For all the conveniences and impressive functionality of modern technology, some things feel like they should stay just the way they are. When it comes to invoicing, digital formats can often become more of a burden than a convenience.
Paper Invoices
Paper feels so much more permanent, more tactile. Your clients will be able to have a hard copy for their needs any time they want without the headache of technology’s occasional but inevitable shortcomings. Give them peace of mind by mailing them a paper slip they can put their hands on and file away forever rather than forcing them to stay all digital all the time.
Why Old Media Is Sometimes the Best Media
There is something to be said about the joys of traditional print media. Our ancestors spent hundreds of years developing ways to communicate and store the written word so that everyone could literally be on the same page.
With the emergence of digital technology, some were smugly sounding the death knell of paper altogether. “Digital Word Processing and the Internet Will Create the Paperless Office,” they clacked with an odious air on their keyboards. Then their computer crashed.
Like anything complex, technology is not always as reliable or predictable as we want it to be. Sometimes, problems occur. Other times, things are working as they should but as counterintuitively as possible. Who has not sat there and screamed unmentionable phrases at their computer screen when trying to remember their login password? Did it need a capital, a lowercase, a number, a symbol? Requirements like these run completely opposite to the typical human line of thinking. With so many parameters, something is bound to get forgotten in the mix.
Likewise, digital invoice distribution can have hang-ups of its own. Internet connections are not always 100 percent reliable. On top of that, telling one saved file apart from another can be difficult without a set system to store, arrange and retrieve later on as needed.
A paper invoice is harder to lose once filed, and it can be accessed faster than the time it takes to open some programs or tangle with logins. Rather than forcing your clients to pore through their electronic tunnels of various folders, files and search functions, they can flit their fingers through a filing cabinet and retrieve the slip they need with as little friction between their goals as possible.
A Backup for Your Backups
Hard drives and servers can fail, meaning years’ worth of data can be lost in an instant. Many companies have backup services arranged, but resorting to backups often requires a number of steps. Watching loading bars tick slowly for hours is not something humans were meant to do, at least not if they want to remain sane.
While the backups are getting restored, someone in accounting or working on the budget can know where to look for the original. Like clockwork, it will get mailed to them and there will never be any question of whether or not it was a file from last month or last year. They can then tuck it away in a spot that is not hidden under piles of other file storage amidst application data and work files.
Give your clients this peace of mind, and let them know you are professional by mailing them a regular invoices proudly featuring your company’s branding on the side. Visit our products page to find the #10 or document envelope you need to show your clients that you are looking out for them.
