Digital Dialogue's Accounts Receivables management services enable companies to contact their customers at varying stages in the accounts receivables process.  Using the right technology (sms, email, fax, voice and postal mail), companies can not only improve their DSO's and cashflow considerably, but can also contact all outstanding debtors each month without placing a strain on their accounts receivables department.

Traditionally, companies use two main methods to contact their debtors - letters and telephone calls.  Sending reminder letters does work, however it is expensive, and often letters are only able to be sent in large batches (because of Mailing House volume requirements) which means they are often only sent at month-end.  Furthermore, most accounts receivables departments simply don't have the staff to contact all their overdue customers by telephone, meaning that many customers simply never get called.

This is where the right technology can make a significant impact to your accounts receivables or collections process.  Here is some more detailed information on how our services can assist in the management of accounts receivables.

Early Payment Reminders

Once an invoice is issued to a customer, most companies don't make contact with that customer again until their payment is overdue.  However, our experience across many industries has shown that a well timed reminder before the due date will considerably increase the number of on-time payments.

These early payment reminders are most commonly in the form of an SMS or voice broadcast reminder with content similar to this:

"Hi <name>, this is a friendly reminder from <company> that your January account is due on Friday.  Please contact us if you require any clarification, thank you."

First Overdue Payment Notification

Once a customer's payment is overdue, why wait another two weeks before sending a reminder letter.  An an automated voice call will provide better results (not to mention the fact that it's cheaper than posting a letter!).

Here's an example of a friendly overdue payment reminder call which could be sent to each outstanding debtor 7 days after the invoice due date.

"This is an important business call for <firstname> <lastname> from <company> reminding you that your account is overdue.  If you need to talk with us, please call 1800 XXX XXX.  Thank you."

Second Overdue Payment Notification

Customers who are still overdue have now received an SMS reminder and an overdue payment notification by automated voice call.  The second overdue payment notification would most likely be in the form of a letter.  Using our bing postal mail service, these letters can be dispatched daily if neccessary as we don't require any "batching" or minimum volumes.  This can furhter improve cashflow as statements or reminders to out when you need them to, not when your mailing house is able to send them.

Debt Collection Calls

If your customers are overdue and you've exhausted all other means of contacting them, using our automated voice service with the hotkey transfer option is a very good way to contact your debtors.

Here's an example of how this would work:
"This is an important business call for <firstname> <lastname>, if this is <firstname> please press 0."

Once the recipient presses "0", he or she is automatically transferred through to your business to talk with someone in accounts receivable to arrange payment.  The use of our outbound call pacing means that you can pace the delivery of outbound telephone calls so that your accounts receivables department is not swamped with inbound transfers from customers.

B2B Accounts Receivables

If you're customers are businesses, then using fax and email work very well also.  For example, instead of sending another letter to a customer, why not send them an email with the following content:

Hi <customer>,

Our records show that your account has not been paid by the due date. 

• If you have recently paid your invoice, or plan to pay it in the next 3 days, click here.
• If you would like another copy of your invoice, click here.
• If you would like to talk with us about your invoice, click here.

Thank you,
Your Company

Each action by your customer is tracked and reported on.  This means you are able to quickly know which customers have just paid, or plan to pay in the next few days.  You also know who needed another copy of the invoice, or who need to talk with you about their account.

The use of fax broadcasting for accounts receivables management can also be very effective.  It is considerably cheaper to send a statement or reminder to your customers by fax rather than post.  Furthermore, depending on the industries you work in, fax can often be a more effective way of communicating with your customers.

More Info

If you'd like some more information about our Accounts Receivables Management services, please give us a call on 1300 557 330 or contact us.