
Customer experience is a rather underinvested area in the finance function. Though executives have steadily started realizing its significance and are emphasizing the teams to leverage it to improve the cash flow to tackle the turbulent economy’s impacts.
Customer experience (CX) has a ripple effect on a company’s financial health. If leveraged effectively, it holds the potential to contribute to remarkable revenue growth. But where does the accounts receivable (A/R) function come into this picture?
The A/R function, essentially a people-centric team, has to be one of the more significant teams that interact with the customers daily. In a survey conducted across 200+ A/R practitioners in Q4 2020, HighRadius found that credit teams spent 4x more time completing credit reviews of new customers, and collections teams followed up 35% more with customers than they did earlier, to curb the impact of the changing business dynamics.
This blog highlights the insights collected from the HighRadius 2020 survey and shares a few best practices for A/R leaders to drive good CX by optimizing their processes and leveraging technology. Let’s look at some areas which A/R teams can leverage to deliver a good customer experience (CX) –
It’s only fair to state that A/R leaders need to maintain the balance of mitigating credit risk and lowering DSO on the one hand, and providing a great experience to the customers on the other. But it’s easier said than done.
It goes without saying that A/R leaders face multiple obstacles, and they are tasked with finding ways to overcome each of the following mentioned challenges to safeguard the cash flow:
As a result, collections teams resorted to aggressive dunning practices. This led to customers being followed up multiple times for the same payments until their experience was affected.
So, if an existing customer requested a credit limit upgrade and the team doesn’t have the latest credit data related to that customer, and denies the request following the outdated data, the customer experience will be impacted.
Today, they are tasked with being the driver of change in their function to optimize their processes and eventually improve CX. But to get all the stakeholders aligned with the idea, A/R leaders need to work with the technology vendors to build a strong business case for such projects.
Based on the insights collected from global A/R leaders, we have created a simplified CHANGE framework that will help practitioners effectively plan and drive a change management program, keeping the customer experience in mind.
The A/R function plays a critical role in delivering a good experience to the customers. A/R leaders have realized the potential of customer experience in improving cash flow and serving the CFO’s expectations from the team.
It’s high time that A/R teams develop a customer-centric mindset to provide exceptional customer delight and enable sales teams to continue doing profitable business with them. Visit the link below to learn how A/R leaders can imbibe this culture across their teams.
Automate invoicing, collections, deduction, and credit risk management with our AI-powered AR suite and experience enhanced cash flow and lower DSO & bad debt
Talk to our expertsHighRadius Integrated Receivables Software Platform is the world’s only end-to-end accounts receivable software platform to lower DSO and bad-debt, automate cash posting, speed-up collections, and dispute resolution, and improve team productivity. It leverages RivanaTM Artificial Intelligence for Accounts Receivable to convert receivables faster and more effectively by using machine learning for accurate decision making across both credit and receivable processes and also enables suppliers to digitally connect with buyers via the radiusOneTM network, closing the loop from the supplier accounts receivable process to the buyer accounts payable process. Integrated Receivables have been divided into 6 distinct applications: Credit Software, EIPP Software, Cash Application Software, Deductions Software, Collections Software, and ERP Payment Gateway – covering the entire gamut of credit-to-cash.