OnGuard Connext Credit Management

You decide what types of customers you have, and the different styles of collection that you want credit controllers to follow for each of those profiles.

For each profile you determine the collection actions/steps that you want taken, at which points in time. E.g. email a reminder when 14 days overdue, schedule a phone call if still overdue at 21 days, change the customer’s profile to a new profile at 30 days, electronically exchange all documentation and actions with the debt collection agency at 60 days, etc.

You decide what actions to take and when.

Each customer is assigned a customer profile and a credit controller. OnGuard can assign the customer profile automatically, manually, or ‘proposed and confirmed’. The assignment process can be rules-based, using the data provided from the ERP data. The credit controller can also be aligned automatically with the ERP credit controller information.

Implementing OnGuard is easy. OnGuard can be interfaced into any ERP. Customer details and Open Invoice information are refreshed from your ERP each night. OnGuard reviews the open invoice status, and its profile, and generates the necessary actions required to be taken for that status.

“Action Types” include reminder letter generation, follow-up phone calls, recommended ‘stop credit’ actions, etc.

All communications are captured, so that there is a complete record of the customer interaction. Emails and files can be attached to those records for later retrieval.

“Form letters” can be generated on the fly while talking to customers, and printed or emailed during the conversation. The form letters will be formatted correctly for the customer if the collection is being done on behalf of multiple companies or entities.

Follow-up actions can be scheduled at the same time.

OnGuard will generate Reminder/Dunning Letters at the appropriate time (not just once a month).

If the SMART EMAIL module is enabled, this allows the customer to securely click through the open invoice lists attached to emails, to obtain copy invoices that they have missed.

All correspondence can be personalized, branded and translated based on each customer’s settings.

Promises that the customer makes can be recorded and emailed to the customer immediately, as confirmation of the agreement. OnGuard will monitor those promises, and will generate appropriate follow-up actions if the promised payment is not received on time.

Customers quite often query the content on particular invoices, leaving them unpaid and overdue. The credit controller is not always able to answer these queries, so the queries have to be referred to other staff in the organization.

OnGuard allows you to:

• Log the query and the reason for it (for further analysis)
• Optionally confirm the dispute with the customer (via email or printed letter)
• Attach customer information and emails against the invoice
• Assign the dispute resolution to ‘internal owners’, and give them a deadline.

There can be multiple tasks assigned to multiple staff to resolve the query, e.g. capture the solution/reason upon resolution (for further analysis and process improvement).

OnGuard will monitor the status of the dispute until resolution, and create an action for the credit controller to follow up if it is not resolved by due date.

Customers gain faith in you because they know you will respond to their queries in a timely fashion, and will not ‘drop the ball’.

Because all actions, promises, disputes and correspondence are recorded in OnGuard, the credit controllers can see their complete workload and priorities.

The Credit Manager and Finance Manager have complete visibility of the overall workload and performance. With all of the outstanding tasks and history instantly available, continuity is assured if credit controllers go on holiday, get sick, or resign. The learning curve for new credit controllers is reduced, because they have access to all historical communication and payment history, and the required collection process is captured in the system.