What if it was possible to access extended credit at no extra cost?

By Alex Tatham

What’s the biggest sales enabler in distribution? Sounds like an easy question, but I would contend it is such a balance of different offerings that there is no silver bullet.

• Great consistent account management
• Good pricing
• Stock levels
• Rebate management
• Quote management and turnaround
• Credit availability
• But one area that sometimes gets ignored is extended payment terms.

Cash management is a vital performance indicator for a distributor and all successful distributors put significant resources into reporting and measuring the ability to turn sales/stock into cash and maintain as balanced a cash flow as possible. Westcoast has a zero tolerance for late payment once terms have been agreed. It is too important for our business. However, we have an exclusive and innovative scheme that allows customers to extend payment and never miss a payment deadline.

By opening a dedicated American Express account with Westcoast (I am afraid it is dedicated! And Westcoast doesn’t sell shoes!), you can settle your Westcoast balance and effectively stretch your payment terms by c.30 days without filling up your Westcoast credit limit. Clearly this is subject to American Express’s own risk review as well as Westcoast recommendations, but such a deal allows flexibility when paying and instant capability for you to accept an end-user order that you may otherwise have turned away. Oh, did I mention – it is completely free of charge!

The biggest objection I get when talking about the scheme is that is too good to be true. Why would Westcoast fund such a scheme? What is less surprising is that customers on the scheme love it – so much so they divert spend towards Westcoast. Of the 100 customers currently authorised on the programme, ALL of them have increased their purchases with Westcoast to varying degrees helping Westcoast to be one of American Express’s largest merchants in EMEA.

So whilst it may be brilliant service that wins the day – helping customers win is Westcoast’s primary focus. If extended payment does the trick – do talk to us about how we can help you achieve this.

Take a look at the infographic below to see why the Westcoast and Amex solution makes perfect business sense!