Managed service providers (MSPs) make life easier for customers by handling their IT infrastructure and letting them focus entirely on running a business. Accounting automation is another effective way to upgrade customer service.
Aside from getting you paid faster, reducing costs, and strengthening cash flow, AR (accounts receivable) automation takes friction out of the payment process and demonstrates to customers how much you value their time.
This blog explains how.
Customers must pay their bills no matter how difficult the process. But they appreciate a seamless experience that doesn’t put more on their plate.
Customers have access to a self-service portal through AR automation where they can set up, manage, and store their credit/debit card and banking information in secure digital wallets. Prompt payments are made by simply clicking a button and without having to waste time re-entering information like their address or customer ID number. Some AR platforms give customers the option of paying their balance by providing a link in an invoice email or offering a one-time payment option that doesn’t require customers to update their digital wallet.
AutoPay, where you draft recurring payments from your customers’ digital wallet, is also available through AR automation. AutoPay guarantees you’re paid on time while preventing your customers from accruing late fees or forgetting about a due date.
As an MSP, you’re familiar with the havoc a data breach wreaks on customers. That is why you provide and maintain stellar cybersecurity. When it comes to paying bills, your customers leave themselves vulnerable to fraud whenever they write out and send a check.
Customers can pay you in many ways through AR automation, whether it’s by storing credit and debit cards in their digital wallet or using ACH (Automated Clearing House) to pay you from a checking and/or savings account. These methods reach you way faster than a check, but just as important, they eliminate the risk of your customers becoming a victim of check fraud, which is more rampant than ever. The Association of Finance Professionals found 65% of organizations reported check fraud in 2023.
Credit cards are not only safer than checks, but they provide many benefits including cash back, airline miles, and hotel points, while offering your customers financial flexibility by allowing them to delay paying the credit card company until the end of their billing cycle.
As a business owner, you understand the value of time. You don’t want to get in your customers’ way while they’re running a business by making phone calls about late fees or changing due dates.
AR automation enables you to keep customers in the know about their account without bothering them. You can send customized emails and chat with them in real time while attaching photos, receipts, and other documents. AR automation also enables you to send these messages to whomever and whenever you choose, such as sending a reminder to one customer 30 days before a bill is due while sending another customer a reminder a week before a bill is due. AR automation ensures your customers are made aware of any changes or news regarding in a consistent but unobtrusive manner.
Bill360 is one of the few AR automation platforms created exclusively for B2B companies like your MSP. Our robust communication tools enable you to create and solidify long-lasting relationships with customers while our self-service portals and features like AutoPay make it easier than ever for them to pay their bills and get total transparency into their account.
Customize your own demo video to learn how Bill360 addresses pain points specific to your MSP and take advantage of our free, no-risk 30-day trial.