User story - The Content Consultancy
"For one-off or first time invoices, I would estimate that payments are made quicker. Many are paid within the same day, where as it was 3-7 days, I believe because of having to input/set up the bank details and arrange a BACS transfer."
Kate Llewellyn
Content consultant, The Content Consultancy
Company Intro
The Content Consultancy offers strategy consultancy services, alongside copywriting for websites, blogs and other digital marketing assets.
For small businesses, there is also an online membership, The Content Club, which supports members to ensure their content is working hard for their business, with downloads, resources, lessons, planning sessions, expert interviews and a monthly Content Clinic.
Key benefits
- Time to get paid halved
- Remove friction and human-error
- Increased customer satisfaction
Challenge
When you’re a successful marketing firm serving many clients from a wide range of industries, it can be challenging to ensure payments are collected on time. When you’re spinning lots of plates, diverting to a common method like bank transfers can seem like an easy option. However, these payment methods rely on manual data entry which introduces the risk of human error and inertia. Other existing payment solutions do not seem to be much better, high fees, slow transactions, and poor user experience are just some of the issues experienced. There seemed to be no easy way out! Kate recognised the caveats of traditional payment solutions and began her search for a solution that could truly meet her needs effectively.
"Primarily, delayed or late payments, due to clients and customers having to set up a traditional BACS transfer, and with some banks still using card readers, etc., this process can be time consuming (and often falls to the bottom of the to-do list). Alternative automated payment systems also have high fees which were affecting profit. Crezco gave me the 'best of both worlds', a chance to have a 'clickable pay button' but without the fees and without the inconvenience for my clients."
Kate’s ideal solution would allow her clients to pay her easily, securely and instantly without having to fork out funds for fees which lessened her profit margin. She wanted her clients to be able to pay no matter where they were too so collecting payments could be convient for both parties. And so, the search began.
Solution
The Content Consultancy was already using Xero as their accounting software of choice. Crezco has a seamless integration with Xero which kept things easy, other aspects of Crezco such as no fees and an easy reconciliation were also attractive factors.
Crezco makes invoices and payments sent using Xero simple. A payment link is embedded in a “pay now” button easily accessible to clients, allowing them to initiate secure transactions in seconds. Crezco customers’ payments are safe as no debit card or sensitive account details are shared.
"It's made a traditional invoice so much easier to pay as I could easily just 'add a button' to my standard Xero invoice. My clients are really impressed with how easy it is."
A straightforward confirmation of prepopulated payee details, quick login by the client to their bank account, and payment request approval ensure payments made using Crezco will always reach the right account. After funds are received, automatic reconciliation in Xero keeps financial tracking accurate and easy.
Results
The Content Consultancy now enjoys the benefits of Crezco such as free payment processing, and payments reaching their bank account faster than ever before, often well within the same day. Kate can save valuable time which otherwise would have been spent on administrative tasks. Kate’s clients also experience a benefit from using Crezco, the elimination of manual data entry means they can save time too and their payments to Kate are always accurate.
"For one-off or first time invoices, I would estimate that payments are made quicker. I don't have exact data, but many are paid within the same day, where as it was 3-7 days, I believe because of having to input/set up the bank details and arrange a BACS transfer."
With this partnership, The Content Consultancy joins thousands of companies benefitting from Crezco’s free, simple, efficient, and secure payment processing solution.
Next steps
In addition to its services, The Content Consultancy offers an online subscription granting access to valuable resources such as lessons, planning sessions, and interviews. Kate plans to eliminate fees previously associated with payment collection and simplify the recurring payment process to accept payments from clients signed up to The Content Club subscription. By using Crezco to streamline her checkout process and eliminate friction, she now anticipates an increase in sales.
"I am always looking to grow The Content Club, so could investigate how Crezco can help with website payments perhaps, rather than just invoices, to make the sales conversion easier."
