Customer service can help or hinder a business as much or even more than the quality of its product. Salesforce found that 88% of customers are more likely to return when they’re treated well. Even more revealing, 75% of buyers would make repeat purchases despite a seller's mistake if they received excellent service.
Empathy, patience, and quick response times are essential in providing a pleasant and satisfying experience. But it’s also important to have open lines of communication and simple and painless payment and billing processes.
That’s where accounts receivable automation (or AR automation) comes into play; it helps accountants and their clients get paid faster, reduce Days Sales Outstanding, and increase cash flow—but it also enhances customer service, enabling you to lure new clients and, most importantly, retain current ones.
Here are some ways automating accounts receivable benefits your customers and your organization.
The COVID pandemic forever changed the workplace environment. Apollo Technical reports that 16% of companies are fully remote and don’t have a physical headquarters, which can make it very challenging to mail customers a physical invoice. Hybrid workplaces complicate the process, especially if the person responsible for handling payments works from home the day an invoice arrives.
AR automation enables accountants to create and send digital invoices in minutes that your customers can pay online, whether they’re in the office or using any of their devices—phone, tablet, laptop, etc.—while lunching at a sidewalk cafe. They’ll appreciate such an easy payment process. They won’t have to worry about unpaid invoices because they were accidentally thrown away or sitting ignored and collecting dust on someone’s desk.
Check usage in the B2B space has declined by more than 40 percent since 2004. But it hasn’t vanished. And wherever there’s check usage, there’s a risk of check fraud, especially since the Financial Crimes Network found that check fraud increased 84% in 2022.
Check fraud puts your information and your customers’ information in peril and hurts the buyer-seller relationship. When a check gets stolen and altered in transit, the seller may mistake it for a late payment and charge the seller overdue fees.
Accounts receivable automation helps prevent check fraud by enabling customers to pay their balances digitally through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network and credit and debit cards. These payments are speedier and far more secure than sending a check through the mail. Check fraud cannot happen if you reduce or even eliminate check acceptance and provide your customers with quicker, safer payment methods.
Customers have no choice but to pay a balance. They must pay what they owe, no matter how easy or pleasant it is. However, providing customers with simple and frictionless payment options effectively retains them.
Accounts receivable automation provides a payment process your customers will appreciate. They’ll have the opportunity to manage secure digital wallets where they can store their payment methods. That way, customers don’t have to re-enter banking or credit card information during every transaction. All they have to do is push a button, and their invoice is paid in real-time. No waiting for a check to be cleared or concern about it getting lost in the mail or stolen in transit.
Another feature, AutoPay, enables you to draft a monthly fee using the customer’s preferred payment method. This ensures you get paid on time, but also eases some of your customers’ administrative burden and eliminates late fees.
Many believe automation takes the humanity out of relationships and leaves everything to machines. That’s simply not true.
On the contrary, accounts receivable automation improves real-time communication between the buyer and seller through online portals. Payment reminders and alerts are sent automatically and are far less meddlesome than phone calls. Constant communication is crucial.
AR automation enables you to track payment histories and alerts you whenever a typically prompt customer hasn’t paid a balance on time. That way, you can proactively reach out and resolve any issues regarding due dates or other challenges. This demonstrates you truly care about your customers and their success.
You know how well-informed financial decisions benefit your accounting firm. AR automation provides the data to help your clients make similar decisions.
Customer portals and payment tracking enable customers to have full transparency of their accounts and the status of invoices, alerting them in real-time whenever a payment is accepted. That way, they can keep better track of their finances and budget for purchases like hiring additional staff, modernizing equipment, and expanding marketing efforts.
Providing customers with exceptional service keeps them running toward the competition. More so, they can help your company attract new clients through positive word of mouth about how well they were treated.
AR automation helps you enhance that experience through heightened communication tools and a pain-free payment process.
And you won’t have to spend a ton of time or money to do so.
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