Category: Customer Service

The obvious importance of the collection of accounts receivable is, that a sale isn’t a sale until you’re paid, and that all businesses run on money. A less obvious but important reason is that of customer service and retention levels.
In most businesses the largest percentage of past dues are directly tied to something going wrong (Type II Systems Problems). Surveys have found that 70% plus of delinquent customers fall into this category. Whether the source of the problem is on the sellers’ end, the customers’ end, or due to the action / inaction of a 3rd party (direct ships, agents, the post office, transportation etc.) makes no difference. Until a problem is identified and corrected the customer will not pay, and those unpaid open invoices become an irritant and money drain to vendor and customer alike.
Early identification of systems problems and fixing them improves the cash flow and also represents an improvement in customer service levels. Better customer service equals higher customer retention.
When customers are current they’re more apt to continue buying. The most profitable sale is normally the repeat sale. Remember the primary goal of the Completion of the Sale (Collections) is to keep customers current and buying.
Implementation
Some business executives are a walking contradiction. They expend time and money in sending their people to seminars / workshops and then they fail to get involved in bringing about improvement. Too busy fighting fires, I guess.
4 Steps in Change / Improvement
1. Expect resistance
2. Take baby steps
3. Keep shifting the comfort zone
4. Pay for what you want
Push against a dog and they push back, they resist. People do the same. When you’re trying to implement something new you need to explain it and then ASK your cohorts why it won’t work. Make up a “Fail List”, reasons why the change / improvement won’t work and then ASK for ideas on how to overcome the problems.
By allowing people to tell you why something won’t work you give them a chance to vent, to release the natural tendency to push back. Then by coming up with ways to overcome the very problems they brought up, you give them a chance to think it was all their idea in the first place. You know, the ownership thing.
First steps on long journeys must be the hardest. Pace yourself when trying to change / improve on things. Don’t try to get others in your organization to change EVERYTHING at once. Start small and as it works add a little more.
The place to start, in improving the credit and collection function, is collections. Simply by implementing a simple Daily A/R Contact Report you’ll get a lot of mileage. Track calls made and reasons given for payments not being made within terms. Review of the report is important for any report not reviewed is a waste of time.

“I’d cry for the time I’ve wasted, but that’d be a waste of time and tears” W. Nelson.

It’s amazing how people do those things that are being monitored; expect your cash flow to improve and repeat sales to go up with the use of a contact report.
Once they’re halfway comfortable with that report, introduce the Systems Problem Log. In the process of identifying the source of things going wrong (Type II Systems Problems) and then fixing the business process to avoid the same problems in the future; people will come to see that they’re contributing to higher customer service levels, customer retention and to the quality of business practices.
Change doesn’t create stress, stress must be present for change to happen. Remember high school science when they talked about inertia? Basically inertia means that if something is standing still it’s going to continue standing still until some outside force makes it move. People are like that. They get comfortable and while that’s a great attribute in a chair, sofa or bed, it’ll kill you in a competitive marketplace.
There’s a real good reason for dating your policies and procedures. You want to be able to tell when they were last up-dated. And if you think up-dating policies and procedures is not important, you my friend are too comfortable.
Once things are working pretty good, look for the next improvement. Go to seminars, guys like me need the money. Survey the customers, ask vendors, and pay your guys to think … opps, that’s the 4th step in Change / Improvement.
People do those things they perceive to be in their own best interest. Last time I checked, the first law of human dynamics was still in effect.
In asking people to make changes, you’re crazy if you think they’re going to put out 110% unless they understand how it will impact them. I’m not saying that you need to negotiate every nickel and dime change. What I am saying is that by setting up goals for the change / improvement and then by paying people to achieve those goals it becomes a win / win deal. The goals must be based on improved profitability. We’re not talking change for the sake of appearances.

“What we hear we forget, what we see we believe, what we do we understand.”

As busy as everyone gets, new ideas die a quick death unless they’re put into action. Wait for a more opportune time and chances are real good you’ll space it out.

Abe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

BusinessKnowHow: Nobody makes mistakes on purpose, but they do happen. If you are working in a call center, behind a counter or in any capacity that directly interfaces with customers then you are going to encounter an irate customer at some time. The most common response is to evaluate the merit of the complaint while your are listening to it. Try to curb that common response and replace it with the assumption that the customer has a right to be angry, even before you know the details.
Perhaps the customer feels betrayed because the product or services did not meet expectations. The customer may be angry because he or she made incorrect assumptions that led to improper expectations. The customer may be angry because of previous experiences, previous contacts with your company or simply because the problem occurred at a very inconvenient time in the customer schedule. Regardless of the circumstances, acknowledge the customer has the privilege to be irate. Listen carefully to how the anger is expressed so you can find the root cause of the emotion.
Listen to the inflections and emphasis that the customer places on specific topics to identify the emotional catalyst. Listen to the emotion as well as the words. This will help you to identify the specific item or items that need primary attention. Resolving a technical issue may be only partially effective if it does not also address the customer emotional concerns. It may not be possible to completely resolve the emotional distress, but it is appropriate to acknowledge it.
How to Respond to Angry Customers [BusinessKnowHow]

Learn Good Customer Service: One of the most important things that you can have as a business owner are good relationships. Good relationships can be very instrumental in the success of a business. There are several different types of relationships that a business owner should be trying to obtain. This article will take a look at three of them that I feel are a must have! These three are: relationships with your existing customers, relationships with potential customers and lastly relationships with other people in your field.
It doesn’t matter if your regular customers are individual people or a business; developing a relationship with them could be the difference between keeping that customer and losing that customer to a competitor offering the same type of products or services that you do. Let them know that you really do appreciate them as a customer on a regular basis. You don’t always have to try to sell them something either, every once in a while send them a postcard or email thanking them for choosing you to do business with on a consistent basis. It might not seem like much;but your customers will appreciate the jester, increasing the chances of them staying one of your loyal customers. Let these individuals be the first ones to hear of your upcoming sale or new product or service that you will be offering soon. Reward them with special discount prices and deals just for them being one of your regulars, it’ll be a well spent investment.
Building Relationships In Business – Why It’s So Important [Learn Good Customer Service]

Entrepreneur: It’s both a problem and a blessing: You have one or two very large accounts that make up the bulk of your business. According to what you may have been told, such a concentration is very risky; you should never put all your eggs in one basket.
Or should you?
Most experts would advise you to get more accounts, reducing your concentration of business. But your major accounts will likely grow at a faster pace than your new ones. The concentration will remain–and thus you will remain vulnerable.
There’s nothing wrong with trying to grow other business. But I’d like to suggest a different approach. Instead of reducing your business concentration, consider providing services outside your core business or activity. In doing so, you’ll add value to your account.
With that in mind, ask yourself: Do I know all the key players involved in my main account? If not, get to know all the departments and personnel involved in the account.
Why Your Customer Count May Not Matter [Entrepreneur]