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How municipal utilities can optimally manage customer relation-ships right from the start (1/2)
As a rule, municipal utilities and energy suppliers know their challenges very well and are therefore happy to dispense with wise advice from outside. But there are certainly topics and proposed solutions that make them listen attentively. This also includes the entire area of receivables management and debt collection – and especially the delicate topic of the application verification process. This is where the fintech axytos with its ‘Customer Financial and Communication Lifecycle Platform’ obviously comes at exactly the right moment. We wanted to know what lies behind this somewhat unwieldy term and how the innovative technology platform can also help municipal utilities from E-VU expert and atriga Senior Key Account Manager Michael Fait.
Concrete findings from current discussions
Customer-centric collection and receivables management is still highly relevant for municipal utilities, but it starts much earlier in the value chain. Michael Fait knows why: “During my talks, the people in charge of large municipal utilities became particularly attentive to the term ‘application review process’. Because here it is a matter of offering the potential new customer a contract with attractive conditions and a suitable term on the basis of reliable information. And to make the change of provider even more attractive with a valuable goodie (smartphone, tablet, voucher, etc.)”. Omissions and errors in the application review process can therefore very quickly become very expensive, for example if the new customer cannot pay at all or was only after the premium.
atriga Senior Key Account Manager Michael Fait: “With the axytos API service, the municipal utility can obtain information from over 70 external data sources of its choice via just one interface.”
Strategy in the application review process
There are municipal utilities that receive creditworthiness data in the application review process from different credit agencies and thus pursue different strategies in B2C and B2B business. They are now looking specifically for a sensible and economical review process that is individually geared to customer clusters, products and risks and can also be managed in a risk-specific manner. In addition, municipal utilities are usually also basic suppliers, but they can also structure this type of contract dynamically, for example through advance payment agreements.
The risk management workflow for municipal utilities
It is precisely in this environment of tension that axytos has developed a platform as a comprehensive infrastructure, which is already successfully in use with marketable products and service offers, plug & play, as a pay-per-use model completely from the cloud. Michael Fait explains what this means for energy suppliers: “With the axytos API service, the municipal utility can obtain information from over 70 external data sources of its choice via just one interface, including all relevant credit agencies for reliable credit checks, fraud prevention and know-your-customer specialists as well as service providers for address validation. Internal data sources of the municipal utility such as information on existing customers or black & white lists are also included.” Which internal or external data sources are used in which order, for example as cascading or parallel queries, is specified by the municipal utility and stored in the axytos Customer Financial and Communication Lifecycle Management platform.
What happens to existing contracts with credit agencies?
The municipal utility can also use the axytos API service to connect providers of external data sources with which the municipal utility itself already has a contractual relationship. Michael Fait explains: “axytos does not interfere with existing contracts, some of which have been in place for many years. The municipal utility then simply uses its existing data service providers via the axytos platform and optimises the control in the individual inspection processes.” Or the municipal utility concludes contracts with axytos in the reseller model in order to obtain services from other credit agencies and information providers. The municipal utility then receives the invoice aggregated and from a single source and participates in the good conditions through the volume purchase of axytos.
In the second part of the interview with Michael Fait, you can read, among other things, why short contract terms require a systematic check.
