Driving organisational change is not for the faint of heart.
To move an entire organisation, to change processes and patterns of behavior that may have been around for a decade or more, it takes more than a good idea.
It takes a foundational shift. One that everyone can see and feel the impact of.
And there’s no better place to make such a shift than in accounts receivable (AR).
That’s right. AR.
Implementing a smart AR platform can be revolutionary for your business: it accelerates cash flow, increases productivity and efficiency, increases revenue and results in happier, more loyal customers.
And it fundamentally can change the way your entire organisation behaves.
The credit-to-cash process is complex. It requires consistent management of layered processes, and often very manual processes: invoicing customers, managing collections, receiving payments, handling disputes, applying cash. The ability of an AR team to smoothly connect all the dots from credit to cash rests firmly on the tools available to them.
What does this have to do with the rest of your organisation?
Everything.
- Because it’s Sales who brings in the orders that generates the invoices.
- It’s Operations who handles the delivery of the product or service.
- It’s Support who handles the incoming calls related to the product or service.
- It’s Customer Success who ensures customers are getting questions answered and buying more product or services from you.
- It’s Legal who may need to step in periodically to resolve disputes.
- It’s the Executive Team who may be wining-and-dining certain customers.
Depending on how your company is organised, there may be other roles also involved in the customer experience. Roles vary but the fact remains - many teams inside your business are connected to the customer. And the customer’s information.
What happens when the Sales rep has a conversation with the customer about a pricing adjustment, and records it in the CRM but that CRM isn’t connected to the accounting software the AR team is using?
If an incorrect invoice is sent, it doesn’t leave a positive impression on the customer. And if it isn’t easily resolved because the information is hard for the AR team to access, then it painfully extends what should be a quick and easy fix. This creates a poor customer experience.
And that’s just one example. There are many others involving delayed product shipments, addendums to orders, late payments and changing billing contacts. And any one of these can get lost in a disconnected, inconsistent process that leaves a sour taste in the mouth of the customer.
Customer experience is what ultimately drives a healthier cash flow.
Not a believer? Consider these numbers:
- 74% of business buyers say they will pay more for a great customer experience
- Loyal customers are FIVE times as likely to buy again when they have a great customer experience
- 67% of customer churn is avoidable if the issue is resolved in the first conversation
- 70% of customers expect a business’ website to contain a self-service application
- 73% of customers want to resolve issues on their own and not contact the business
- 84% of businesses actively working to improve customer experience also report an increase in revenue
The life blood of your business is customers and cash. And one controls the other. Treat your customers well and the cash will follow.
Why the AR process is key to your cash flow
AR is the reason you have cash in your business. From initial credit assessment to invoicing, dispute management and deductions, collections to cash application, the AR team has the most frequent and consistent touch points with your customers. But as we illustrated earlier, other team players often have a role in these processes as well and require up to date information to support customers.
When the full credit-to-cash process is supported by three key pillars of smart AR, the entire business benefits.
The three pillars of smart AR are:
- Data Management: tie all your siloed data repositories together and bring the information into actionable reports and easy to read dashboards to help make smarter business decisions
- Automation: leverage automated communications to stay in consistent contact with customers about their accounts to minimise late payments
- Transparency: create a customer self-service portal that allows customers to manage their invoices and payments on their schedule, and manage simple tasks like getting copies of invoices, to increase customer satisfaction
These three foundational pillars support a smart, end-to-end AR process that impacts everyone: all your teams have more visibility into customer information and have accurate, up to date data for smart decision-making. Automated processes relieve the burden of manual tasks from the AR team and improve communications with customers. Transparency with customers means they can see into the status of their accounts and manage them in a timely manner, reducing customer churn and decreasing late payments. These three pillars create a win-win-win.
Where do you find the three pillars: Data Management, Automation and Transparency
YayPay’s solution offers this. We simplify the AR process with one platform, one system, one code base. Our cloud-based solution offers:
- Advanced machine learning and automation to drive a 3X improvement in productivity for AR teams and eliminates manual, repetitive processes
- Automated communications workflows that allow your AR team to interact with more customers, with less effort, and focus on priority accounts that produce positive cash flow.
- Integration with many accounting, ERP, billing, and CRM applications, giving you a complete and accurate look into the collections process to help you better predict cash flow and increase revenue.
- A self-service customer portal to ensure customers can manage their business on their schedule, not your office hours.
This is the cloud-based solution you need that allows your team to be efficient anytime and anywhere. The YayPay platform automates the accounts receivables process and enables digital collaboration in an environment where face-to-face contact is not possible.
However, you also need a solution that you can install. Now. In today’s six-foot-circumference climate.
We get it. And we can make sure you get it too:
- YayPay’s platform is installed remotely.
- We have full training available via online channels.
- We offer tons of self-service support.
The ability to customise your communications, to get a full view of your customers’ business from different data sources and to modify your invoicing and payment processes from a single platform mean you are managing your business more effectively and meeting your customers where they are today.
But you don’t have to take our word for it.
We're pleased to announce our weekly Webinar Series.
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