Time to stop pedalling squares and souplesse into a better Collections process

Learn how Esker can help your business to transform your Collections process

I wonder if, many years ago, the way of collecting payments from customers involved someone riding their bicycle from customer to customer to ensure payment was received in full? Or have I just been watching too much Call The Midwife?

Even now Collections Management can still be a long, complex and frustrating process. Unpaid invoices, late payments, time wasted on collection calls and emails are a cyclist’s equivalent of pedalling squares¹; punctures, gear issues and the ultimate pain of falling off your bike!

For Trek Bicycle, the largest bicycle company in the US, the Global Director of Financial Services, Andrew St Clair, said, “We didn’t have a standardised collections tool before Esker. Everyday tasks, like sending reminder letters, were all done manually… there was no real consistency in our process.”

With automated Collections Management, Trek Bicycle achieved:

• Reduced past-due percentage by 4%
• Improved productivity; several staff members were able to be reallocated to more business-critical positions
• Higher satisfaction; customers now have access to a self-service portal to make payments, manage preferences and more
• Reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
• Improved collaboration; users can now go into Esker, choose an invoice and assign tasks to other departments (e.g., cash application, etc.)
• Enhanced visibility; customisable monthly management reports can be accessed directly from the dashboard

Automating the management of the collections process is the cycling equivalent of souplesse²; to cycle with high cadence and ease. Or perhaps, even, for those of us who are slightly lazy, a ride on the back of a tandem with someone else pedalling extremely fast in front, or an electric bike?

Summed up by Andrew St Clair at Trek Bicycle, “The discipline that Esker drives in the credit and collections process is phenomenal. In my 20-plus years, it’s the best product I’ve ever used based on its simplicity and ease of navigating.”

You can find out more about Esker’s Collections Management solution here. Or alternatively, I’d love to hear from you, and to help you on your journey to Collections success.

_{¹ Pedalling squares means the cyclist is floundering, pushing a big gear with no élan and generally struggling, https://cyclinguphill.com/cycling-terms-explained/
² Souplesse means to pedal at a high cadence and with seeming ease, https://cyclinguphill.com/cycling-terms-explained/}