Mobile First Invoicing, stats and reasons of sky rocketing adoption

By Alex Burlitsky, CEO, https://Mobsted.com

What is Mobile First Invoicing?

It is a very simple concept. Smart phone quickly becomes a number one device at customers’ hands in every moment in life. A mobile invoicing system generates an invoice and sends a text message with a payment link to a customer’s mobile phone. When link is pressed an invoice appears on a phone screen with the info and credit card (or other payment) form. Payment reminders are automatically sent if necessary.

Basic Adoption Data

Within our suit of mobile products, I see that Mobile Invoicing becomes a first step in mobilizing operations in almost 25% of times, beating the next category Customer Portal (12%) of times and Visual IVR being 3rd with 10%. This data is true for small and medium businesses with up to 10 000 customers database, because they are not flush with budgets for hiring new hands and first look for more pragmatic solutions, comparing to their own mobile app.

The 55% of adopters run a remote sales model, where customers don’t visit business premises every time or order by phone. These companies decide to start in 5 business days or less. Some examples are water deliveries, various education centers, auto repair shops. The next 32% cohort needs a mobile point of sale tool — to calculate an estimate and forward it to a customer for payment, often being at customer’s premises. These are home improvement contractors, traveling salesman businesses, b2b equipment servicers etc. Start up decision takes at least 3 times longer, due to complexity of internal business processes, which are considered for re-creation in a mobile form.

Reason 1: As quick as it gets

Speed of sending an invoice and getting paid is a huge factor in both margins and cash flow. Mobile Invoicing can shift customers to paying 2–3 times faster without being inconveniently annoying, so it does improve a cash flow statement. Doing it with the least possible involvement of personnel means less costs associated with receivables. There is a savings of around 5–8 working hours per week per 1000 customers in a database from mobile invoicing automation.

Reason 2: Engagement at its best

A dull table like statement came from the FAX era. Remember “Back to the Future 2” — “You are fired” fax rolling out of all places at once. They were wrong just a bit, now we can send it with a very cool “Fired” gif animation. Seriously, when customer actually sees images of what needs to be paid right on a smart phone screen the speed of closing the deal goes up.

Reason 3: Raised confidence and satisfaction

We kept hearing over and over — “Always Be Closing!” (Copyright — Glengarry Glen Ross). While this is true, clients should not be led to the purchase by their nostrils! When information is instantly available everywhere giving customers a well thought through choice improves longer-term relationships. In Mobile Invoicing it means customers being able to change the invoiced selection right before a payment, even if spending less right away. Money should be spent with confidence.

Reason 4: Mobile Invoicing frees up hands

Especially when used in conjunction with other general business tools like mobile estimates, billable time tracking and expense tracking. At least 50% of businesses make decision after making sure a mobile invoicing system comes with connectors to whatever is already used, or it has these tools built in.

Being a good first step, I only hope, that Mobile Invoicing will become an integral part of some bigger mobile efficiency effort, for the sake of all us getting faster service and spending less and less resources on our ever growing daily habits.