2021-09-03-奥纬咨询-现金绩效管理_Managing_Meter-to-Cash_Performance_6页_111kb

Energy/Utilities Collections Performance Improvement

Key Challenges

• Rising accounts receivable and uncollectibles levels, exacerbated by a weak economy, sub-prime mortgage issues, slow growth, and layoffs.
• Passive credit and collections policies, loose process discipline, and ineffective low-income assistance programs contribute to poor collections.

Recommended Strategy

A comprehensive credit and collections strategy is essential, involving:

• Process effectiveness: Improve upstream work (e.g., customer sign-up, meter reading) to enhance downstream collections.
• Customer segmentation: Allocate resources based on risk factors like demographics, credit history, and payment behavior to target actions.
• Policy design: Revisit policies to encourage timely payments from able-to-pay customers and provide maximum assistance to low-income customers, leveraging regulations and external programs.

Implementation Focus

• Diagnose issues through questions on process adherence, customer communication, and payment arrangements.
• Explore regulatory changes, longer-term reforms, and infrastructure improvements to boost collections performance.
• Key actions include aggressive pursuit of delinquent accounts, optimizing payment plans, and reducing churn among vulnerable customers.

Managerial Questions

• Develop a plan to address collections performance gaps.
• Ensure deposits and payment arrangements reduce credit exposure.
• Align resource allocation with high-risk customers and effective communication strategies.