Sales have done their part. The customer is hooked, they’ve reeled them in and now it’s over to you, accounts, to double check their credentials and, if they are a desirable customer, get them set up ASAP.  

This is where we hit a fork in the road, with two different scenarios.   

Scenario one, you find that PDF document, get the contact info from the salesperson and email it off for the customer to complete (fingers crossed the file’s not too large and their email provider delivers the message and file no problem). Now you wait. The sales rep comes over and asks every morning if the paperwork is completed. You’re not sure. All you know is that you haven’t received it back yet. 

After a few days you send an email to the customer ‘just checking’ on how the application form is going. And the waiting game commences again. Sales is waiting. You’re waiting. Those credit checks can’t start until you’ve got all the information you need. And, working in your paper-based world, you’re flying blind as to where the customer is up to with their application form and how long authentication of information will ultimately take.   

Scenario two, you’re a digital company. Things are a little slicker, life’s a little easier. Instead of having to dig up that PDF application form, your prospective customer has already been directed to the online application portal by their sales rep. When the rep comes to see you in the morning, it’s a quick, friendly conversation to update them that the application form has indeed been submitted by the new customer. Automation means credit checks have already run, and the customer is now set up and ready to go.  

The difference between these two customer onboarding processes is stark. If you’re currently tearing your hair out amid scenario one and a traditional onboarding process, we’ve pulled together key benefits showing why digital onboarding is now non-negotiable. Perfect for putting together a business case to implement a digital client onboarding process.  

What does a digital onboarding process involve?  

A digital onboarding process should include the following elements:  

• Digital ID verification
• Online application form or portal 
• Integrated credit reports and risk scoring 
• Automated credit decisioning 
  
  

Benefits of digital onboarding  

1. Save time  

Eliminating a traditional onboarding process for a digital onboarding process will save you and your new customers hours.   

• Reduce time-consuming manual tasks (and all the time they take) such as printing paperwork, sending applications via email, in-person verification.  
• Speed up completion of applications that include multiple assignees. Digital application forms can be completed by multiple people at the same time, removing the need to wait for one person to complete and sign before sending through to the next person.  
• Capture the right information first time around, every time. Digital application forms prompt customers if they’re missing information and ensure they complete the form fully before submitting.  
  

2. Improve accuracy and verification of information  

A key benefit of a digital onboarding process is the collation of more accurate information and better identity verification. With a digital customer onboarding improving the accuracy of customer information, you’ll see benefits such as:  

• Improved fraud prevention thanks to liveness detection, biometric facial recognition and document verification (using trusted, secure government sources) which give you confidence when verifying customer identity 
• Gather accurate information from the customer first time around every time with built-in data pre-fill.  
• Reduce the risk of human error when it comes to data entry, with customer information supplied flowing directly into your CRM.  
  

3. Make compliance easier  

Complying with government regulations is important. It can also be difficult without the right tools. This is where digital tools can come into their own.  

• With a digital footprint, record-keeping is easy; you’ll never lose an application again  
• Complete PEP screening and obtain and record all the information you need to comply with Anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations.  
• Ensure consistency with customisable algorithms and workflows to meet your business needs and risk profile  

4. Deliver better customer experience  

A digital onboarding process can really set you apart from competitors, delivering new clients a better onboarding experience and customer journey.  

• Speed up the overall application process to reduce application churn or non-completion rates and improve user experience 
• Streamline the onboarding experience and customers will see the value of your product or services faster, setting you up for strong customer loyalty 
• Digital tools are far more user-friendly than traditional methods for customers with the ability to complete application forms on mobile devices, take a selfie for biometric verification purposes and complete forms in real-time in just minutes. 
  
  

Digital onboarding solutions  

If you’re keen to take the first step on your journey to digital customer onboarding, get in touch to learn how easy it is to implement CreditorWatch tools such as SmartID and ApplyEasy into your process to save you time, improve data accuracy, make compliance easier and deliver a better customer experience. 

How to capture the right information in a customer application form  

Of course it’s important to gather the right information when onboarding a new customer. Without it, you might not be able to set them up properly in your customer relationship management (CRM) system. This could delay the start of trading or cause issues with getting payment down the track, if billing information is wrong.  

Looking at the big picture, capturing the relevant information from the outset when completing potential customer onboarding smooths the experience across four key areas of the onboarding stage; compliance or due diligence, credit risk, employee experience and customer satisfaction.  

Have confidence in your due diligence

Due diligence and compliance with government regulations is non-negotiable. They’re also things that can prove tricky and require 100% accurate information to be supplied and recorded. Often during the sales and onboarding stage you might be dealing with one key person in the business. Most often it will be the owner or a senior executive. You must keep in mind that behind that one person might be another one, two or more people who are directors or beneficial owners. To complete accurate and proper due diligence you need to capture and verify all this information.   

What if you don’t, and just run with the basic information from the key person you’re dealing with? Sometimes you’ll be lucky, and everything will be fine. Other times, not knowing how the business is set up and who the players are results in credit checks that don’t give you an accurate picture of risk. This can come back to haunt you with unpaid bills or high levels of risk associated with that customer. Worst case scenario, you won’t be complying with government regulations and some uncomfortable conversations could be in your future. 

Due diligence during the new customer onboarding process should cover off information including (but not limited to):   

• Names of the owners  
• Names of any directors  
• Contact information (i.e. full name, phone number) 
• Verified identity of all beneficial owners 
• Verified identity of all owners/directors (i.e. govt issued drivers license)  
• Australian business number (ABN)  
• Australian company number (ACN) or Australian Registered Body Number (ARBN)  
• Whether the company is registered with ASIC as a public or proprietary company  
• Whether the individual owner or a beneficial owner is a politically exposed person (PEP)  
  
  

Minimise credit risk from the outset  

No one goes into business to lose money. When you onboard a new customer, a lot of faith and trust is put in each other’s hands – you trust that your new customer will trade with you honestly and pay you on time. Your customer puts faith in you as a service provider to deliver the goods or services as promised.   

Underpinning this trust, are deliberate steps taken to minimise risk through a robust credit decision-making process. And the best way to minimise credit risk is to only onboard new customers that you’re confident will be profitable. If you’ve captured all the right information to accurately assess a new customer then at this stage you can assess the credit risk they pose to you and offer appropriate credit terms and conditions that will best protect your cashflow. Terms that recognise the individual risk level a customer poses go a long way to protecting your business if your customer hits hard economic times or starts displaying high risk behaviour. 

Reduce frustration for employees  

If you can see the steam rising from your credit controller or salesperson as they muddle through the various steps of onboarding a new customer, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about. The ping-pong of an application form, bouncing from the customer to accounts to sales and back again. One small piece of information missing, or an incorrect number can set back the account set-up (and trading) by days.   

Collating the correct information from the outset smooths the onboarding steps for your employees. Checks can be completed promptly, an account set up fast without people having to chase down the customer or a colleague, and friendly relationships across teams maintained.  

Improve customer experience 

Put yourself in your prospective customer’s shoes. They’re excited by your sales pitch and are eager to jump on board and work with you. They want to start now (actually, they really wanted to start yesterday…). Customer onboarding can be make or break. Your new customer is ready to go. They’ve done their due diligence on you and are all in. Now it’s a waiting game until you’ve completed all your necessary checks and have them set up with an account and push the go button.  

But onboarding can often be a bottleneck. This is especially so if you don’t capture all the accurate information you need when you start the onboarding process with the customer. The backwards and forwards of application forms, clarifying information provided, sending forms to all directors or owners to get their individual signatures. This process can take a long time. Too long. If you don’t collect the right information, and the correct information at the outset of onboarding then you risk delaying the start of trading and worse, losing the customer to a competitor who promises a superior onboarding process and immediate trading.  

How can you have confidence you’re capturing the right information? 

Capturing all the correct customer information you need at the onboarding stage can be significantly easier and faster with one simple change. Digital application forms.   

Adding online forms into your customer onboarding process ticks so many boxes:  

• Accurate information – a good digital form won’t allow missing numbers and will prompt a customer if they haven’t completed all parts of the form  
• Safe, accurate record keeping – a digital record is far easier to pull up when needed than digging around through paper files 
• Customers can’t amend terms and conditions by crossing out lines and adding a signature without your approval  
• Fast turnaround time with no need to send out paperwork – customers can complete it on their mobile devices if that’s what works for them.  
• Reduce internal frustration with all stakeholders able to see progress in real-time  
• Automated verifications and credit checks can be built into workflows, reducing manual work and further speeding up the process.  
  
  

ApplyEasy by CreditorWatch is a cost-effective, easy to use digital application tool. If can be tailored to your specific business criteria, or you can follow our best practice set-up to deliver gold-level customer service while ensuring maximum internal productivity. If you’d like to know more about ApplyEasy and see how it could fit into your onboarding process, get in touch.