The Challenge
Alertis is a family-run business specializing in high-tech security solutions. As a specialist in fire safety, they have grown into a company that works in various security markets ranging from fire, gas and intrusion detection to access control and even camera surveillance. Alertis focuses on the industrial sector, but its client base also includes residential tourism (e.g. hotels, B&Bs, etc.), nursing homes, schools, immovable heritage and many other sectors. The company works in direct contact with the client and via subcontracting through an installer.
With annual commissioning of more than 1,000 technological security solutions and more than 18,000 installations to maintain, Alertis called on Billtrust to structure and automate its debtor management. When it came to collecting on customer payments, the debtor management process was carried out manually. Twice a month they exported the due date balance from the accounting package and took manual notes on customer calls which was highly inefficient.
The Solution
The Alertis team realized that it was time to streamline these inefficient processes and partnered with Billtrust Collections. The solution’s digital features offer users the opportunity to identify the reason(s) behind non-payment, methods for resolving protracted cases and personalised procedures. Billtrust Collections was also able to offer support for their many different types of clients (e.g. with and without a VAT number), who required a personalised approach when it came to collections outreach. Alertis also required the integration of credit scores into the debtor management system to monitor potential bankruptcies and avoid monetary losses, as well as an integration with a third-party digital invoice provider to help their customers view and pay bills faster. Furthermore, they were going through an ERP conversion and needed to prevent any loss of data.
“Our debtor management process used to be an endless mountain that had to be conquered twice a month. But with Billtrust Collections, it’s now a continuous process with a few easily digestible chunks every day.”
Finance Manager, Alertis
The Results
Billtrust Collections has been able to deliver an ideal solution for Alertis. With their customizable outreach and risk management features, Billtrust was able to ensure that overdue balances no longer exceed 10% of the overall outstanding balances. Alertis closed the past financial year with a 96% current aging, which was a 10% improvement compared to the start of their collaboration. And they were able to achieve this while their revenue almost doubled. When it came to assisting with transitioning to their new ERP, Billtrust was able to seamlessly transfer customer data over, and when it came to credit scores, they integrated CompanyWeb’s trade information into their Billtrust Score. This Score combines external trade information with the effective payment behaviour of the client (internal information), so Alertis can assess whether or not a client poses a risk and take action based on this information. And through the integration of a third-party invoice provider, Alertis customers can receive their invoices and review them with a single click, reducing requests for invoice copies. Alertis aims to continuously innovate, keep pace with the market and consolidate its growth with the same team.
