Consumer behavioral trends tend to drive commercial innovations.
But frequently, firms forget that decision makers and B2B buyers themselves are “consumers” outside of their day jobs.
That’s why reimagining the B2B accounts receivable (AR) process through the lens of consumer-driven learnings can help set B2B suppliers apart from the competition.
“I don’t think most businesses wake up trying to reimagine accounts receivable,” Scott Simpson, senior vice president at Capital One Trade Credit, told PYMNTS. “I think they’re very focused on how do they win and keep the sales that they have and the customers they have.”
It is only now, in today’s fast-paced digital world, that reimagining the AR process can effectively serve to help firms retain and attract customers in the face of evolving expectations around convenience.
“As consumers, so much has changed around the purchase experience,” Simpson said. “But for businesses, that same experience is often stuck in the same manual processes as 20, 30 years ago.”
“Technology enables firms across the industry to better innovate and provide more digital and automated solutions,” he added.
However, many businesses find themselves unable to keep up with these changes due to operational and technological bottlenecks.
“You might be surprised to find that virtually no business on their own has built out the ability to check into your [commercial] account online,” Simpson said. “They all use third-party services.”
“As a consumer, that ability is table stakes, but you can’t do it in most AR programs today,” he added.
And given that today’s surprisingly “human” B2B buyer responds to convenient and cost-effective purchasing experiences much as they do to positive online experiences, companies must meet their evolving demands to win and keep commercial customers.
“For customers who are looking for better, either a given merchant or supplier is going to provide that, or the customer is going to find it elsewhere,” Simpson said.
What’s better is a commercial supplier that offers more intuitive interfaces, longer payment terms, instant or near-instant credit decisions, online bill pay, and customer self-service using advanced automation, to name a few.
“It’s important to take a look at how your current accounts receivable program either helps or hurts in winning customers,” Simpson said. “Customers like to go to the companies that provide them those types of benefits [along with a frictionless experience] … if a merchant has the ability to apply for an account online or get their bill online or pay online, they have all this visibility to transactions that really makes it easy to do business with a merchant supplier.”
“If an organization is not able to do this on its own or is unable to integrate next-generation data-decisioning around creditworthiness and customer prospecting, it’s time to start working with an accounts receivable partner to make that happen,” Simpson added.
Implementing changes in business processes requires a mindset shift, as one of the biggest bottlenecks or challenges is simply the inertia of what programs merchants have in place today.
“Businesses have their AR program, it works, they send out bills and collect money,” Simpson said. “It’s like an old car that might be on its last legs, but still gets the job done for the most part.”
“The challenge is, as these changes in expectations for customers start to manifest themselves, buyers will start going to different suppliers where it’s easier to do business, and merchants sticking to the old ways will start to lose traction,” he added.
That’s why it’s important for commercial firms to carefully research and select third-party partners that have a proven track record in delivering the necessary tools and expertise.
“There’s going to be a tipping point where either you have a progressive modern customer experience, or you don’t,” Simpson said. “And I think those that choose to act sooner are going to be the ones that tend to win customers, delight customers and keep them. Those that don’t will steadily watch their businesses erode.”
It would be a mistake to assume that customers are happy with their existing accounts payable and receivable structure just because they’re not complaining, he said.
After all, complacency is the enemy of progress. Those commercial suppler-side businesses that fail to embrace change, overcome inertia and carefully choose their partners to thrive in this new era of customer expectations may just see their buyers moving on to greener, easier pastures.
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