More Customer Satisfaction at Noordhoff Publishers Thanks to Payt
Every day, about two million people come into contact with the products and services of Noordhoff Publishers. Chances are, you are no exception. You have undoubtedly glanced at one of the many versions of the Bosatlas. Or you have slogged through the literature list of high school, which includes books from De Lijsters. And if not, you have probably encountered the publisher’s products through an educational program. Like the rest of the world, this company has undergone a significant digital transition in recent decades. One aspect of that transition involved accounts receivable management.
Manual Accounts Receivable Management
Noordhoff Publishers provides educational materials (both online and hardcopy), technology, and services for primary schools, secondary education, vocational education, higher education, and the health sector. The company’s customer base consists of intermediaries, such as schools, bookstores, and other partners, but also consumers who place orders directly in the webshop. Approximately 40,000 invoices are sent out monthly. Believe it or not, this was done via physical mail until recently.
Printing and enveloping 40,000 physical invoices is not only expensive but also a labor-intensive exercise. The invoice was often sent along with the order. A major disadvantage, as the person receiving the order is usually not the one who pays. As a result, the invoice often had a lonely journey through the organization, resulting in a very high DSO. You understand; the cash flow of Noordhoff Publishers was in dire need of improvement.
Interesting Business Case
For Sieger Kuik, Customer Service Manager, and Jos van Weerden, Finance Services Manager, the transition to Payt was an interesting business case in multiple ways.
Sieger explains: “Previously, one colleague was responsible for accounts receivable management. It was all done manually. If an invoice, for whatever reason, did not find its way to the paying party, the copy invoice had to be reprinted, enveloped, and sent. The same applied to reminders.” Jos adds: “With Payt, we now send invoices and reminders completely digitally. If the recipient is not the payer, the recipient can directly change the email address in the Payt environment. As a result, our address database for invoicing has been significantly cleaned up, and the invoice lands directly in the correct inbox. This leads to a significant improvement in the DSO.”
Cleaning up the database was not the only positive side effect of Payt:
Jos: “Payt forced us to think about our business processes.”
Laughing: “For example, it could happen that we sold products that did not exist. Our account managers would sell a one-year license for six months or a year and a half. On the front end, we were inclined to please the customer, while on the back end, it cost so much work that our margin disappeared like snow in the sun.” Sieger adds: “Thanks to Payt, the marketing department now takes action if an account manager cannot fulfill a customer request – not the Finance department. At the same time, Payt ensures that accounts receivable management is no longer a specialty. My customer service colleagues can see at a glance what is going on and respond to questions and comments about invoices. Customer inquiries are answered more quickly, resulting in a significant improvement in our cash flow. The colleague who was involved in printing, enveloping, and sending reminders now takes on other administrative tasks.”
