21st Century Communications

Every age, every nationality, everywhere you go you see people connected to their phone. Whether it is listening to music, watching videos or TV programs, texting, messaging, face-booking or whatever, the smartphone has become an essential part of everyone’s lives.

So, what has this to do with credit control? Well, we know that the world has changed dramatically in the past ten years – question is….have our collection strategies?

I still find credit controllers using landlines to call customers, sending letters (on paper!), Printing and posting invoices and statements. Copying and pasting their debtors ledger into an Excel Spreadsheet to work on! Some spend time each week “reviewing the ledger” with their boss, where they go through the ledger line by line and give an update on each overdue account. Some even have files of invoices and boxes of signed delivery dockets that they have to wade through every time there is a query. Some credit controllers have piles of paper on their desk, just in case they don’t have enough distractions. Some businesses still haven’t optimised their websites for mobiles, even though we know that is what people are using.

Here’s the thing,.. I was doing that kind of stuff twenty years ago – the world has changed and so should credit control.

1. Email is the best, fastest and cheapest method of communication with customers, provided it is done correctly.
2. Text messaging consumers and sole traders have the quickest response time by miles, provided it is done correctly.
3. Integrated systems that will record all activity and prompt when follow-up action is to be taken, and that all relevant people have access to has to be implemented by anyone who is serious about business.
4. Invoices and Statements should be sent electronically, with multiple online payment options, to make it as easy as possible for your customer to pay.
5. All documentation must be available online and instantly available.
6. There is now an expectation of an instant response to every request, and as far as we can, we need to put ourselves in a position to deliver on the high standards that are expected of us.

Of course, Credit Control is, and always will be, a people business. There will always be a need for personal interaction, for talking to people, for meeting people and to visit customers to get a complete picture. We must make time to go out with our salespeople to get a full understanding of the real world in which we are operating.

The paradox here is that the more we embrace technology, the more we automate what we do, the more time we will have available to interact directly with the people that matter.

Oh, come on….it’s 2017 – automate the mundane and concentrate in making a real positive impact on your business.