Repeat business is more valuable than ever in today’s challenging operating environment.
And with the news Monday (June 17) that 40Seas launched a Global Accounts Receivable (AR) platform that is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and centralizes invoice data in a single dashboard, capturing repeat business by personalizing the transaction experience to individual buyer needs is top of mind for commercial players.
That’s because for business-to-business (B2B) companies, where capital is frequently trapped in manual processes and invoice reconciliations between buyers and suppliers, providing a more streamlined, digital and automated experience can be a way to stand out among more traditional competitors.
After all, B2B buyers are seeking — and finding — a simplified purchase experience. They are loyal to the suppliers who go beyond simply fostering a better billing experience.
Embracing customized invoicing and payment options, integrating customer payment history and preferences into the order-to-pay cycle, developing client-specific portals and dashboards, and offering a dedicated, high-touch support team, all represent ways B2B businesses can optimize transactions and build better B2B relationships.
Read also: Will 2024 Be the Year of Win-Win Buyer-Supplier Dynamics?
Considering that up to 40% of B2B payments are still being made with paper checks, and 4 in 5 (81%) of companies still pay other enterprises through paper channels, B2B businesses may have the most to gain from the personalization and seamlessness that payments modernization can bring.
That’s why, with legacy B2B payments that haven’t changed much in decades creating friction and delays, a better B2B payments experience is the best place to start in building a lifetime relationship.
And a better B2B payments experience involves both sides of the transaction, encompassing both AR and AP (accounts payable) programs.
“There’s a lot of messiness around payments, particularly very large B2B payments that might house hundreds or thousands of invoices with hundreds of associated line-item details,” Boost Payment Solutions founder and CEO Dean M. Leavitt told PYMNTS last month. “Large enterprises on both the AP and AR side are looking for ways to automate those processes, digitize them and reduce their cost as well.”
New PYMNTS Intelligence, drawing upon data from 60 CFOs spanning more than 10 sectors, revealed that many big companies have not streamlined their AP cycles and rely on too many tools — with nearly 60% of large firms using at least five different AP systems.
“Suppliers are left with so many different variations of how they have to transact with their customers that it’s almost become a full-time job for them to keep up with all the different levels of sophistication from fully integrated, automated, digitized down to smaller or less sophisticated customers that still require snail-mailed invoices and paper checks and things of that nature,” Corcentric CEO Matt Clark told PYMNTS last summer.
Read more: Buyer-Supplier Relationships Are Being Reshaped in a Crucible of Convenience
Offering various payment terms and B2B payment options, including newer ones, that cater to the specific needs of different clients, as well as using data analytics to understand each client’s payment patterns and preferences, can help B2B firms in predicting future payments and offering tailored recommendations.
“The suppliers that are not as flexible and willing to embrace these new forms of payments are going to lose business, while the buyers who are not using them are losing revenue, which results in them not being as competitive in their space,” ConnexPay founder and CEO Bob Kaufman told PYMNTS in March.
“We think virtual cards are really at a tipping point,” Paul Christensen, founder and CEO of Previse, told PYMNTS in a separate conversation, highlighting that as the value proposition around their use changes, bigger suppliers and more businesses have softened their stance and become willing to accept virtual cards for B2B payments.
A good user experience can also help create a more profitable and loyal B2B partner base, and developing client-specific portals where businesses can view their transaction history, download invoices, and make payments is also a good way to provide value-added benefits and convenience that support better B2B payment experiences.
“There’s no more excuse for bad user journeys. … If I’ve had a bad payments experience with a certain rail or form of payment, then I won’t use that,” Gerhard Oosthuizen, chief technology officer at Entersekt, told PYMNTS.
And of course, there is no substitute for a good customer service program. By providing customer support that is tailored to the client’s industry and business model, B2B firms can ensure that any payment-related issues are resolved quickly and efficiently, reflecting a deep understanding of the client’s operations and challenges.
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