Do you ever think about the growth opportunities that could be hidden in your trade credit accounts?

Managing trade credit accounts is very demanding. Whether it’s applications, payments or general queries, it can be difficult to understand what’s going on in 90% of your list where risk profiles are changing continuously!

In today’s competitive business landscape, leveraging predictive insights for revenue growth through effective credit management is becoming increasingly vital. Traditional methods, reliant on manual account analysis and often constrained by limited data, are proving inadequate for identifying and capitalising on growth opportunities.

Conversely, the shift towards smarter, data-driven methods promises a more strategic approach to credit management. A noteworthy statistic underpinning this shift is that 70% of businesses globally recognise the crucial role digital transformation plays in operational success and competitive advantage*. Utilising solutions that offer always-on analysis and predictive insights into accounts enables businesses to spot and act on opportunities for extending credit, thus driving revenue growth.

Imagine receiving real-time notifications of growth opportunities in your client list?

Why Traditional Methods Don’t Promote Growth

Growing your business and boosting profitability while using traditional trade credit management methods is challenging for the following reasons:

1. Data is limited

Traditional methods often rely solely on historical financial data from bureau credit reports, overlooking real-time data and broader market insights. This provides an incomplete view of a customer’s financial health.

2. It’s time consuming

Manual analyses and paper-based processes are inherently time-consuming. This can slow down the extension of credit to potential growth opportunities.

3. The risk of subjectivity

Decisions can often be based on manual assessments that are influenced by bias or experience. This subjectivity can lead to inconsistent decision-making.

Growth-led Approaches

Finance professionals at leading businesses are adopting a growth-led approach to managing trade credit. Rather than maintenance, reactive activity or continuously engaging a trade credit insurer, the trade credit teams’ focus is on growing revenue and profitability. There’s a shift to proactively pursuing opportunities. In order to achieve this they need a transformative toolset and some fresh capabilities. Here’s how they achieve it:

1. Enhanced data analysis

Modern platforms leverage big data and analytics to provide a comprehensive view of a customer’s financial health, market trends, and payment behaviour. This allows for more informed credit decisions, and the potential to increase revenue by targeting the right customers with the right terms.

2. Predictive insights for revenue growth

Big data combined with predictive modelling allow finance professionals to analyse the rich data collected, forecast customer payment behaviour, and identify potential revenue opportunities. This advanced analysis allows businesses to proactively extend credit to customers who are predicted to have a positive financial outlook.

3. Customised limit recommendations and decisioning framework

Modern credit management systems offer a decision framework that delivers data-informed credit ratings and tailored credit limit suggestions by analysing customer data and market trends. This helps credit teams balance trade credit risk with long term opportunity efficiently, enhancing decision-making and supporting business growth.

4. Always-on account monitoring and reporting

Continuous monitoring of credit accounts and real-time reporting capabilities allow businesses to quickly identify and respond to opportunities for further sales or adjustments in credit policies.

5. Automation creates capacity for opportunity spotting

Automation of credit processes reduces the time from application to decision, and strengthens the customer relationship. This creates more opportunity, enabling businesses to give more focus to growth-focused activities, opportunities and customer needs.

Take the next step

The journey from paper-based systems to a dynamic digital platform is transformative, easily highlighting the inefficiencies of manual processes and the compelling advantages of digitisation. If you’re a finance or credit professional with growth targets in any of the above benefit areas, we’d love to chat about how to streamline your operations and propel your business towards a more agile and data-driven future.

Book a no-obligation demo here, or contact us here. One of our friendly credit experts will be in touch.