Most companies still have a serious blind spot: the moment that the customer becomes a debtor. Our valued customer becomes a debtor the moment an invoice is sent.
Whilst your account manager is working hard to maintain the relationship, the collections department might be sending (ever more) threatening letters! Whilst the majority of your organisation is focused on customer intimacy, your collections department has a focus on the debtor. They do not focus on a long term relationship, but on a short term gain. The paradox is that your collections department, unlike any other department in your organisation, is in touch with your customers almost every working hour of every working day. It is ideally placed to build and nurture a positive, long term customer relationship.
The goal of a truly customer intimate credit, collections and complaint management policy is not simply to clear the payment path for outstanding invoices. It is about communicating with and understanding the customers by collecting, saving and analysing customer behavioral data. Thus being a transparent function communicating with your customer and your organisation. A customer intimate credit manager is active on the interface between supplier and customer and can form the strongest of bonds to ensure that the relationship is sustained.
Companies that truly believe in customer intimacy include credit, collections and complaints in their customer intimacy policy.