Updated 6/10/2024. Originally published 2/17/2019.
Our customers are our number one priority. We strive to make it easy for them to retrieve the information they need when they need it; whether that means one call resolution or making sure they can easily access all information relating to their contracts with us 24/7.
One way GreatAmerica empowers our customers is through our customer portal, info-zone™. Our customers rely on this platform to help manage financing applications and contracts for office equipment leasing, technology financing, automotive equipment financing, healthcare equipment financing, and construction equipment financing. Essentially, info-zone™ places power in the hands of our customers; enabling them to retrieve almost any information they may desire relating to their customers’ contracts (like checking on a contract term date or delinquency status) without even having to call or email the team to request it.
First, let’s review: What is info-zone?
At a high level, info-zone™ is a hub for our customers to access relevant information about their equipment financing deals with GreatAmerica. It provides a platform for customers to build and manage contracts, and also the relationships they have with their customers. It provides instant access to essential details as it pertains to a specific agreement or reports regarding their portfolio with GreatAmerica. Conveniently browser-based, the mobile-friendly portal is available anywhere a user can access an internet connection.
So what kind of information is visible in info-zone™?
- Payment history
- Upgrade and buyout information
- Customized reports
- Invoices and billing information
- Lease documents: For faster processing, we recommend using our templates. This capability prepopulates the agreement based on the terms in the application. You can also choose to download a blank PDF and submit a hard copy if that fits better with your process.
- Copy of the signed agreement
- Delinquency status
Every user has their own account which can be associated with a customized set of permissions to ensure the right users have visibility to the right information.
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Are you missing out on some of info-zone’s most helpful features?
As powerful as the platform is, we find that it is rarely used to its full potential. While the various reports and tools it offers are too many to count, there are a few our customers find especially valuable. Read on and find out how you can start making use of some of the most valuable, yet underutilized info-zone features.
1. Contracts expiring
As you juggle your to-do list and daily priorities, it can be difficult to keep your finger on the pulse of all contracts at all times. Considering the competition grows fiercer by the day, it is crucial you can anticipate your customers’ needs and make plans for upgrades well before their contracts expire. To do that, you must know when your customers’ contracts are nearing the end of the term, and you must be ready to act to ensure your relationship with them doesn’t end with the contract. Too often, contracts are abandoned after they slip into automatic renewals, and when this happens, you present your competition with a prime opportunity to swoop in and steal their business away.
The ‘Contracts Expiring’ report can help prevent this. This report makes it much simpler to manage your relationships and contracts with your customers by keeping you in tune with the statuses of your various contracts. By subscribing to this report, solution providers are able to keep a close eye on their contracts and be aware of those that are swiftly coming to term. By proactively managing (and protecting) your customer base, you’ll stay current on upgrade opportunities, which will help you to maintain a high customer retention rate.
2. Contract audit report
Do you bill usage? When you first set up a new contract, it’s important to be sure you have validated that any necessary escalations and volume allowances have been correctly set, and that the agreed upon overage charges have been incorporated into your billing arrangements. Using the info-zone™ ‘Contract Audit’ report, you can be proactive from day one by reviewing your escalation schedule/amounts in advance for the entire life of the contract.
3. Booked contracts by month
For sales leadership teams, one valuable report is the ‘Booked Contracts by Month’ report. This report can help illustrate trends on a month-to-month basis and can serve to help measure performance to develop sales reps. It can also be used by sales reps to set personal sales goals, identify seasonal trends, and provide insight into their specific market segments and customer buying habits.
4. Remittance/reconciliation
We don’t have to tell you how easy it can be for errors in usage reporting to eat into your profits. Whether your mistakes are small but frequent, rare but substantial, or a combination of both, errors of any kind add up and can cost your business bigtime, eating into your bottom line little by little.
To be sure we are billing, collecting and passing-through the correct amount, utilize our ‘Remittance/Reconciliation’ report. If you’re not validating that your usage is being billed accurately, you risk losing profit, or you could even find yourself owing your customers money, which can have a negative impact on everything from customer experience to cash flow and accounts payable.
But if you’re still manually entering usage data, there may be a better way….
It’s important to note here that, though info-zone™ does allow you to enter your usage data manually, anytime a person must key enter data, you are vulnerable to human error. The info-zone™ platform does make meter entry easy, but regardless, mistakes will continue to happen. While this feature helps those needing to manually enter meter reads, automation can eliminate the manual step of this process to avoid errors.
By utilizing technology integrations with ECI e-automate, you can send meters to our contract management team automatically and more accurately. You’ll also streamline your audit process as a result since we validate the meter reads you send us with the information in your customers’ contracts. You’ll spend less time entering meter data and have more time for revenue generating tasks.
5. Submitting a credit application
To submit a digital credit application, simply log in from your computer or mobile device, navigate to the credit application, enter your customer’s information, and hit ‘submit.’ While you can submit a credit app through info-zone™ with GreatAmerica, we also have other options for digital credit application entry.
Related: Submitting credit applications for customers with GreatAmerica
What other cool things can you do using info-zone™?
All of the above reports are extremely helpful, but we can’t forget the basic day-to-day tasks info-zone™ can help with like:
- Viewing the status of a credit app
- Accessing an overview of usage information for all contracts
- Reviewing information around booked contracts
- Utilizing permission levels to ensure everyone has the proper access to the information they need
Info-zone™ is capable of even so much more than this article discusses. It’s a powerful tool, and if leveraged to its full potential, can help you to be more efficient as an operation. If you’re interested in receiving formal training, reach out to your GreatAmerica Representative or contact us here. You can also visit www.greatamerica.com/infozone for more info.