Decisions, approvals, authorisations – it’s surprising how much time little administrative tasks can drain in a business. Most merchants require senior approval for processing credit notes or refunds, no matter what the value. But in many cases, the value of the refund or credit note is so small, it costs more in time to get the approval than it’s really worth.
We hear from customers regularly that they’d love more ways to clear the weeds of those low value, high volume everyday admin tasks that just suck up time and distract managers from other work.
So we did something to help.
Pre-authorised credit limits
We’ve just launched a nifty little update to the system which now allows you to set pre-authorised limits for credit notes and refunds. You could set standard limits for everyone, or introduce a range of limits for different levels of staff seniority. It's entirely up to you, but you have complete control.
For example, you set a pre-authorised credit limit of £100 for your new trade counter staff. A customer comes in wanting to return £20 of screws. Previously, that member of staff would have to ask the customer to wait while they obtain the relevant approval, taking up their time, the customer's time and the time of the approving manager. But because you've pre-authorised that credit, your junior trade counter staff can instantly issue the credit and record the product back onto the system into stock. Of course, if that customer was returning a £500 load of timber, authorisation would be needed, but for the little things, it's a big time saver.
You don’t have to use them of course, but the time saving potential is pretty big. You have complete control over what the limit is, and you can change it at any time if you feel it’s not working out for you.
Essentially it means you can pre-approve all credit notes and refunds up to your chosen level, giving your customer-facing team the authority to make decisions on the spot and issue credit notes without having to delay while waiting for approvals.
Trust and empowerment for your workforce – peace of mind for you
It’s a win win win situation – they feel trusted and empowered to do their jobs and make sensible decisions; you have to waste less time dealing with micro-approvals and can focus on everything else on your plate, and your customers get faster service with fewer frustrations.
You could add a fourth win as well: the peace of mind all round of knowing that the bigger decisions are still flagged so they need additional approval, keeping your finances safe but your time freed up.
What’s not to love?