Multi Tasking.....strength or weakness in your Collections Workflow?

Who doesn't multi task?  Who hasn't typed written or read a text or email while on a conference call? It’s the way of the world. 

 

But, without getting overly philosophical, is this situation more indicative of any shortcomings in your processes or systems vs just an evolving human trait?

 

Resources are precious commodities on these days of “Lean Corporate” working environments.  With bank financing tighter,  the need to squeeze the cash out of Accounts Receivable is vital to a company's financial health. 

 

Without automated processes in place, you have increased the odds of having inefficiencies in your Collection Workflows.   Leading you to doing too much in too short period of time with limited resources thus leading to poor efficiencies and effectiveness.  You could be on the phone talking to a customer, at the same time typing away to a sales person regarding a customer dispute.

 

I went through similar experiences in my career.  I felt like there were springs in my chair as I had to go and up down trying to find documentation or answering a collector's question about a customer contact and at times the wrong contact.

 

I resolved this dilemma by converting to an automated Collection system that did three dramatic things: 

1.  Allowed myself and my team to re engineer the entire collection processes and chart them into various consistent collection strategies 
2. Take the collections strategies and embed them into the system to guide us through the collection workflow (steps segmented by days)
3. Have everything you need literally at your fingertips....invoices, internal customer notes, external  correspondence, statements and customized reports...all could now be sent direct from your office workstation.  No need to get up from your chair to do your work. 

Ultimately, my team accomplished all these points, and with even less resources (via attrition). And more importantly,  reaped honors upon themselves as being "the best run department in the company." 

 

I also discovered an intangible....with very overt results.  People want to be part of something magnificent.

They don't want to part of something that's treading water or (even worse) drowning with inefficiencies.

By changing our system from one that was intensely manual, to one incredibly automated....we took what was an unpopular task (collecting cash) into something heroic. In the end...our DSO declined over 50%...and as someone once said "You can look it up."   Contact me and I can give you more details.