Ark. Advance

Chris Price is the General Manager of Ark. Advance, an Auckland-based business that provides high-performance digital advertising solutions to medium-sized New Zealand companies.

Before CreditorWatch Collect, Ark. Advance managed their debtors on an ad-hoc basis but this year’s challenges prompted the company to transform its debtor management into a process that could be bolted in from customer on-boarding to payment.

Ark. Advance has since been able to use CreditorWatch Collect to build an accounts receivable (AR) process that not only works away seamlessly in the background but it also caters to their own brand messaging and communication, resulting in some sensational success metrics.

Over a three-month period, the company has seen its overdue amount decrease by 42% since getting CreditorWatch Collect on board, as well as a 29% decrease in its debtor days.

Efficient process brings results 

Initially, Ark. Advance looked at purchasing AR management software, specifically, an app that would easily integrate with Xero and send out automatic invoice email reminders.

“We weren’t initially looking for a process, we were looking for software and then it got a bit bigger than that. We want our business processes to be exactly correct every single time and commercially the cost wasn’t that much different and so it was an easy decision to buy an AR process and not just the software.”

Close client relationships need to be maintained

Chris wanted to put in an AR system which kept the close relationships we have with our clients, while also having a messaging style that was empathetic to people who may be struggling due to COVID-19.

“We wanted some empathy around our messages to late-paying customers and we wanted someone to look at all the messaging touch-points, and craft them so they fitted with us and our brand. Then that be put in as a complete system so that it would be replicated correctly across all of our clients.”

“CreditorWatch Collect has helped us be more efficient in the way that communication has occurred and the communication doesn’t look like it’s come from a third-party, it’s been in a way that Ark talks to its customers.”

“We have a team member, Jade, who is at CreditorWatch Collect, and she’s just part of our team. When we do our on-boarding of new clients we talk about her about how she’s part of the team so they know that’s how we manage our debtor management. Jade is just part of our team.”

The numbers don’t lie

Ark. Advance has been able to use CreditorWatch Collect to build an AR process that caters to their own brand messaging and communication resulting in some sensational success metrics.

Over a three month period, the company has seen its overdue amount decrease by 42%, as well as a 29% decrease in its debtor days.

“Our cash flow has improved at a time where you would think if anything it would go the other way. CreditorWatch Collect has helped us have one less thing to distract us so we can keep going in the direction we want – there are loads of distractions, so if anything that gets rid of one, and one can be multiplied if you’ve got multiple clients. Ultimately it’s helped us stay on course on the focus of our strategy at a time where it can be challenging to do that.”