped

Step 6: Review and Audit Your Initiative

You've taken great care choreographing this initiative, so make sure to audit your changes regularly.

Audit Checklist

Scenario 1: Customer Moved from Autopay Back to Printer Billing

If a customer moves back to printer billing method, the paper fee should be added to their account.

How to Monitor:

1. From the Customer tab, click on the Recurring Research icon
2. Filter the Service field for the autopay discount recurring code
3. If the customer has moved back to printer billing method, stop date the discount recurring code

Scenario 2: Customer Signed Up for Autopay But Still Being Charged Paper Fee

If a customer used AlarmPayments.com to set up autopay but is still being charged a paper billing fee, you need to stop the fee.

How to Monitor:

1. From the Customer tab, click on the Recurring Research icon
2. Filter the Service field for the PAPER bill recurring code
3. If the customer has moved to autopay, stop date the PAPER billing recurring code

Need Help?

Still have questions? Contact Cornerstone Holding Co. 847-405-9517 or email us customer.success@alarmbills.com