Corporations are seeking to simplify and consolidate accounts payable operations and lower their payment overhead costs. For banks with corporate clients, continuing development to improve efficiencies through technology and deploy new commercial payment solutions is necessary to stay competitive—or even to remain in the game. Mercator Advisory Group believes that along with the advancements in corporate payment solutions, a real opportunity exists to improve the way commercial payments products are sold.
Mercator Advisory Group’s research note, Commercial Card as an Integrated Payables Solution, looks at traditional sales models for commercial payable solutions, including cards, and suggests a new model in which integration is just as important for sales channels as it is for products themselves. Greater use of tools like segmentation and enhanced solution training for a more client-centric sales model can provide a genuine point of differentiation and result in successful client relationships.
“As commercial cards continue to grow, an integrated sales process can maximize the opportunity that comes from a comprehensive program,” comments Richard Hall, Director of Mercator Advisory Group’s Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service and author of the report. “With increasing ubiquity of commercial payables solutions, a key factor in differentiation and client value lies as much in the way these solutions are sold as in what is sold.”
Highlights of the research note include:
- Current commercial card program efficiency levels
- Traditional sales models for commercial cards
- Integration of more tools to reengineer the sales process
- Developing a more client-centric sales model
The research note is 7 pages long and contains 2 exhibits.