Convenience is key in debt collection too
Even though convenience is a major consideration throughout the whole purchasing process, I often find that it gets tossed out the window when it comes to receivables management, and this is a huge mistake. Debt collection procedures play, in fact, a significant role, especially in ecommerce. The sector faces payment defaults more often than any other. It is, therefore, all the more important for ecommerce companies to pay attention not only to a good shopping experience, but also to a convenient and customer-friendly debt collection process.
Online merchants should not see receivables management as a separate part of the shopping process, but almost as an extension of the checkout process. Otherwise, there is a great risk that customers who may be willing to pay but are unsatisfied or annoyed may be lost to the competition. This can happen in a flash. These days, consumers are quite willing to look elsewhere, especially if they feel an online shop is not customer-friendly. The range of online shops is enormous, and if a customer feels they have had a bad experience with one merchant, they will just switch to the next. Even a shopping experience perfectly tailored to consumers is quickly forgotten if the end customer is then faced with a complicated and utterly generic debt collection process. Online merchants should hold their customers’ hands here too and make receivables management part of the shopping journey. In my experience, this will make it significantly more likely that they will also stick with the online shop in critical situations.
What counts is how consumers are treated
This is where we support our ecommerce customers. We aim to offer end customers as much convenience as possible, including in the debt collection process. One example is the payment process: customers can easily and conveniently pay directly by text message or email via Paylink. We also focus on the actual person when addressing defaulting end customers. For example, this means our choice of language, tone, the time of contact and channel of communication, as well as specific payment options offered to them.
In short, at Arvato Financial Solutions, we provide the exact same service that we recommend you should provide when dealing with your end customers. We offer solutions tailor-made to your end customers. After all, everything should be as convenient as possible for our customers, too.
Read here about how convenience can be carried over to receivables management too.
About Marija Loncar
Marija Loncar, VP Sales Management eCommerce & Lifestyle Collection, has been working with the Arvato Group since 2004. Combining creativity and a hands-on “We can do it”-mentality, Marija focuses on supporting our ecommerce clients in international debt collection. Since November 2019, Marija has been concentrating entirely on new sales in the eCommerce & Lifestyle industry benefiting from her expert level knowledge and wide network. Her focus: Leveraging customer’s and their end-customer’s success.
About Arvato
Arvato Financial Solutions provides professional financial services to renowned international brands as well as respected local businesses — allowing them to leave their credit management to a professional, so they can focus on what matters most for their business. The services center around cash flow in all segments of the customer lifecycle: from identity, fraud and credit risk management, to payment and financing services and debt collection.
