.png?width=333&name=Blog%202%20July%20Summer%20Series%20(1).png)
Businesses like Amazon haven’t just permanently shifted expectations customers have for B2C payments. Younger generations of B2B clients now expect a strong and streamlined web-based connection to your firm — whether that’s a simple payment system or full-blown client portal.
With that in mind, here are some common exposure points that firms can modernize and streamline to impress their clients and increase customer satisfaction.
Sharing documents via email isn’t ideal. Things can get lost in long email chains. Vital correspondence can land in the spam folder. Entire conversations can get deleted by accident.
Even when documents make it through via email, you or the client then has to move that document to the payment software. Providing a central hub for documents virtually eliminates these problems and makes it easy for you and your clients to address any issues that come up.
Your clients process more than just your invoices. They have plenty of other vendors, suppliers, and professional organizations doing work for them.
Making their invoice management easier can’t hurt. Providing your customer a way to view all their invoices in a custom web portal makes it easier to follow up with them on invoices and resolve issues.
They’ll appreciate having a hub for their invoices instead of tracking them down through their mail and email inboxes.
Following from the last point, it’s always a good idea to make paying you easier. Many clients actually expect you to have a seamless online location where they can view their bills and pay them in one location.
Once again, things come back to the Amazon model. Customers can pay on Amazon with as little as two clicks — one to confirm payment and delivery information, the next to complete the purchase.
As a professional firm, you can apply that to your own payment process. You’ll delight your clients and set yourself apart.
One of the best ways to strengthen client relationships is to make communication lines as open and accessible as possible. The easier a client can contact you, the easier it is to answer questions and resolve issues.
Your communication methods should be asynchronous so both parties can respond at their leisure. But email’s not enough. Remember, things get lost in peoples’ inboxes and sent to spam.
Instead, consider software like Slack (for chatting) or Zoom (for virtual conferences or meetings).
Equipping yourself with good chat and video conferencing software streamlines communication and reduces the chance you lose important correspondence.
Invoicing and payments are both underappreciated exposure points, but they’re more important than you think. After all, an easier and more transparent invoicing and billing process increases each client’s likelihood of paying on time.
If you’d like to learn more about modernizing these processes to delight your clients, download our free white paper, "Creating a Better Client Experience Through a Better (AI-Powered) Work-to-Cash Cycle".