BTR (Big Truck Rental) Case Study

“If a customer pays in the portal, that’s less bank reconciliation I have to do, because it automatically ties back to our ERP system. BlueSnap allows me to eliminate just so many labor hours. I see improvements on the collections. More cash is coming in.”

Justin Perez, Controller, BTR

Who Is BTR?

BTR is North America’s leading provider of capital, growth and operational fleet solutions for the logistics and environmental industries. Founded in 2002, BTR partners with Fortune 500 companies, municipalities and independently owned businesses to deliver commercial truck solutions ranging from short-term rentals to long-term acquisitions. BTR develops tailored fleet management solutions to help companies maximize uptime, allowing them to serve their customers with efficiency and confidence.

The Challenge

Managing BTR’s extensive customer portfolio requires efficient, well-organized billing to ensure customers receive accurate, timely invoices and related communications. “We have roughly 800 to 1,000 trucks on rent at any given time, so that’s 800 invoices every month, if not more once you count toll invoices and other items,” explains Justin Perez, controller at BTR. “It’s a lot of invoices going around with a lot of moving parts. When you have to follow up on all of these for payment – it adds up.”

The company’s previous provider offered some accounts receivable (AR) functionality, but the features actually hindered BTR’s ability to streamline operations and collect timely payments. For example, invoice emails sent through the system came from a third-party email instead of BTR. “Emails would get caught up in junk mail or people would not trust using it, and customers didn’t feel comfortable clicking the links,” reports Perez. “Approximately one-third of our business comes from municipalities and city governments. Those types of organizations have strong firewalls, and anything we sent wasn’t delivered.”

Perez’s team had to continue sending many of the invoices manually, and then many customers paid via checks by mail, leading to cash flow delays and operational overhead.

The team needed a better option with automated AR functionality that actually automated the process. “I needed an alternative solution because my whole goal was to drive efficiency for my team.”

The Solution

Baker Tilly, BTR’s consulting firm and BlueSnap partner, referred BTR to BlueSnap to solve the issues they were unable to resolve with their previous partner. “We really wanted to get more AR functionality, more of a total solution, which is what BlueSnap offers,” says Perez.

BlueSnap AR Automation offers the comprehensive accounts receivable automation and payments solution BTR didn’t find with their previous provider. With BlueSnap, BTR now has a branded customer portal and automated workflow emails that come from a BTR email address to improve the customer experience and provide personalized communication. The BTR team also uses BlueSnap’s surcharge functionality to drive further cost savings.

All the features of BlueSnap’s solution work together to drive greater efficiencies for the BTR team. Plus, it all integrates seamlessly with BTR’s ERP, Sage Intacct. “Having the customer portal that ties back to our ERP means less time we have to spend on reconciliations,” says Perez.

The Results

Since implementing BlueSnap, Perez and his team have experienced significant savings and improved operations in areas that used to drain team members’ time and resources.

“After six months, I asked the team, ‘What are the cost savings here in terms of labor with the cadences we built out, us not having to send reminders as often, the bank reconciliation side of things where we don’t have to sit there and trace things back because they’re marked as paid?’” describes Perez. “We estimate that we’re saving 1,940 labor hours per year, which is an entire salary for us.”

With email cadences in place, BTR customers receive consistent invoice reminders from a known and secure source. “BlueSnap allows the emails to integrate with our actual BTR email address, so customers trust that it’s coming from a secure entity.” This has led to an uptick in customer adoption, improving cash flow as invoices are paid more quickly and eliminating the need to wait for and process paper checks.

“If a customer pays in the portal, that’s less bank reconciliation I have to do, because it automatically ties back to our ERP system,” says Perez. “BlueSnap allows me to eliminate just so many labor hours. I see improvements on the collections. More cash is coming in.”

Switching to BlueSnap has allowed BTR to go from being reactive to being proactive. The cadences remind customers when payments are due, prompting action. The cadences also take care of most of the follow-up.

With the time saved by automating a previously manual process, Perez and the billing specialists have more time for other projects that require focused attention. “We’re developing more personal relationships with customers instead of tracking down emails,” Perez says. “These calls are more meaningful and also allow us to keep our systems up to date,” which benefits both BTR and their customers.

Another benefit to BTR is the cost savings from leveraging BlueSnap’s compliant surcharging functionality. “We implemented surcharges, which is going to be another significant savings,” Perez says. “Last year we spent nearly $400,000 on credit card fees, and so far this year we’ve saved dramatically.”

With BlueSnap AR Automation, BTR has been able to introduce more consistency throughout the billing process and really optimize everything. Now payments can become part of the sales and onboarding conversation. “We have more consistent cash flow coming into the business and we know it’s going to reconcile directly with our ERP — that’s the new norm.”

Following a streamlined implementation process where Perez “always knew exactly where we were trending, and we stayed on target for the date of completion,” he is confident that he can rely on BlueSnap to take his questions and customer experience seriously — something he didn’t have with their previous payment provider.

“We’re very excited to continue the partnership and see how this continues to grow,” Perez says. “There are more changes we need to do internally — taking advantage of more of BlueSnap’s features, primarily — and we’re excited to continue utilizing BlueSnap.”