AEI increased the buying power of 30% of their customers
The Challenge
AEI’s business skyrocketed in 2020 with the increased demand for outdoor dining products. Their existing process, run on paper, could not keep up with the application volume so reviews took 2-3 weeks.
Manual insight collection, like bank reference requests, had long turnaround times and returned limited data. Worse, submitted applications were often illegible or incomplete, forcing a further delay of 4-5 days due to back-and-forth communications.
The process was fully managed by a single person: Accounting Manager Robyn Ortiz. Robyn had to manage the new influx of applications while also continuing to keep up with her other responsibilities–monitoring customer payment behavior and adjusting credit limits. As a result, new approvals and customer reviews were all delayed, meaning POs could not be fulfilled and customers were left in the dark.
"Now, we've got instant access to financial history, credit scores, and automated trade references which gives us confidence to grant more trade credit."
The Solution
AEI implemented Nuvo to automate Robyn's manual work of verifying application submissions and collecting insights, so she can focus on fast, sound credit decisions.
Nuvo’s digital application ensures every submission has complete, verified information with field validation and instant database verifications with trusted sources, including the IRS and secretaries of state. By having both new customer applications and credit reviews run through Nuvo, Robyn gets the benefit of deeper insights across all of AEI’s customers.
Trade references and bank references are now fully automated. Trade reference requests are sent via email as soon as a customer submits their application, and an intelligent follow-up email campaign returns responses faster without any phone calls. Direct bank connections provide direct bank reference with richer insights than manual requests. Credit reports are auto-matched and ready for review immediately. Not only do these insights make initial approvals faster and less risky, but Nuvo’s continuous monitoring of these data points ensures customer reviews are even faster and more accurate.
Robyn can now make data-driven decisions that maximize customer credit limits responsibly. Customers whose risk would have been opaque with her previous process, can now be granted terms in line with their ability to pay. Overall, Robyn has increased credit limits at AEI by 30%, giving customers greater purchasing power, and AEI greater revenue potential.
