Our client, a large retailer operating over 750 stores, needed to reduce costs in order to remain competitive. This was done at both store and Head Office level, resulting in a freeze on headcount with leavers not replaced, and moving to a new, smaller Head Office facility. Additionally, our client supplied the goods sold in-store to businesses on a trade credit basis which suffered as a result of this headcount reduction.
It became very difficult for our client to manage their credit control activities with a significantly reduced team and a consultation was set up with Credit Style’s expert team to identify potential solutions.
Within the trade credit business, there were several differing ledgers which were set up according to the type of organisation they traded with. Certain ledgers, which related to business with the NHS and central and local government, were extremely high-maintenance and we designed a full cradle-to-grave outsourcing solution for these ledger items.
A team of experienced collectors were pulled together and a simple daily file transfer mechanism was created so that we could run a duplicated sales ledger to our client whilst being able to gain the significant benefits of Credit Style’s advanced collection software.
The solution we created consisted of collections activity in our client's name in a pre-agreed manner, reflecting good credit management practices. If payment was not made on any overdue items, the collection strategy transferred to Credit Style’s brand to demonstrate the progression of the debt. If repayment was still not forthcoming, these cases were followed up by our legal team under our CST Law brand.
This three-pronged, cradle-to-grave approach has allowed our client to maximise their scarce resource, leaving the specialist team to manage the ledgers they cannot service.
