Risk versus reward is an age-old aspect of credit management and business growth.
On the one hand, finance teams are the first and last line of defence when it comes to assessing credit risk. On the other, they’re increasingly expected to identify growth opportunities. But this has become more challenging in the wake of global market changes, which is only made more complex by the need to reduce costs, drive efficiency and ultimately do more with less.
So, how can anyone hope to strike a comfortable balance between the two?
Below we explore how finance teams are striving to achieve less risk and more reward.
Everything begins with accurate, integrated data
Data is the lifeblood of modern finance teams. However, it can’t just be any old data – it must be clean, accurate and integrated, to flow throughout your organization and be readily available to every department.
If data is disconnected or incomplete, it can create inaccurate views of your clients and their relationships. For example, imagine if the wrong customer data was entered into a CRM. Credit could be extended to the wrong business, sales may miss cross-sell opportunities, or invoices might be sent to an old address, resulting in damaged relationships and potentially a loss of business.
On the contrary, with the right, decentralized data, you can connect data silos and unite your organization with a common understanding based on a consistent set of up-to-date data. Not only does this bring order to your technology ecosystems and support risk management, it also inspires greater collaboration and innovation among teams, while enhancing engagement and experiences with your customers.
Reducing risk with automation and smart credit management
Credit teams are the focal point of any business when it comes to managing risk and complying with regulations. But on top of this, they’re also facing mounting pressure to speed up the credit decisioning process to accelerate sales and keep the business running, while freeing up more time to focus on high-risk accounts.
However, reviewing credit reports and analyzing financial statements takes time. Credit analysis can be incredibly labor intensive – especially when done manually – which has the potential to create friction with sales teams and can be detrimental to customer experiences. On top of this, manual processes can also bring a degree of risk, owing to human error or subjectivity in decision making.
These challenges become problems of the past with automation. Saving your credit team time with credit decisions that aren’t only delivered at pace, but also determined by data to provide a more consistent process that’s free from bias, to increase your company’s protection against bad debt.
Freeing up your teams to drive secure, sustainable growth
Beyond simply managing credit risk, today’s credit teams are faced with identifying growth opportunities. However, this takes time, and effective strategies aren’t developed overnight. Fortunately, as well as adding a layer of protection when it comes to credit decision making, automation’s removal of manual, resource-consuming processes also frees up time for more strategic thinking.
It's how forward-thinking finance teams are planning and getting ahead, while others are left looking at spreadsheets and filing paper records. But on top of this, it also brings credit teams closer to customers to strengthen relationships and elevate experiences – which is even more effective when armed with valuable, intelligent insights.
Realize less risk and more reward with D&B Finance Analytics by Dun & Bradstreet
Modern business moves fast, and risk is a prerequisite of this, especially amid economic uncertainty, geopolitical friction and pandemic-related disruptions. But that doesn’t mean you should live in fear. Instead, finance teams are arming themselves with the insights that can make operations proactive, rather than reactive – all while uncovering prime opportunities for growth.
Data, as we’ve established, is a pivotal part of this – and sometimes, size matters. That’s why our data cloud provides more contacts and more global business coverage than anyone, with insights on 455 million companies in over 190 countries. But quantity counts for nothing when quality is lacking, so we also have more complete contacts than anyone.
However, data alone isn’t enough to help you mitigate risk and seize opportunities, and this is where D&B Finance Analytics can be the secret to your success. With features that equip you with a clear credit story for easier, faster decisioning, and real-time notifications when a business’s credit situation changes.
But don’t just take our word for it. See what other businesses have to say or try it for free yourself.
Intelligent, flexible and easy to use, D&B Finance Analytics combines powerful insights and technology to help finance teams manage risk, increase operational efficiency, reduce cost and improve the customer experience.