Can Your Revenue Process Cause Poor Client Service?
Your revenue process consists of many things. This isn’t just how your company takes its payments or sends out its invoices. Your revenue process actually begins with client acquisition and runs all the way through the billing and payment of invoices. Did you know that your revenue process can cause your customer to feel like they’re receiving poor service? Did you know that feelings of poor service lead to more than complaints? It can also lead to people arguing about what they owe you or just not paying you at all.
So, the answer to today’s question is yea. Your revenue process can cause poor service. In this article, we’re going to look at the common problems we’ve discovered in revenue processes and what you can do to correct those issues.
Revenue Process Problem #1 – Client Intake
Think about the last time that you attended a first appointment for anything. It doesn’t really matter if the appointment was with a doctor, a lawyer, or other service professional. Chances are good that you had to show up early to fill out paperwork. Client intake is the first revenue process problem. Clients who believe that their time is not respected or that have other issues such as someone on your team misplacing their paperwork or time off that leads to the client’s information not being entered in a timely manner are more likely to feel unsatisfied with your service. They may go elsewhere or they may dispute their bill.
If you want to solve potential or actual client intake issues, then you must take a long, objective look at your intake process. This can be hard to do. It can be exceedingly difficult to hold an unbiased opinion of our own processes. We’re just naturally biased. Think about the entire process. Do surveys of your new clients and current clients. Find out what they like and don’t like about the intake process. You can also sign up to receive your free process review and we will comb over your process and help you pinpoint any potential problem areas.
Revenue Process Problem #2 – Flawed Customer Service
Have you ever called a provider to ask a question about your invoice only to be met with incompetent customer service or no one seems to know the question? When your billing or customer service department doesn’t know how to appropriately handle billing questions and concerns, they provide flawed customer service. This flaw can be deadly to your revenue process. Unanswered questions or poor explanations can result in unpaid invoices.
Your billing process must be thoroughly and clearly explained to all clients from the very first meeting. In fact, you may even want to provide something in writing that is clear and concise to help avoid any future possible misunderstandings. Without this, you’ll have unhappy clients. Unhappy clients will not continue to give you money. They may stop paying all together or decide to take their business somewhere else.
Revenue Process Problem #3 – Invoices Are Sent Late
If you expect your customers to pay you on time, then you cannot allow any reason to surface that would cause the invoices to be sent out late. When your billing department sends out late invoices, it can cause revenue problems not just for you, but also for your customers. They may be accustomed to paying you at a certain time each month. They may be people who budget their payments. If they don’t receive their invoice in a timely manner, you won’t receive your payment in a timely manner, either.
You can solve this issue by ensuring that you have the appropriate billing measures in place. It’s of the utmost importance that your entire team understand the billing process and adhere to it. Issues can be minimized by adding measures to your billing process that will make you proactive instead of reactive. If you’d like help in reviewing your billing process to learn where you can improve it, click here to get your free process review.
Revenue Process Problem #4 – Lack of Communication
Although we briefly touched on this in an earlier process problem, it deserves its own spot in our list. Poor communication is the cause for many of the world’s problems. It can definitely cause an issue in your revenue process. Clients who do not understand their bill, do not receive adequate answers, or just don’t understand exactly what is required of them quickly become dissatisfied. This can start from the beginning visit and run all the way through the process and even into collections. Yes, that’s right – collections.
If you have past due accounts, your billing and collections agents must be skilled communicators. Collecting money, regardless of whether it is past due, isn’t a matter of bullying or threatening people. It’s a matter of making that personal connection, answering questions, relieving fear, and helping your clients find solutions to any monetary issues that they may be experiencing. If you have questions about how you can refine your collections process, let us know!
Attorney's A.R.M.’s more than 30 years of experience in accounts receivable management means that we understand the unique problems that can arise in your revenue process and that we have the expertise to help you make your revenue process the best it can be. We pride ourselves in providing old fashioned customer service while taking advantage of present day technological advances in order to give you the perfect service at the perfect time. Contact us today to learn how we can help you!
