In Focus Commercial Credit


Credit going mobile


Will mobile-application technologies begin to play a key role in commercial credit management?


Scott Tillesen Former vice president of credit – The Americas, Tech Data Corporation scott@ScottRTillesen.com


I have heard an executive say that the culture at his company was ‘speed’. The ability to do things quickly has, today, become the norm everywhere. There is no question that the popularity


of smartphone software applications are, in large part, due to the speed and productivity that those apps provide. There is an immense opportunity for credit professionals to propel their customer relationships and personal productivity with mobile applications. Smartphone payments by an electronic


transfer, debit card, and credit card is, to a certain degree, the norm for consumer transactions. However, in the business world, the ability to look at invoices and statements to track purchases and obligations, is largely designed for a computer that accesses a website. There is a real opportunity for B2B credit


managers to improve their customer’s personal productivity, generate handling-cost savings, and improve customer engagement by providing smartphone payment and viewing options for their customers. It is no longer competitive just to have a


clever website for traditional internet access; downloadable smartphone apps, with improved ease of use, are necessary.


Applications for B2B customers At many small businesses, business owners and managers spend a considerable amount of time out of their offices selling or servicing their customers. These same people are frequently the


ones who have to issue or, at a minimum, authorise accounts-payable payments. When you reach them by telephone call,


e-mail, or text message, they typically have no means of responding to a credit-related question without being on a computer.


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How many times have you been away from your desk and you get asked a question about an account, and have no way of answering until you get back to a computer?


Providing your clients with an application


that gives them the information they need, in order to make a payment decision, can be a helpful alternative. The features of a customer smartphone


accounts-payable app fall into several categories: payment history, open-item inquiry, invoice detail, orders shipped and not billed, orders entered and not released, amounts past due, and amounts about to come due. Payment history will allow the customer


to see the payments that your accounts- receivable records show as having been received. In the event the customer has made a payment, wcich has not been received, perhaps it can be taken into consideration, or a replacement payment can be arranged. Invoice detail is helpful when the client


needs a reminder as to what was on a particular order and invoice. An open-item listing can provide an


awareness of everything that the seller reports as being unpaid, and shows how that balance compares to the established credit limit. When negotiating payments from your customers, credit professionals frequently


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Applications for credit professionals Credit professionals need to have in-the- hand capabilities on their smartphones too. How many times have you been away


from your desk and you are asked a question about an account, and have no way of answering until you get back to a computer? Or, something that I have found to


happen frequently, is when I am at a sales department customer event, and either one of my sales staff members, or a customer, will mention something about a customer that requires some immediate credit investigation. Some of the areas to consider include:


l Account aging. l Amount past due. l Un-billed orders. l Recent payments received (amount and date received). l Recent account notes. l Risk rating. l Key financial data. l Terms of sale. l Security (if any) on file. l Payment history (DSO). l Primary collection contact information.


May 2018


need to reconcile the ‘open’ balance. This would include orders that have been entered but not released, orders released but not yet shipped, and orders that have shipped but have not yet been billed. Customers need to be reminded that this is how the true open balance is calculated. A clear view of the balance past due on a


customer’s account, is important information to have in any customer conversation. How much is coming due in the near


future, say within the next week, is also important, and is useful as a proactive collection reminder.


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