Introduction
We live in a time where computers and the internet change a lot of things. Water companies are at an important point where they can work better and make customers happier. Old debt collecting ways in these companies are slow, don’t work together well, cost too much money, and don’t use much technology. Now, we have lots of data and connections, and it’s clear that these companies need to update how they collect debt. This article talks about why it’s important to change and what good things can happen for water companies if they use new methods. Also, we will look at how Tech Mahindra has helped a lot in making these changes happen.
The Current Landscape: A Legacy of Challenges
1. Inefficient working of legacy systems and methods: Water companies that use old methods to get money back do less work and have more errors. Using complex software and manual work slows them down. They can miss out on time to collect money. Also, having information in different spots makes it hard to share details. This can lead to more mistakes when trying to get money back.
2. Unsynced ERP systems and processes: Unsynced work processes and broken connections with ERP systems make collecting debts harder. Weak links to call systems also cause problems. This setup isn’t flexible or easy to grow, which means it’s tough to deal with more debtors or change how the business works.
3. Cost and penalties: Old systems cost a lot to take care of and have safety problems. They need a big budget, which makes collecting debts more expensive. When security is old, there’s a bigger chance for private data to get out. This can lead to fines for water companies.
4. Automation and lack of customer information: Not having much information about customers and being unable to use technology to help work slows down making good choices with data. Without new analytics and help from computers, work must be done by hand, which takes a long time. This makes collecting debts less quick and adaptable.
5. Customer service: Old systems do not treat people like they are special. People feel like they don’t matter. These systems just want to get paid and don’t care if people can’t afford it. When people can only talk to the water company by phone, it can make them unhappy.
Unlocking the Potential: Benefits of Modernizing Debt Collection Systems
1. Operational Efficiency: Modern systems leverage automation and advanced analytics, reducing manual efforts and improving recovery rates. This can result in a substantial 30-50% reduction in collection costs.
2. Reduced Cost to Collect/Serve: Reduction in manual efforts, improving collection rates and spending less on system maintenance costs can make the cost of running things go down by 10-20%. Modern systems help this happen.
3. Increased C-Sat: Our new systems make it easier to talk to customers and fix their problems quickly. Because of this, our customers are now 15-20% happier.
4. Improved Cashflow: Becoming good at collecting money people owe and reducing the amount of money not paid can improve how we manage money by 25-35%.
5. Better Security Features: New systems have strong safety features. They fix weak spots and follow the laws for keeping data safe.
A Strategic Partnership for Water Utilities
Tech Mahindra helps water companies update their systems. They give special help made just for each company’s needs.
1. Omni-channel Debt Collection Strategy: Making calls with machines or people, chatting through WhatsApp, having live chats in apps, sending emails, and using social media. This makes collecting debts feel more personal.
2. Self-Service Customer Portal: You can use a website to see your bills, plan how to pay them, move your debt, and pay money easily by yourself.
3. Tools with AI and Data Analysis: We use tools to look at debt, estimate future financial (income and expenditure analysis) trends, and find risk early. We group customers and study how they pay. We make the tough job of checking money coming in and going out faster and automatic.
4. Focused on Digital Debt Collection: Using conversational bots and IVR systems and making websites better and content rich for customers. Also, improving lists of questions with answers to help pay off debts quicker and make talking to customers better.
5. Process Mining and Automation: Implementing automation in areas such as income and expenditure, skip tracing, reconciliation, delinquency, capacity to pay, applying debt settlements, and debt transfers.
Conclusion
Water utilities need to use new technology to do well today. New systems for collecting money owed make work smoother, make customers happier, and fit new rules. Working with Tech Mahindra helps water companies get custom help, good team setups, and skills in using data and analytics. As the world likes to make choices based on data more and more, using new systems is very important for water companies. They must do this to keep up with what their customers want and to keep their spot in the digital world.
About the Author:
Gaurav Wadhera
Lead Business Consultant, Tech Mahindra
Gaurav has work experience spanning 18+ years in the ITES industry. He has successfully managed and handled RPA-driven transformation and automation of projects, business operations in credit and collections management (O2C), customer service/delivery, and business transition. As a Lead Business Consultant, liaisons with alliance partners and utilizes their products and solutions to build TechM capability across Verticals/Industries.