Challenge
A large B2B Water supplier was facing significant bad debt challenges, and required support with managing this. They recognised that their collections strategy was underperforming, seeking opportunities to optimise this and increase output.
Our approach
We carried out a diagnostic of the supplier’s debt operation, assessing the effectiveness and performance of their strategy, operational processes, and system architecture. Our debt specialists identified a range of issues, including weak contact cadence and an unsuitable infrastructure for managing debt, which contained a number of ‘black holes’ for communication.
To rectify these issues, we deployed an on-site Debt Taskforce, supporting the supplier on various fronts. This included the use of site-level monitoring, allowing us to identify mismatches in account data, and focus on the most valuable improvements. We used this information to improve the quality of communications, launching new campaigns to increase engagement at an earlier stage.
Next, we supported the supplier with adopting a debt management system, bringing in subject matter experts to offer guidance on procurement and implementation.
Alongside these improvements, we recommended a debt sale to the supplier, offering a solution for the pots of debt that couldn’t be collected. As the supplier was inexperienced with debt sales, we supported them at every stage of the process, including account selection, purchaser engagements, final delivery, and the embedding of supporting processes.
Results
As a result of our recommendations, the supplier achieved an in-project ROI of 10x. This outcome was realised through the delivery of tailored collections campaigns, which targeted the problematic cohorts identified in our diagnostic. Benefits were also achieved through the successful execution of a debt sale, in which an attractive purchase price was secured.
We also developed our client’s capability to manage future bad debt, delivering key enablers in the form of a new debt management system, process improvements, and changes to its communication strategy.
