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It's the right thing for your customers
Everyone deserves to understand the information they’re given, especially when it affects their money, lifestyle, or future. Clearer numbers mean fairer, more understandable communication, so your customers can make informed choices with confidence.
It’s the right thing for your business
Confused customers are frustrated customers. When people understand what you’re telling them, they’re more likely to trust you, less likely to complain, and far more likely to stay loyal.
It’s the right thing for regulation
Clear communication isn’t just good practice, it’s a requirement. Regulators expect firms to present information in a way customers can understand. Improving customer understanding means staying compliant and showing that you are doing the right thing for your customers.
What we’ve seen
In our initial trial with Clearscore, we saw that in the original communication about a balance transfer offer, 19% of people asked could correctly answer four out of five comprehension questions correctly. When the Plain Numbers Method was applied to the same communication, that jumped to 40%.
In every case we’ve seen, the gap between what organisations believe customers understand and what they actually understand is larger than expected.
The change we see most often goes beyond the communications themselves. Colleagues start spotting opportunities for clearer number communication – and therefore significantly improved customer understanding – they would previously have missed. They apply Plain Numbers Principles to everything they do. The thinking becomes part of how they work, not an extra step on a checklist.
We work closely with regulators
The FCA’s own Communications team have completed Plain Numbers training. They are reviewing their house style guidelines to align with Plain Numbers best practice, embedding these principles into how the FCA communicates risk, evidence and regulatory expectations as standard.
“Being a smarter regulator is not just about collecting better data. It is about translating that data into clear and actionable insight for the people that use it.”
— Hannah Doran, Digital and Design Manager, FCA
Mike Ellicock
Ben Perkins
Diane Hume
"The training and the regular engagement with our partnership manager are the most useful parts of the partnership. The responsiveness to our queries is greatly appreciated, plus the time given to help brief and generate awareness across our wider teams."
—Customer Strategy Manager, Anglian Water
See how organisations are putting this into practice
We’ve got a growing list of examples of work to improve customer understanding with partners across different sectors. Our latest report covers how organisations embed customer understanding, the communications changes that make the biggest difference and the outcomes they see as a result.