Got Accounts On Credit Hold? Collection Agency Chasing Down Unpaid Bills?
Origo BPO - Remote Teams For Mid-Market Companies
Origo BPO is the #1 remote teams builder for mid-market companies.
How many invoices are being sent to collections by mistake?
How many of those result in a credit hold?
What if I told you that 3 out of 4 of those cases could?easily?be avoided?
This article expands on the previous issue about slow invoices?and is another game-changer for our partners when it comes to collections, client relations, and cash flow.
So, here’s an unfortunately common scenario:
*Phone rings*
> CS Agent:?“Hi, this is George from BestTechService, how can I help you?”
> Client: “Hi George, this is Matt from?NiceFoodJoint.?I’ll need a technician to come ASAP to check our combi oven please.”
** CS agent checks CRM **
> CS Agent:?“Hmmm, sorry Matt, but I see here that you’re currently on credit hold.”
> Client:?“I’m sorry? Why would we be on credit hold for?”
> CS Agent:?“The invoice No. 123653, from 40 days ago, is still unpaid sir.”
** Matt checks his bills **
> Client:?“Hmm, George... we didn’t even receive that invoice. It’s not on file...”
> CS Agent:?“Oh, again... sorry for the confusion then. But still, I’ll need to have this resolved by collections, and approved by the district manager.”
> Client:?“Wow… Really? Ok, you guys do you, but my combi oven can’t wait until then, you know? I’ll call someone else!”
This may sound like an outlier scenario, but if you’re processing 100’s (or 1000’s) work orders a day, you know that it’s more common than we’d like it to be.
And this is costing Field Service executives a small fortune!
Not only was the missed work order for a couple of grand, and is now in a competitor’s pocket...
But now that invoice will go to a 3rd party collection agency, who will take 25% of the cut—make unfriendly calls, and ruin relationships with legal threats.
And, now the district manager will have to try to win the account back—that is if they even get over the embarrassment and pain of doing so.
A relationship that took months or years to build, can be trashed in minutes...?
… and stats say that an account on credit hold is probably not coming back anyway.
Boy... what a mess!
So, why does this even happen??And, most importantly, how can it be solved?
We’ve seen it happen mainly because of relying too much on automation, without enough human supervision.
And this is how it looks.
Most of the invoicing are automatic these days (which is good.) But a big disconnect might happen for something as simple as:
- There was a change in the accounts payable email address, on the client-side.
- The vendor didn’t update the CRM with the proper email where to send the invoices.
- An invoice was sent to this client.
- The CRM automatically marked an invoice as “done” (even though the client never got it)
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- No one actually checked that the client did get it.
- 40 days later the CRM automatically marked the account as “credit hold.”
Technology and automation are AMAZING, except for when they're not, right?
So, now to the good part:?how can this be solved?
At Origo, we’ve deployed a?“revenue recovery”?remote team for one of our Field Service leading partners and reduced the collections being handled by a 3rd party by 75%!
Think about it, 3 out of every 4 invoices that were previously going to an external collection agency were now being handled internally—by their remote team.
Bringing forward multiple 6 figures in cash flow for them every month.
And the other benefits were HUGE.
Not only did we collect MORE—because we’re picking up issues earlier when relationships are still on the sweet side. So, there are no threats needed, and no middle fingers being thrown in the air.
But also, there’s no “collection commission” either! Because it’s not a collection service. It’s part of their remote team’s day-to-day operations now.
Our partners now have a dedicated remote team in place, with a process that actively watches their accounts, the status of payments, proactively reaches out to their clients, sorts overdue invoices, and solves disputes.
And, there’s no harm in client relationships. If anything it’s the opposite! Clients are taken better care of and feel significant that there’s someone that actually follows up on things for them.?
And, when we take care of all the standard invoicing for our clients:
- They have fewer disputes and fewer 3rd party collections
- They have better cash flow
- Their in-house billing team is massively FREED UP, to take care of the more custom and complex invoices for key accounts
- Their billing managers sleep better
- Their executives smile more :-)
As you can see, it’s a complete paradigm shift and one that we’re thrilled to be bringing to the Field Service industry.
We’re already helping industry leaders adopt this model, and would love for you to be next.
So, I’d like to extend you an invitation...
After processing around ONE MILLION work orders over the last three years—we have enough DATA to assess where a Field Service business could be leaking profits in 30 minutes or less.?
So today, I’d like to offer you a free run through our “Profit Score Quiz” to find out how much money you could be saving, and how much would your cash flow improve by keeping most of your collections in-house, instead of with a 3rd party.
And again, this is just one of nine other profit leaks that we’re plugging for Field Service partners.
The last time I ran this quiz with a Field Service executive out of NY, we uncovered 6-figures leaking in profits for them. Per month!
And, we’re not guessing here. This is based on a million+ data points.
So, we could be asking for consulting fee just to let executives take this “quiz.”
But, I want to add value to you before money exchanges hands. My experience is when executives see what's possible with a remote team, there's a good chance we end up doing business (no pressure!)
Connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message if you’re open to it:
Yassin Shaar, Chief Growth Officer