It has been a surprisingly complicated process to sign a contract between two companies. You have to make a sustainable and efficient credit decision and catch up the correct person or persons to sign up the agreement. This has been time-consuming and inefficient for many companies. There is always a possibility to loose a good customer who cannot afford waiting.
The contracting process for a new business client used to take up to a week and a half, but now Scandic Hotels can welcome a client in just 10 minutes. In this time, the customer has completed an application, received a credit decision, and signed the contract electronically. If necessary, Scandic can go back to the content of the contract in the archive. Also, they immediately receive a control impulse if there are changes in the customer's finances that affect, for example, the payment terms in the future.
This is made possible by the contract service for opening a business account, developed by Asiakastieto together with Visma Sign and Eduix. Scandic Hotels Oy is the first user of this pioneering service, but there is a huge need and interest for it among Asiakastieto’s other B2B customers in Finland and in the Nordics.
"The most important thing for us is that the customer experience has improved considerably thanks to this service," says Liisa Karvonen, Accountant in Scandic Hotels Oy.
"For us, the contract service provides everything we need for contracts with corporate clients. This makes our work more efficient, helps with customer service and frees up time for other tasks. The process is more ecological because there is no need for paper at all," she says.
Scandic Hotels Oy is part of the Nordic hotel chain, which has 63 hotels and 13 016 rooms in 24 cities in Finland.
Identifying the right signatories
Together with Visma Sign and Eduix, Asiakastieto has developed a contract service that is not only fast but also secure. The possibility of human error in the contracting process is minimized.
"Not just anyone can sign contracts for the company. That's why it's important to make sure that the signatories have the necessary authority and are who they say they are. In the contract service, Asiakastieto verifies the correct signatories and Visma Sign handles the signatures electronically with strong authentication," emphasises Jaakko Nors from Asiakastieto.
In the past, customers first filled in their details on paper, from where they were manually entered into the system. Now, the customer fills in the company name or company ID on the e-form, and the automation system then fills in all the basic information, including the electronic billing address.
Consistent credit decisions every time
When opening a business account, a credit decision is required, which defines the terms of payment. This requires a credit policy that allows the company to make consistent, comparable, and subsequently traceable, secure credit decisions with ease. In a contractual service, the credit decision is made using Asiakastieto’s data and decision templates.
"The credit decision is made automatically, and the customer does not have to wait. For example, in machine rental companies, wholesalers or hotels, customers are opened in many places, but decisions must treat customers equally. Now rush, holidays or lack of information no longer slow down the decision-making process and the opening of a customer relationship," says Jaakko Nors.
written by Asiakastieto
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