Dunning Letters

MC2 Automatic rules engine together with the Dunning Letter functionality allows Collections Agents greater flexibility in the selection and creation of Dunning Letters.

The best way to contact either unresponsive customers or accounts with small overdue balances where the cost of contact exceeds the outstanding amount is a Dunning letter. Standard ERP systems generate dunning letters based on due dates of transactions and normally include all transactions on Customer Accounts, thus not providing the collection agent with the flexibility to exclude specific account transactions e.g. On Account/Unapplied receipts/Credit Notes/Deductions. The collection analyst then has to modify the letter before sending to the customer negating the efficiency of the supposedly automatic process.

MC2 has a number of features relating to Dunning letters that makes the complete process truly automatic and efficient:

Features

The Business process works as follows:

The customer base for collections is divided into different business groups within the software (optional) and assigned to each of these groups is a specific collection escalation process. The collection process may be different for distributors, resellers or once off small customers and therefore the collection escalation process can be defined accordingly.

Within these groups the collection escalation cycle steps are defined and the action associated with each step assigned to it. The severity of the action will depend upon the size of the amounts due and the Days Beyond Terms (DBT) of the debt. As the debt moves through the escalation process different actions will be suggested e.g. from initial call reminder to referral to an agency.

The next issue facing the Collection Analyst is: ’What stage in the escalation process is each customer at? and What is the action required?’. The rules engine is the mechanism used to identify customers through the collection escalation process and specify the activity that is required. Different letter templates can be automatically used at the various stages of the collection escalation cycle. Within each template the collection agent uses the MC2 filter options to include/exclude certain account transactions e.g. Credits/Unapplied cash etc. Collection Agents can chose to review the selection and amend as required before sending letters to customers.

Not only will the software identify which customers should receive letters but it can also automatically send and action the customer by the preferred method of delivery set up within the system. Emails can be automatically sent, Faxes sent, PDF’s sent and all documentation is stored on the Server & Customer Account.

The main benefits of the Automated Rules engine in MC2 in the generation of Dunning Letters:

Benefits

• Increase customer touches with less collector time and effort
• Customer only receive dunning letters when they meet the specified criteria of your business collection rules not the ERP’s standard rules.
• Different collection cycle steps can be created for different customer types e.g. large volume/small volume customers.
• Range of different letter templates can be created for different stages of the collection cycle.
• Range of automatic delivery methods available for selection - email, fax, etc.
• Reduce your DBT and DSO
• Reduce the risk of incurring Bad Debts.