For truly successful credit management, you must implement the right technology, processes and policies. In terms of technology, choosing the right software can have a huge impact. It can make your life as a credit manager easier by accelerating and improving your results. It is therefore vital to implement a solution that will add value to your credit management strategy, and the company at large, in both the short and long term. So, how do you ensure you get the most from credit management software and processes? We’ve highlighted some key areas to get you started.
Create a holistic view
An integrated accounts receivable solution offers a holistic view of customer relationships as well as financial transactions. Sharing critical information creates a single view of your customer, enabling increased predictability and reducing risks. The more information you can access, the more likely you are to identify areas where you can refine processes and add value within the organisation. This could potentially lead to the kind of savings and service improvements that enable investment and customer growth.
A clearer picture of clients will give you a better understanding of their behaviour. This, in turn, will allow you to determine which actions to take. For instance, if a substantial group of customers never react to your collection activities due to only making payments on the last Friday of each month, you could save time and money by terminating unnecessary actions. Ultimately, the impact of decisions based on incomplete information can be damaging to customer relationships.
Choose the right functionalities
For an optimal credit management process, it’s vital to choose software that has the right functionalities and capabilities. For instance, by integrating your complaints management with your credit and collections management, you will gain a better insight into customers. Without this, you are likely to have an incomplete overview of your customers and their payment behaviour. This increases the chances of unnecessary communication. This can take a toll on your customer relations.
For example, a customer is contacted about a late payment because the team is not aware of an ongoing dispute. As a result, the customer can feel pressured and undervalued. An integrated complaints functionality can help improve business processes and customer satisfaction. As well as being able to handle complaints, you’ll get the most from the software if it can also be used to segment customers, schedule communication and generate reports. With the right reporting options, it’s possible to turn the data gathered into valuable information and strengthen customer relationships. These functionalities also take the place of many manual processes, which can be time-consuming and prone to human error.
Futureproof your solution
As more organisations begin their digital transformation journey, the importance of a futureproof credit management solution shouldn’t be underestimated. Therefore, choose credit management software that is flexible enough to scale up or down as the organisation changes over time. By making the right choice from the beginning, you will save time, money and the inconvenience of upgrading or replacing a solution that is no longer feasible.
Monitoring whether your software solution is up to speed with your current credit management policy and strategy is a continuous process. The right software with the right capabilities will enable you to have a more effective credit management strategy. As well as allow you to save time, money and resources and gain added value. To achieve this, it is vital to ask the right questions and choose a system that will genuinely meet your needs both now and in the future. Your organisation cannot afford to have problems related to missed opportunities, low productivity, damaged customer relationships or failure to future-proof your systems.
