Commercial Customers: Innate Consumers of “Thick Value.”

In his Harvard Business Review blog, Umair Haque coined the terms Thick Value and Thin Value to describe standard product offerings. Thin value, according to Haque, leaves the consumer no better off for having done business with you. Thick value, just the opposite.

While Haque’s post illustrates thick and thin value primarily through B2C terms, it’s clear to me that the thick value has historically been in highest demand among commercial customers. Purchasing (or Procurement) is considered a cost-center in most operations – a necessary evil, a standard cost of business. The easier you make it to do business with your company, however, the more efficient and less costly their procurement process becomes.

Commercial customers want to know how doing business with your company has better positioned their business for the long-term. And so do you, because when you can illustrate Thick Value to your commercial customers, you will simultaneously chart their increasing value to your business.

How thick is your value?

Building Commercial vs. Consumer Loyalty

This blog typically dives into specific details regarding commercial credit and business to business transactions. Last week, we published a new white paper regarding the basic differences between business-to-business versus business-to-consumer billings and payments. The paper is intended to provide retail businesses with strategies to improve their commercial sales and reduce administration of account management. You can download it for free in our Knowledge Center. The paper is entitled Adapting Your Consumer Payment Program to Commercial Customer Requirements.

Payment Programs: Benefitting the Independent Merchant

As Jenny mentioned last week, several members of our group attended the American Trucking Association’s Technology and Maintenance Council meeting this month. While I was pleased to chat with our clients, many of whom were exhibiting at the show, and their fleet customers, many of whom were attending, but I was especially excited for the opportunity to meet and talk with members of the independent dealer community with whom I rarely have the opportunity to interact directly.

It is this group in particular that sometimes feels overlooked in the decision-making process when a billing and payment program is implemented. This is a unique challenge to the independent distribution method that is common within the trucking industry.

The advantages provided to the OEMs launching the program are clear. The ability to enforce negotiated pricing and strengthen relationships with their customers, the sales insight available within compiled transaction data, and increased brand awareness available to the OEMs may make independent dealers feel as though a program is being forced upon them.

What they find out later is that a billing and payments program enforced at the OEM level decreases their overall credit risk, removes collections administration duties, and improves their business cash flow. These cost-saving benefits in addition to the new business opportunities available to their locations can quickly override the hesitation to participate.

Old School Business Relations: Putting a Face to the Email

There are more ways than ever to communicate, and as technology evolves, our communication channels only become more and more numerous. With email, phone, text messages, LinkedIn, this blog, and so on, it is more feasible than ever before to maintain business relationships without ever actually meeting your business partners. Given the cost effectiveness of these electronic communication channels, it’s no surprise to see them being embraced by businesses in nearly every industry all around the globe, and the way I conduct my business is no exception.

I find myself relying on electronic communications nearly every day to keep in touch with clients as well as my team. But I spent the better part of last week in Tampa, Florida at the American Trucking Association’s Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) Annual Meeting and Technology Expo. It gave me the opportunity to attach a face to an email, rather than just a Word document or Excel spreadsheet. And it reminded me of the value of shaking hands and breaking bread with business partners.

A History of New Credit Challenges

The world of credit is becoming more and more complicated and, being in the business of payments, it is imperative that we keep up with the latest without forgetting the past.

Risk management magazine this month covers a decade of events that have led to our modern-day outlook on business continuity and risk management. The article goes on to discuss the continued evolution of the role risk managers will play within organizations in the coming decade. I thought it was worth a read and certainly worth sharing.

If you find it interesting, or would prefer an article that is lighter on words and heavier on the graphics, check out their photo essay on the biggest risk issues of 2009.

Introducing Susan Collins

I’d like to depart from my typical blog postings this week. Rather than zeroing in on a specific topic related to commercial payments. I’m pleased to use this blog as a means to introduce you to Susan Collins, the newest addition to the Multi Service Business Development team. Susan joins Multi Service after twenty years with telecom giants including AT&T and Sprint negotiating and managing both domestic and international contracts. She offers prospective clients expertise, aligning their strategic plans with custom-engineered solutions. We’re thrilled to have her as part of our team!

For those of you attending TMC’s Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exposition next week in Tampa, please stop by Booth 1626 to visit with Susan and me. She looks forward to meeting you (and collecting all the fabulous tradeshow giveaways to decorate her bare office walls).

Welcome, Susan!

When Every Little Bit Counts: The Haiti Relief Effort

Most of our existing private label programs are pretty cut-and-dry business to business transaction processing systems. While each of our clients plays an extremely important role in our current economy, most are not in the business of saving lives or providing diplomatic aid to people in need. Over the past weeks, we’ve been privileged to play a small role to support the U.S. Government’s relief efforts to Haiti following the massive earthquake on January 12.

I am very proud that in this small way Multi Service is helping these efforts!