Finding the right way to reach customers

There is an art to communication in credit management. With a wide, diverse customer base, credit professionals cater to unique, distinctive needs with each account they serve. From the big businesses to the mom and pop shops, it is critical to determine the best way to reach your customer to ensure that you’re on top of their changing needs and aware of any issues that could change their risk profile. 

By the numbers: Outside of phone calls, 88% of credit managers find that email is the best way to reach their customers, according to an eNews poll. The other 10% find themselves texting their customers when a call won’t do the trick. 

“When I am onboarding a new customer, I make sure to ask them how they would like to be communicated with,” said Kyle Kern, CBA, senior AR analyst for Outdoor Research (Seattle, WA). “If they prefer an email or a phone call, I want to make sure that I am matching that. There are a couple of customers that prefer to not be reached out to at all, so if I am trying to get in touch with them it is probably because something has gone wrong.”

Having a conversation early on about how best to reach them can help foster direct, honest communication on what your customer needs from you. “I want honesty and for customers to open up to me,” said Kern. “I’ve had people ask me if I could email them to remind them of upcoming deadlines. And when I know when they want to be reminded, I can plan those emails out ahead of time and schedule them to send out at the right times. Sometimes they just need a little nudge and we want to make sure we are giving them the attention they need.”

Establishing a communication pattern with your customer also means finding a frequency that works for both parties. With smaller companies, where your point of contact might also be tasked with running day-to-day operations at a physical location, you might not be able to reach them during those hours. For some customers that pay on time and rarely have trouble, little to no contact might work for them. 

“Determining the appropriate frequency of contact is situational,” said Krissy Aeschbacher, CBA, credit analyst for Maverik Country Stores (Salt Lake City, UT). “It should be guided by company expectations, regulatory requirements and sound judgment. Our expectation is that new applications are addressed within three business days and then followed up on weekly. Daily contact on an application for 30 straight days would likely be viewed as excessive, while a weekly follow-up schedule is generally reasonable. On the other hand, if a payment has been returned and the customer is unresponsive, daily outreach may be entirely appropriate.”

When getting to know a new customer, a phone call is a valuable way to get to know them and gauge the best way to communicate with them as your working relationship grows. “Depending on your customer base, if you serve a lot of small- or medium-sized companies, making a phone call can help build the relationship,” said Lisa Burns, CBF, CICP, senior manager of OTC and invoicing for Koch Engineered Solutions (Wichita, KS). “That is going to help in the long run with getting paid on time and having transparency with your customer.” 

Finding the best way to contact your customer contributes to a strong, mutually-beneficial relationship. “Sometimes your customer just needs a listening ear,” Kern said. “Building that relationship will help you get paid more efficiently. I’ve heard several times, ‘Oh, phone call is the best way to reach people,’ or ‘e-mail is the best way to reach people,’ but I found that being respectful and meeting people where they are is the most effective method. I’m not just calling everybody. I’m not just emailing everybody. It’s a mixture and that works the best.” 

The best form of contact can be situational. “The urgency and complexity of the situation also help guide the communication method,” said Aeschbacher. “A detailed or time-sensitive issue may warrant a phone call, while something straightforward may be better handled through email. If I already know a customer’s preferred communication style, I use that whenever possible. If they stop responding through one channel, I’ll adjust and try another.”

As technology advances and credit departments automate their customer outreach, it is important not to lose sight of who’s on the other end. “If you have a system that sends automated emails, I would consider updating your templates to make it homey and friendly,” said Burns. 

Even without a sweeping technology upgrade, there are ways to streamline your communication with customers. Setting regular reminders to reach out before payment is due to remind customers on upcoming deadlines can make it easier to stay in contact. If a customer wants to be reached out to regularly, you can easily set calendar notifications that help you meet their expectations with ease. 

As emailing and texting overtake phone calls as viable ways to reach out, it’s critical that professionals not lose sight of the importance of a strong work-life balance. While a phone call is often strictly confined to working hours, an email or a text can come in at all hours. It can be tempting to answer requests as they come, but there is a lot of value in setting the precedent that you can only be reached during work hours. 

“I don’t give my customers my cell phone number and if they email me outside of work I get to it the next day,” said Burns. “It can wait until the next day. You’re not going to get paid more for the time you spend talking to customers outside of work and if you’re really close with that customer, they will understand that you go home at night.”

The bottom line: Finding communication patterns that work for both parties is a key tenet of forming strong, cooperative relationships with your customers. Whether reaching out over the phone, email or texting, keep in mind that the person on the other end is trying to do their job. By adapting your communication style to fit each unique customer’s needs, you can strengthen your relationships and streamline collections efforts.