5 ECM Benefits You Can Achieve Within a Year
If you’re considering an enterprise content management system, you probably have an idea of what it can do for your business. But have you wondered just how quickly you’ll start to see a change? Companies usually see the benefits of ECM starting on day one – and continue to enjoy them well into the future. Keep reading to discover five advantages that you can expect to achieve within a year of implementing an enterprise content management system.
(Note: for the examples below, we’re assuming implementation across Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Order Processing. The more processes you automate, the more benefits you’ll see.)
Benefit #1: Lower Processing Costs
Processing an invoice takes quite a bit of time – and therefore, quite a bit of money. For most organizations, a salaried AP employee has to collect, sort, and distribute paper invoices, bring them to the appropriate individuals for processing or approval, and key them into an ERP. These are all routine, low-value tasks, but they must be completed.
ECM software can handle most – if not all – of this process without an employee’s input. This makes the process much more affordable.
A study from the Aberdeen Group found that the most advanced companies – presumably including those that used software to automate the process – spent just $3.09 to process an invoice. In contrast, companies that had no solutions in place were spending an average of $38.77. Saving around $35 per invoice processed is no small sum – especially when you consider the impact of thousands of invoices per month.
Benefit #2: Increased Accuracy
Here too, we see how manual invoice processing can hold a company back. When AP clerks have to type out all the information on an invoice, it’s easy to key the wrong number (or address, or vendor name…you get the idea.) That invoice will eventually get identified as incorrect, and someone has to take the time to find (and resolve) the error. That’s not just inconvenient; it can prevent you from paying your invoice on time, which can, in turn, prevent you from capitalizing on early payment discounts.
Benefit #3: More Early Payment Discounts
For companies that aren’t quite sold on ECM, this is one of the benefits that stand out the most.
Many vendors offer discounts to customers who pay their invoices within a specific period of time (such as 10 or 15 days). But, companies that don’t have a streamlined process in place often struggle to meet these deadlines. Unfortunately, doing so is leaving money – and lots of it – on the table. At IntelliChief, one company that we worked with saved $5.4 million in early payment discounts in their first year using our ECM software.
Enterprise content management systems make it easy to capture these discounts. They can get invoices to the appropriate processors as soon as they’re received so that they’re not just sitting around waiting to be distributed. IntelliChief’s system can also speed up the process by:
- Automatically performing the two- or three-way match
- Sending a manager a notification (as well as a follow-up reminder, if necessary) if the invoice needs approval or GL coding
- Scheduling prompt payment with your ERP
Learn more about how ECM benefits your bottom line through early payment discounts.
Benefit #4: Lower Employee Turnover
There’s a common misconception that automation will take the place of actual employees. ECM software, though, isn’t designed to replace humans – it’s designed to help them have an easier time with what they already do.
When highly trained employees (like accountants) aren’t burdened with repetitive, low-value tasks (like distributing invoices), they have more time to focus on work that actually reflects their education and experience. In turn, they tend to be more satisfied with their jobs, and less likely to leave for more rewarding opportunities.
Benefit #5: Higher Customer Satisfaction Rates
Your customers expect quick turnaround times, shipment notifications, accurate invoices, and fast responses when they contact you for support. If you’re not able to meet these expectations, you may be missing out on repeat business.
ECM benefits your customer service team by helping them better manage each of these important touchpoints. It helps you start processing orders as soon as they’re received, proactively communicate with customers when their items are on their way, and confirm that your invoices are accurate before you send them out. And, if a customer calls to ask about their order status, you’ll have all the information you need right at your fingertips. This gives your customers a much better experience.
Learn More About the Advantages of IntelliChief’s Enterprise Content Management System
More satisfied customers, more satisfied employees, and an improved bottom line – what’s not to love? At IntelliChief, we can help you discover the benefits of ECM for yourself. Our solutions engineers work hand-in-hand with all of our customers to configure IntelliChief to their particular business processes, giving IntelliChief the unique ability to be mapped to any workflow, no matter how complex or nuanced. It’s one of the major differentiators that sets IntelliChief apart from virtually every other solution on the market.
