Customer Story
Trek Bicycle
Empowering Staff, Customers & Partners with a Centralised AR Solution
- Improvedstaff satisfaction by eliminating mundane, low-value tasks
- Increasedcustomer satisfaction by reducing disputes
- Greatercollaboration with AR team members
- Strongerrelationships with international partners
Late or missed payments from customers are particularly important concerns for today’s companies. Not only do they make life harder for accounts receivable (AR) teams, their impact on cashflow and working capital can have significant ramifications on an organisation’s ability to preserve liquidity, maintain growth, and shift into a higher gear of competition — something Trek Bicycle understands well.
As the largest bicycle company in the United States, Trek has a stated commitment to “relentless innovation” that goes beyond bicycle design and manufacturing. Trek knew that its current and projected business success would not be fully realised while still relying on a collections process that was often complex, overly manual and unsustainable.
Challenges - Bringing speed, strategy & consistency to a global process
“We didn’t have a standardised collections tool before Esker,” said Andrew St Clair, Global Director of Financial Services at Trek Bicycle. “Everyday tasks, like sending reminder letters, were all done manually. We made it work, but there was no real consistency in our process. With 60% of our business coming from abroad, it was crucial that we had a true global solution.”
OBJECTIVES
- Free up AR staff for more fulfilling tasks that deliver added value to the team & company
- Improve company cashflow while increasing analytics capabilities for reporting & cash forecasting
- Increase future business opportunities by strengthening relationships with customers & international partners
Solution - Reducing DSO & freeing up staff with AI-driven automation
With Esker, Trek now has a digital collections management solution that’s specifically designed to standardise global operations and position the company for smarter growth and resiliency for years to come. Utilised by 32 collectors in 18 Trek offices worldwide, the solution is making life easier for almost all stakeholders impacted by the process — from AR staff and customers to international suppliers.
“The other credit and collections vendors we looked into didn’t have Esker’s global expertise,” said St Clair. “One of the big benefits during implementation was how flexible Esker was. They worked with us to translate the interface into 14 different languages and even helped us in improving the look and feel of our statements. It was a true partnership.” .
Esker Collections Management works by automating what can be automated in the process, freeing up team members to focus on customer relationship building and optimising cashflow. All customer and post-sales information is centralised and instantly accessible within the solution, transforming credit and collections activities from clerical tasks to analytical ones.
The discipline that Esker drives in the credit and collections process is phenomenal. In my 20+ years, it’s the best product I’ve ever used based on its simplicity and ease of navigating.”
With 60% of our business coming from abroad, it was crucial that we had a true global solution.”
Results - Facilitating healthier cashflow & happier relationships
Since its initial implementation of Esker Collections Management in the U.S., followed by Europe and the United Kingdom, Trek has seen a number of business benefits.
In addition to the operational efficiencies achieved, Esker’s AI-powered solution has provided Trek’s AR team with a much more collaborative, fulfilling and productive work environment — a modern necessity for retaining and attracting top talent.
Satisfaction among customers has also increased postimplementation, with customers now enjoying a more user-friendly experience thanks to a self-service portal to make payments, manage preferences and more.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Improved staff satisfaction by eliminating mundane, low-value tasks & making day-to-day work more analytical & impactful
- Increased customer satisfaction by reducing disputes & bringing more transparency to the process
- Greater collaboration with AR team members & even other departments that impact cashflow
- Stronger relationships with international partners thanks to Esker’s expertise & engagement strategies
Esker’s willingness to engage with our international partners on payment strategies has played a big role in maximising our success.”
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