In both our personal and professional lives, we’ve all been there. Trying to find paper documents can be a very trying exercise indeed, resulting in frustration and wasted time. There is an answer: digitizing paper documents and files.
Document conversion is that process, and when executed following a well-developed records management system, it can really help improve your customer service. For starters, digital documents are easily retrieved—no more getting the step stool to reach boxes on the top shelf! And that time spent looking for a paper file can be redirected toward assisting customers.
Those same documents, in digital form, are easily shared, too. In today’s “everything-in-an- instant” world, customers (or potential customers) don’t want to wait for information. Digital files are easily emailed upon request or uploaded to drop boxes.
Looking at only the retrieving and sharing of digitized information, it’s easy to see the efficiencies your company will enjoy, which in turn benefits your current customers. Instead of spending time searching for documents, you’ll be able to focus more on attending to their needs. Also, over time, the time savings can translate to cost savings that you can pass along to your valued customers.
A behind-the-scenes customer benefit lies in the inherent security digital documents can provide. Paper documents are at risk on several fronts. The first is simply the potential for damage to them—imagine a pipe bursting in the filing room. The second is theft. Of course, you must take the proper steps to secure your digital files, which can be accomplished by using passwords and other measures.
If your company has already embraced digital and you have your customer-facing documents in Microsoft Word, you might still want to take a look at document conversion. In your case, the benefit is converting those Word documents to PDFs. Word notoriously does not translate well outside of the exact version of Word. Font issues and margins can often head a little sideways, making what looks great on your screen become a hot mess when the end-user opens it up. PDFs lock the components of the page, giving your documents a polished and professional look that reinforces the trustworthy image you’ve worked hard to build.
Now that we’ve covered why document conversion might be good for your company and the customer service you provide; you might be wondering about next steps. Depending on the scope of what needs to be scanned, certainly, DIY scanning can be done. And not that there’s anything wrong with that, as the Seinfeld crew once famously said. Keep in mind, though, that not all scanners are designed for bulk scanning, so see if yours is capable of handling the job efficiently. You’ll also need to devote some resources to manage the scanning project.
The other option is to have your scanning needs handled by professionals, like those at HIG. HIG offers a variety of document conversion—and storage—solutions. With our help, you can up your customer service game by providing the requested information in a timely manner, and redirecting time lost looking for files toward making every experience with your company the best it can be.
