Debtor are great: customers mean revenue. But if customers don’t pay on time this can result with unpleasant situations. In the previous blog we explained the DSO: Days Sales Outstanding. How do you solve this payment problem? And how do you do this whilst keeping a good relationship with your customer? With the right method you can even increase customer satisfaction.
This is why you are missing out on money using Excell
In many companies invoices are managed in an Excel file. “Reminders are made one at a time, are sent to the customer and need to be called “said by Wilco Koelen, corporate Account manager at CreditDevice. “This type of work is very time consuming and as a result you keep following facts. You might nog realise in time that the payment behaviour of your customer is declining.”
Shortcomings of an accounting software package
Debtor management can be managed using accounting software. There are systems with good functionality and the benefit of one of those packages is: you have one central system within your company. There are however also downsides. There can be a lot of custom programming needed for the setup and upkeep for the system, this is quite expensive. Generally the user experience is not optimal, which means that in practise Excel and Outlook are used. Maybe the most important thing: in an accounting software package clients can’t be distinguished between each other. Factors such as different payment conditions cannot be used to distinguish clients.
How you are missing out on useful tools with an outdated ERP-package
There are also companies that work with ERP packages: Enterprise Resource Planning. In theory this package is a great solution, but in practise older systems and versions are still being used. “They don’t offer the right amount of support required for optimal debtor management.” For example: There are no ways to register issues and there are no automatic notifications that warn when it is time to send a reminder or a dunning letter.
This is how you start winning at debtor management
More and more companies are searching for specialized software for their debtor management. “Since COVID the demand for debtor management software has increased dramatically, and the most important reason is working at home. You want the possibility to access debtor information in both the office and in a home-office scenario.
Specialized software provides the opportunity to optimize processes and workflows. What was previously done by hand can now be done by the software automatically. Due to the software the focus within debtor management changes from open invoices to customer care. “You no longer waste time on unnecessary actions for reminders and dunning letters.”
A handy extra of this software is the possibility to digitalize the process. E-mail management integration, iDEAL-payment possibilities and using a debtor portal. “By automizing more actions and letting the debtor manage more themselves can save the company a lot of time.”
Isn’t the software a big investment?
Customers think that the software for debtor management is a big investment. This is a misconception. “In practise I mostly hear: ‘Wilco, this is a lot less than I thought it would be.’”
A few benefits of debtor management software:
- The costs for debtor management are known beforehand
- An unlimited amount of users
- The workflow has been automized as much as is possible
- Extensive reporting options
- Clear debtor files
Would you like to know what debtor management software from CreditDevice could do for your company?
Please feel free to contact Wilco Koelen.
