It's Do or Die: Get With the Digital Program

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past month and a half, you’ve likely been subject to the digital phenomenon that is Pokemon Go. If you've managed to escape the bombardment of media coverage on the mobile game, I’ll quickly catch you up on the overnight sensation.

The premise is quite simple: players walk around in their everyday lives to catch virtual creatures (aka Pokemon). Think of it like Google maps, but instead of having a set destination, Pokemon Go encourages you to explore your physical environment to find new Pokemon and collect valuable items. The whole idea really sounds like an oxymoron. People tend to play video games to explore fantasy worlds, yet Pokemon Go, a game that blends virtual with reality is prospering. It goes to show, that the digital world is in full swing.

So why should B2B companies take notice of this digital appetite?

Think of yourself as a consumer and how digital technology has already revolutionized your everyday life. Hungry? Order food to your door on Uber Eats. Out of groceries? Buy them online and get them delivered with Grocery Gateway. What's that song called? Siri just told me and now I'm streaming the album on Spotify. B2C companies know consumers have a digital appetite and understand they need to make it easier, quicker and more convenient to consume their offerings.

Our personal digital habits have created an expectation for ease, efficiency, and convenience and this is now blending into our professional lives. Tolerance is weighing thin for inefficient, tedious, “busy work”, especially when employees are tasked to do more with fewer resources. In the AR space, this brings the following questions to mind.

Why do I need to spend time…

• Printing, stuffing envelopes and emailing invoices?
• Manually matching payments to invoices ?
• Resending invoices and continually calling outstanding payers?

It’s obvious there isn’t good reason.

Digitizing your business with technology like AR automation can solve these problems

The B2B finance world is lagging behind B2C for adopting digital technology. However, there are signs pointing towards change. Recent market trends are highlighting B2B’s push to cloud-based software.

A Deloitte national survey of 500 mid-market companies found that 58% of companies are spending significantly higher on technology than the year before. Another study of 304 companies found that 47% of companies were planning to increase spending on customer service technology… this is why AR automation makes so much sense. An AR automation platform not only helps you get paid faster, but make customers happy. The ability to connect your AR team and your customers’ AP team through an online platform doesn't just make things easier for you to send invoices, accept payments and manage disputes, but it also makes it easier for customers to do business with you.

It would be naive to think that your company's AR will be the exception to the changing digital landscape. The financial world is now starting to think digital and is moving away from painful, manual tasks similar to those that plague AR departments.

Your accounts receivable process is in need of an upgrade because in this digital era it’s do or die. More evident than ever, it’s time to get with the digital program.