When a new customer wants to establish credit terms with you, the first thing they’re asked to do is fill out your credit application. When you hand over a paper application, did you know you could be negatively impacting your revenue or creating a poor customer experience? Some companies don’t.
More than likely, your customer has filled out at least one digital application in the past. The initial perception your application says about your company is that you’re out of step with technology — which may lead them to wonder where else you may be lagging behind. Digital applications provide a simplicity factor, and by not offering one, your credit approval process is perceived to be more difficult, leaving the customer with more work to do —spending extra time writing their information by hand and returning the application — either by email, fax, or in person. Because many companies have already moved to a digital application, your pen-and-paper process sticks out to the customer — and not in a good way.
Not to mention, manually processing a paper application takes longer — often much longer — than a digital application. This means customers leave without a credit approval, giving them time to change their mind about their purchase or find a better deal — meaning you just lost a new sale. And even if they still choose to work with you, their relationship with your company starts out with a less-than-amazing customer experience.
After the paper application is completed, the workflow process is often time-consuming, error-prone, and cumbersome. The time involved also means that your company waits longer to receive revenue from the sale. By using a manual process, your team spends hours on processing and decisions that could be better spent directly servicing customers or working on other initiatives to grow business. DecisionIQ from Experian automates consistent real-time decisions, streamlining your entire process from applications to onboarding.
