Jocelyne Vandecauter, Credit Manager at Adecco Belgium since 2004, talks about the internal workings of a successful HR service provider. Good credit checks not only offer financial added value, but a commercial benefit too.
Jocelyne has worked in Adecco's credit & collection (accounts receivable) service since 1999. She is currently the Credit Manager of a six-person team of senior experts.
“My team has 2 major responsibilities: performing credit checks on companies and following up the outstanding invoices afterwards until payment is made. With approximately 5,000 active customers in all possible sectors, from retail and logistics to catering and transport, that is quite a job. A job that is much easier thanks to the services of GraydonCreditsafe.”
“We want to avoid our offices losing time by chasing customers with whom we ultimately do not want or are unable to do business. Every sales person at Adecco has a login to request a Graydon report before following up on a prospect. Before someone sends out a quotation, they must add a Graydon report.”
“Together with sales, we make the assessment based on the information from the Graydon report and the possible cooperation volumes. The reports contain a goldmine of information that our sales people can use during the negotiation phase. We get to see the budgets for agency work, next to the credit limits, and so on. Based on that, we can offer very detailed and watertight quotations.”
Working capital is of vital importance to us. In principle, we finance the wages of our temporary workers every week, until the client pays the invoices.
Jocelyne Vandecauter
Credit Manager, Adecco
“Every customer is unique. For example, recently a Dutch company with a new Belgian representation had to work with a guarantee. They did not agree with that. Based on the figures of the parent company, we were still able to conclude an agreement with a trial period of three months and possible additional guarantees. In this way, we think along with our sales colleagues in a commercial way on the credit service on a daily basis.”
“Apart from the financial information, Graydon Insights also offers us enormous advantages in the expansion of our customer portfolio. In addition to the necessary information and joint committees, the social balance in particular is an additional asset. This includes a section showing how many people a company employs on a temporary basis.”
We handle an average of 1,000 customers per person in the credit department. Automating part of it is therefore a must.
Jocelyne Vandecauter
Credit Manager, Adecco
“The monitoring tool from Graydon Insights is really the icing on the cake. We receive daily messages about changes at our customers. This way we can respond proactively. For example, it currently gives us insight into the exact impact of the pandemic on our (potential) customers.”
“But it can also be a positive story, of course. When we receive notification of an improved credit limit, the sales manager can proactively approach the customer for increased collaboration.”