By Chris Titley, Sub11
There are bills that land in the letterbox and bills that land on your phone. Both have their place.
These days, most bills are electronic or already set up on direct debit. Telstra, Amber, Afterpay — they are sorted before I even think about them. But there are still the odd ones that are not. Urban Utilities in my case. Rates notices. Even the anaesthetist’s invoice.
Those are the ones that tend to get opened, glanced at, and then filed away. Into the drawer. Onto the pile. Into the to-do list for later.
That is fine in theory. But in practice, it often means “later” stretches out. Until a text reminder arrives.
The Nudge That Works
This week I had reminders from Afterpay, Telstra and Amber. A short message. A simple date. Sometimes a link. Just a timely ping.
It is the same bill, but the delivery changes the behaviour. That SMS has a way of moving something from the “I will get to it” list into “I better sort this now.”
Even in health, I have seen this play out. A text from a specialist’s practice confirming a dermatologist appointment is not the kind of thing you ignore. It cuts through. More on why SMS still works here
Why It Matters
Paper bills are still useful. They hold the details, the records, the sense of formality. But SMS is where the action happens. The reminder. The click. The behaviour change.
The combination of the two — detail on paper, prompt on phone — is what makes the system work for most of us.
Where Yabbr Fits
In my time working with Yabbr, I have seen how this type of messaging is handled at scale. The reminder needs to be timely, it needs to be delivered reliably, and it needs to be recognised as genuine.
Because when the bill is due and the SMS lands, it is often that little nudge that makes all the difference.
It will save the company collections, time, effort and perhaps even save you a dent on your credit file if you had missed it.
If your organisation wants to better use SMS as part of its billing or customer communication process, the Yabbr team is worth a conversation.
Stay tuned for next week’s article!
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