Four key reasons businesses choose virtual services
Outsourcing and ‘virtual’ services have been trending across all industries for a while now. In our post-COVID world where the ‘new normal’ for work has changed drastically, this is only set to grow. Most articles you read about outsourcing or ‘virtual’ services cite rational reasons behind choosing to engage virtual services.
They go a bit like this:
- It’s more cost effective
- It’s more time efficient
- It’s a way to access expert resources
- It’s a way to access scarce resources
- It’s a more flexible solution: scaling up or scaling back is easy.
While all of these are indeed valid and true, dig a little deeper – as we do – and you’ll find there are also a number of personal motivations driving these business decisions. Looking at our virtual service (Virtual Ledger Management) the personal motives we see can be generally summed up into these four categories.
1. Power – ‘Improve or Else!’
We know how time consuming and frustrating accounts receivable (AR) management can be for many businesses. Over time, they may have had various AR personnel who have come and gone. This always results in any best practice AR processes getting slowly watered down. Over time, your AR impact and results are diminished. Business owners, often frustrated by lack of results, just want to scream “improve or else!”. Of course modern Human Resources means that’s not possible, so instead they sometimes seize control back by ‘going virtual’. This decision immediately gives them the power to hold any third party to account in a much more robust and immediate manner than an employee.
2. Recognition – ‘look at us – Top Quartile Again!’
Businesses regularly measure performance in more areas than just sales. Great businesses not only measure success but also celebrate it. Who doesn’t enjoy seeing their firm at the top of an industry leader board for such things as: revenue growth, customer service, and employee satisfaction? Owners with these objectives will often engage virtual services to help them achieve this kind of kudos for their team. When measuring results and outcomes it really doesn’t matter how you get there – in-house or by engaging a virtual solution.
Two reasons we believe the best businesses use virtual solutions for accounts receivable (AR) improvement is because:
- AR metrics are easy to benchmark for improvements e.g. debtor days
- To have the best AR metrics, the quickest and easiest way to improve is to use a virtual specialist in that function.
3. Follower / In with the cool crowd – Yes, we use a virtual _ too.’
Some of our clients choose us precisely because other firms they know and admire are already using us and have recommended them to do so too. These ‘followers’ are often larger firms who take time to gather ‘consensus’ and sometimes structure their business accordingly. The great news is that being later to the party doesn’t mean the party is over. This is particularly true with virtual accounts receivable. Regardless of when you take action and make a change there are always cash flow benefits to enjoy.
4. Respect – ‘We did the research and this makes sense!’
Professional services businesses are full of smart, conscientious, and analytical people. They test assertions, check references and calculate benefits. These experts are quickly gravitating towards virtual solutions for accounts receivable because they know the measurable outcomes (cost, time, expertise etc) are tangible and proven.
Try it for yourself
Personal motivations exist in all decision-making (even in business) and it’s useful to know which ones ‘speak’ to you, so they can be considered alongside more ‘task’ focused reasons. If a virtual solution promises to save your business money, time and the hassle of chasing unpaid invoices, and enables you to enjoy the kudos from your peers for doing so, contact us below!