Business buyers and sellers have personal lives, and their experiences as consumers have set up expectations in their professional worlds. Modern technology has led to a redefining of customer experience, which has become central to business transformation and a differentiator for success. All this began with technology-based companies like Amazon setting a very high bar … How to Satisfy Expectations in Vendor Relations
Why Vendor Self-Service Is Better “The winner of worst response time to a customer phone call goes to … the Airlines!” With hold times of up to eight hours, airlines are the worst these days, as they try to rebound from the pandemic. But try a bank or a “service provider,” or any number of … Have You Called Customer Service Recently?
In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, the slow character Dogberry has no idea what “tedious” means when the governor of Messina applies the label to him. Ask your P2P staff, however, and they’ll tell you what “tedious” means: Answering “Has our invoice been paid?” for the hundredth time this month! A central challenge in providing … How to Eliminate the Tedium in Vendors’ Inquiries
Your vendor master file constitutes a critical set of dynamic data. It continually changes through additions, modifications and expiration of active records. Safe practices include getting complete information from a new vendor and adhering to internal controls on access and changes to the vendor master. Because vendor master files are ever-growing, like a garden, they … Unwieldy Vendor Master? To Reduce Risk, Divide and Conquer
We may not be out of the pandemic woods, but the way forward is clear. In the upheavals of the Coronavirus, financial officers regret not having invested more in automation, AI and robotics a few years ago, according to a survey by AppZen. Within weeks of shelter-in-place orders last year, experts forecast that automation would … Pandemic Lesson: Financial Chiefs Say Automate
Unfilled expectations lead to disappointment. Smart companies and individuals work to manage expectations. You can control some expectations but not all. Where do expectations come from? Some we set ourselves. Our organizations claim or promise certain things. Sales & Marketing set expectations of customers all the time. (Then companies work to meet them!) Contracts are … Meeting Your Vendors’ Need for Speed
A broken P2P process generates vendor inquiries. When a vendor contacts your organization about an invoice, AP has an opportunity to do more than solve the immediate question or problem. Vendor interactions offer AP a chance to fix process problems, reduce inquiries, and improve vendor relations. But in customer service, AP often can’t see the … Vendor Inquiries: Step Back and See the Forest
Someone is out to get you. Hackers are working full time. And with your team working from home now, you face greater risk. Cyber-criminals are constantly working to find soft spots or weak links in your organization to exploit. And hackers study human behavior and are good at manipulation. When everyone first started working from … Is Your Remote Team Sufficiently Cyber-Security Savvy?
The work of accounts payable (AP) has a broad reach. It is one of the few departments that touches every department within a company as well as external parties. It plays an important role in the company’s supplier relationships. As recipients of AP’s services, the vendors, internal employees and government agencies are AP’s “customers.” Internally, … 2020 Accounts Payable Customer Service Survey
When a vendor does not receive an expected payment, they contact you to find out what’s up. If payment has been late in the past, many vendors will not wait until payment is due. They’ll call to confirm that you got their invoice, or to ask when to expect payment (putting you on record). There … A Silver Lining in the Vendor-Inquiry Clouds
Disruption happens. And when it does, expectations are replaced by uncertainty. In the case of the Coronavirus, that uncertainty has no apparent endpoint. The consequence is tremendous anxiety. If you are a leader, your staff looks to you for direction. Leaders must manage the anxiety that can lead to bad decisions or behaviors, and decreased … In the Face of Uncertainty, Leaders Must Provide Clarity
Are you looking to solve a problem through technology? When shopping for IT solutions, the first step is to figure out what functionality you really need. Having identified the problem, it is often helpful to talk through solutions with colleagues in your own and other organizations. Talking to vendors also can be helpful—they have expertise … Selecting an IT Solution: 7 Things to Think About
