One thing I love about working in brand and content marketing is the chance to speak to customers to understand what they’ve been struggling with, what motivates them, what KPIs they’re setting and what changes they want to make happen in the organization. That’s exactly what I did recently as I sat down for a chat with Josh Simon, Global Risk & Receivables Director at JAS Worldwide.
JAS Worldwide is a global leader in logistics with a history dating back to 1978 in Milan, Italy. Growing from its regional roots, the company is one of the world's largest family-owned logistics companies, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA and operating seamlessly across 100+ countries and supported by a dedicated team of more than 7,000 professionals.
Ok ok, let’s get back to the good stuff and point of this article, shall we? Here are some snippets of the conversation Josh and I had about his role, what his primary focus areas are in relation to Accounts Receivable and risk management and what KPIs he considers important for improving cash flow and growing the business long-term.
Ragini Bhalla: As a business, customer acquisition is a vital part of a long-term growth strategy. Has the company ever signed a customer who turned out to be a major risk after the fact?
Josh Simon: Yes, this has happened to us. The reality is that, sometimes, we have to make decisions based on imperfect information. We strive to minimize the risks as much as practical when making decisions.
Ragini Bhalla: As a team leader, I imagine a big part of your role is focused on supporting your team and helping them be as productive and successful in their roles. How has using Creditsafe solutions made your team’s job easier and more effective?
Josh Simon: Making good credit decisions inherently can improve efficiency. If we make good credit decisions based on strong data, then we can avoid the inefficiency of chasing after problematic receivables.
One of the ways Creditsafe has helped JAS be more productive and effective is by the quality of the data provided. Thanks to Creditsafe, JAS can almost always access credit risk data the first time requested. The data is always presented in a meaningful, consistent and intuitive format. We don’t need to spend time homogenizing data from across the globe. Creditsafe has already done that for us.
Ragini Bhalla: Obviously, it’s important to set success metrics as a leader for your team. What does success in Accounts Receivable look like for you?
Josh Simon: Managing credit risk globally is challenging. We have built a robust strategy that involves analyzing and measuring our risk and AR performance across over 60 key metrics. These include Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), the total number and dollar value of overdue invoices, open Accounts Receivable disputes, billing timelines and adherence to credit limit, just to start.
Managing cash flow has been both a priority and challenge. Since working with Creditsafe
for the last two years, we’ve been able to tackle this head-on and improved our Days Sales Outstanding by 33%. Creditsafe has been one of the contributing factors to our success.
While we’ve seen quantifiable improvements in certain areas, that’s not all we consider when evaluating how useful Creditsafe is to our business. I can definitively say that we’re very happy with the quality of data Creditsafe provides on businesses globally. Having strong quality data can make or break a company’s risk management strategy. If we don’t have the right data on the different multinational customers and suppliers we work with, we wouldn’t know what risks pose the biggest threats to our business. This is something I have come to rely on with Creditsafe data.
Ragini Bhalla: You talked about how JAS Worldwide previously used multiple credit risk providers across its 100+ locations globally and how you have since transitioned almost completely to Creditsafe as the preferred credit risk provider. What ultimately drove you to make such a big transition?
Josh Simon: I already talked about the quality of data and how it’s presented in the Creditsafe platform. That has been a real value-add for JAS. But it wasn’t just that.
We didn’t take the decision lightly. With over 100 locations worldwide, we needed to make sure the decision made sense for the entire company and not just one region. We were also considering three competing credit risk providers alongside Creditsafe.
Ultimately, we chose Creditsafe for three reasons:
1. The quality of the credit risk data and the proprietary scoring methodology were both better with Creditsafe than other providers we previously used and compared to those we were vetting as part of our RFP process. Creditsafe’s data is presented in a consistent, logical and intuitive manner. So, there wasn’t any guesswork about the information and we could rely on the risk assessment, making our business decisions more accurate and more reliable.
2. Creditsafe has a strong global reach. We work with customers, suppliers and vendors all over the world, many of whom have hundreds of subsidiaries with their own operating structures. Previously we weren’t always able to do proper due diligence on those companies. Now, that has been resolved with Creditsafe as they have over 430 million business credit reports accessible online across over 200 countries and territories. And if there’s ever a company that we can’t find, Creditsafe’s fresh investigations has been a value-add for us as they assign a special team to investigate the company and provide a full report within days.
3. Last, but certainly not least, I was (and still am) impressed by the company’s responsiveness and exceptional customer support. It wasn’t just the customer support team answering our questions that swayed me. To get quick and helpful responses from Nick Foley, Account Executive, and Matthew Debbage, CEO of the Americas and Asia for Creditsafe, meant a lot. It shows the kind of passion and dedication that I look for in partners.
Ragini Bhalla: Well, I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to chat with me and how candid this conversation has been. It’s always helpful to understand what motivates a finance and risk leader and what success really means.
Let me end this interview with a few examples of how Creditsafe has helped JAS Worldwide improve cash flow and credit management.
Improved DSO: Josh and his team were able to slash the company’s Days Sales Outstanding by 33%.
Better Credit Management: Josh and his team were able to get a better understanding of the credit risks of potential customers so they could set the right credit limits and improve the team’s overall credit management.
Thorough M&A Due Diligence: As JAS Worldwide looks to invest in mergers and acquisitions, Creditsafe’s data has been vital and easy to use for vetting companies prior to acquisition.
Of course, you can check out the case study to see how JAS Worldwide is improving cash flow and credit management with Creditsafe.