Billing Case Study
Action Carting Saves Time, Money with Automated Billing
By taking a proactive, technology-focused approach to billing, Action Carting has achieved significant time and money savings while improving internal efficiency and scalability.
Action Carting is a leading solid waste collection and environmental services company based in Newark, NJ and serving the five boroughs of New York and Northern New Jersey. Their customers include iconic local landmarks like Yankee Stadium and the Empire State Building as well as hospitals, restaurants, construction companies and business customers of just about every type. The company processes approximately 13,000 invoices a month.
The Challenge
Action Carting outsourced the delivery of their bills to a print and mail service. They were generating PDF files to send to the third-party printer, who would then print, stuff and mail the invoices. Chief Financial Officer, Brian Giambagno, evaluated the process and concluded that the company was missing a big opportunity by transferring PDF files; he knew they could do so much more by proactively using the data contained in the invoices to streamline operations. Giambagno and his team assessed their options and asked several companies to present billing solutions that would improve their operations.
The Solution
After evaluating the options, Action Carting selected Billtrust (Hamilton, NJ), a premier provider of outsourced billing solutions. Billtrust鈥檚 flagship product and service suite, called CompleteBilling, provides Action Carting with a fully integrated service that includes paper, fax, e-mail and online billing (EIPP). In addition, the company provides expert bill design, in-bill marketing services, and an integrated online customer service tool called CustomerCare. Billtrust outlined a strategy that would improve the use of data while cutting costs, reducing the time required to process bills and increasing billing practice sustainability. 鈥淭he other two companies proposed printing solutions,鈥� observes Giambagno. 鈥淏illtrust outlined a technology solution. That鈥檚 what sold us on them鈥攖hey proposed an approach where we could accomplish much more than just a more efficient print and mail process.鈥�
By taking a holistic approach to the billing process, Billtrust was able to deliver significant improvements, including:
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Conversion of 32 percent of customers to an electronic billing process within six months, exceeding the 25 percent within one-year goal.
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An online portal customers use to view and print bills, which eliminates the need for Action Carting personnel to field calls and print and mail invoices that are misplaced.
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An automated process to handle billing exceptions, which used to be managed by manually flagging bills with stickers containing special processing instructions.
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A seven-day reduction of the billing cycle, with customers receiving bills faster and making payments faster.
Billtrust exceeded the Action Carting team鈥檚 expectations by delivering cost savings and cutting time requirements. However, the Action Carting team reports that the 鈥渟oft cost鈥� impact may be even greater than the savings generated by elimination of postage and paper. 鈥淥ur billing department is now more scalable,鈥� Giambagno reports. 鈥淏y automating manual processes and dramatically reducing customer phone calls on billing issues, our partnership with Billtrust has increased our billing group鈥檚 capacity to handle new customers. We鈥檙e a growing company, and we can now add new customers without having to increase headcount.鈥�
Meeting Environmental Sustainability Goals
The Billtrust partnership has also helped Action Carting bolster its environmental sustainability goals and improve customer communications. The drive toward paperless billing has significantly reduced the company鈥檚 carbon footprint, and Billtrust was instrumental in persuading customers to adopt electronic billing by conducting a customer call campaign to increase participation in the paperless program.
The dynamic invoice messaging capabilities Action Carting now enjoys improve customer communications and reduce call volumes, especially around issues like holiday pickups. The company used to get hundreds of phone calls from customers asking about holiday pickup schedules, but since they can now add messages about these types of issues directly to the invoice, call volumes have dropped precipitously. 鈥淚nvoice messaging also supports our social media outreach,鈥� says Action Carting Marketing Analyst, Jenna DiBella. 鈥淲e invite customers to interact with us via social media channels on our invoices, and it drives traffic to social media platforms like our Twitter feed, where we give tips on green practices and provide other critical information our customers need to know. The invoice messaging and social media outreach work hand-in-hand.鈥�
By taking a proactive, technology-focused approach to billing, Action Carting has achieved significant time and money savings while improving internal efficiency and scalability. The company鈥檚 partnership with Billtrust has improved its sustainability and expanded its customer communications capabilities.
For more information about Billtrust, (888) 580-2455 or visit . For more information about Action Carting, visit .