Secrets to building a customer-centric business
In the new services economy, company success depends entirely upon customer success. Customer expectations are high and loyalty is fleeting: thanks to the world of social media and online reviews, a few choice words from a customer can either tear you down or propel your business to greatness.
To succeed, your organization must have internal systems and processes that serve customers with instant answers, immediate resolutions, and positive experiences every step of the way. What would that look like in the real world?
Motus: Connecting the front and back office
A truly customer-centric organization would connect back office functions—namely billing, receivables, and product/service delivery—to the front office so that everyone in the organization has a complete view of customers.
Case in point: leading SaaS provider and mileage reimbursement provider, Motus.
A few years ago Motus adopted Salesforce CRM for the front office and, shortly after, Certinia Financial Management for the back office, creating a master customer record on the Salesforce platform. In short time, Certinia became the mission control center for Motus, empowering sales, accounting, and services teams with new levels of collaboration. Now everyone gets the information they need about the customer and financials to help them make faster, better decisions related to their roles and the overall business.
“After rolling out Certinia, it was the first time ever that a salesperson thanked me,” recalls Motus CFO Tim Brown, “just given the power of the transparency it provided across the organization.”
Customers at the center
Brown emphasizes the importance of the customer for his company’s subscription-based business: “Our business is built on customer relationships and being able to service and delight those clients over many, many years.”
Motus now has a comprehensive view of all customer activity. Every conversation, every transaction, every request—it’s all accessible to all customer-facing staff. So anytime a customer has a question or issue that needs resolving, the organization can swiftly respond.
Strong cash flow
Thanks to improvements in customer experience, Motus credits Certinia with improving days sales outstanding (DSO) and managing down aging—critical metrics for a small business. Automation and streamlined workflows have also led to 99% faster month-end reconciliation, while month-end close improved from weeks to days.
“Certinia makes it easier for me to do my job as CFO,” said Brown. “I don’t think of it as just an accounting system, but rather as a business tool that enables me to manage my business on a daily basis.”
