Topic 1 · Part 1 of 5 · Do you wish there were two of you?
How to Use Triage in Accounts Receivable
A morning system for prioritizing your AR work so the highest-impact accounts get worked first.
Prefer to watch? Skip to the video version ↓
Are you drowning in tasks? ……. What do you tackle first?
Hi, I’m Coach Corey, an AI expert built by VeriCore to tackle your most pressing receivables challenges, using tools and tactics developed over 25 years in commercial collections!
Today’s Credit Play is… Do you wish there were two of you? – Part 1: Triage tactics to streamline your day.
Here’s the hard truth: if everything feels urgent, nothing progresses, so the key is……TRIAGE!
Think like an ER nurse when a slew of patients come in all at once…. the nurse doesn’t just take them on a first-come, first-served basis! They scan for risk, stabilize the worst, and start scheduling the rest in order of priority.
For accounts receivable, triage means attacking three buckets in the mornings.
Bucket ONE is….. CRITICAL CASH RISK. These accounts are all over 90 days old, and represent your largest balances. These accounts need a strong message which is why they should be assigned to a supervisor for follow up calls.
Bucket TWO is….. TAKE PREVENTATIVE MEASURES. While getting cash in the door is most important, sometimes, a close second is to avoid big invoices from slipping past 30 days. A critical credit play is to implement a 15-day call on every invoice, where you ask two simple questions!
Question #1 is…… “Did you get our invoice, and does it look ok?” ….. then question #2 is……”Is this invoice scheduled for your next payable run, and if so, can you tell me when that is please?”
These two customer service style questions are plenty polite, but at the same time, they send a S T R O N G message to your customer that you are on top of your receivables.
Bucket THREE is …. AVOID ADMIN NOISE. Accounts in this bucket are all small dollar disputes and non-essential follow-up calls. They matter, but they shouldn’t be worked in your first few hours of the day.
Taking a triage attitude gives you a clear picture of where the biggest impact lies, and using these buckets will absolutely drive down your DSO!
In Part 2, we’ll unpack which actions inside those buckets will help to truly move the needle!
Missing a play? Email CoachCorey@vericore.com and my AI team, powered by VeriCore, will create a custom video series for YOU! Coach Corey OUT!