Using Business Forms To Tell Your Story

One of the main limitations of business forms is that they can be painfully basic. Think of times when you’ve opened a package with a generic packing slip that the vendor probably found in the first Google result for “pack slip template.” These are the companies you forget about.

There are dozens of basic forms out there, and unfortunately many of them fail to convey anything meaningful about the company creating them.

Don’t miss the opportunity to tell your story.

Even something as small as a business form explains to the customer who you are and what you care about. Business forms like order confirmations, invoices, credit memos and packing slips are all opportunities to tell your company story, increase familiarity with your logo and generate a positive association with your brand.

Business forms are part of the overall impression you make.

Business forms are ubiquitous – which is another reason not to ignore them! If you’re sending thousands of forms out each week, it’s even more important to take advantage of the opportunity to connect with customers.

Here are a few examples of nice updates to business forms:

Adding Images
On one order confirmation form for a business with more than 100,000 SKUs, we added product images. Because of the sheer number of similar items, the business wanted to make sure that it was clear which product was being ordered. For example, there were thousands of silk flowers that could be ordered, but only one SKU with a 3-stem combination of white tulips. This order confirmation is an example of how thoughtful and thorough this business is and how much they care for their customers. We loved seeing the impression this made and how it immediately made ordering more intuitive and clear.

Adding Ship-To Addresses
On this Credit Memo form, a company doing business with thousands of ship-to addresses wanted to make it clear to the recipient where the item had been shipped. Because there can be so many different Ship-To locations for a single company, the corporate office wasn’t always aware of the provenance of the orders and credits that were being issued. This simple touch immediately makes life easier for the people processing the credit memo and shows consideration to that person.

Using Dynamic Logos
On these order confirmations and invoices, it was important to reflect the division of the business from which the confirmation appeared to come. If your company has multiple divisions with separate brands, this is worthwhile. Whenever a customer would order from a specific division, the form with that division’s logo would be dynamically selected so the customer’s requested brand would be reflected on the order and invoice, instead of the brand of the parent company. Great example of brand awareness.

So- don’t neglect your business forms. Use them to convey a message about your company or about the customer experience. Use them to make life easier for the people who process the form. And use it as a way to really share what’s unique about your company.