Sheffield Group has stood the test of time, delivering an extensive range of cutting tools and accessories to large and small businesses for over 40 years. The Australian company is continually working on improving processes and technology, while retaining customer satisfaction as their top priority. Finding ways to do things better is ingrained in how they do business.
The debtor management challenge
When Kimberley Allbut joined the company five years ago, her main task was following up the hundreds of customers with small-value invoices that became overdue each month. While regular customers would eventually pay, she often needed to phone them first with a polite reminder. “I would spend at least an hour each day on debt chasing,” says Kimberley. “I could see that if we could automate that process of contacting the smaller accounts that needed a reminder each month, then we could save the company a lot of time.”
“I would spend at least an hour each day on debt chasing.”
What Sheffield Group looked for in a solution
During her free trial period, Kimberley was keen to test out the personalisation features on the automated payment reminders. It was vital to Sheffield Group that they maintain the close personal touch they’ve built with their customers over the past four decades.
Being a goal-driven company, Kimberley also had some accounts receivables goals she was hoping to achieve with the aid of ezyCollect.
The results with ezyCollect
- Overdue customers still receive a friendly reminder from the company; it’s now in the form of email reminders, saving Kimberley the time she used to spend on phone calls.
“We can contact a lot more customers than we ever could previously.”
- Sheffield Group achieved the 2016 goal they set for their business of reducing debtor days by 10%. The business maintained the improvement throughout 2017.
“Achieving fewer debtor days has improved our cash flow a lot.”
- The most valuable improvements have been in accounts in the danger zone i.e. 60 days overdue. These aged debtors have been reduced by 36%.
“We learned that a lot of our customers actually rely on us to remind them; now we help them by being the reminder system they need.”
Who do you recommend can use ezyCollect?
“Any business with a high volume of invoices and accounts can benefit from a program like this,” says Kimberley.
Kimberley’s top tip for using ezyCollect
Use the ‘Exclude Customers’ feature to remove good payers from the automated reminder schedule. While they may be late to pay sometimes, they generally won’t need to receive invoice reminders.
ezyCollect is an integral tool in Sheffield Group’s management of accounts receivables. “It’s hard to think about doing business without the automation now, ” says Kimberley.
To see how ezyCollect can reverse your late payments problem, book a 1:1 consultation today.
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