As the SaaS market continues to grow, companies are investing in more technologies than ever before. At Enable, being a leader in the rebate management space, we can see the enormous growth in businesses adopting our software, because it can revolutionize how a company calculates, accrues, and allocates its rebates - positively impacting processes for all those involved in rebate management internally and externally. With businesses now adjusting to the new normal, a shift to remote work, fewer in-person deals being conducted, and a growing concern around maintaining compliance and security, businesses are looking for solutions to help them survive and grow through these challenging times.

What Is digital adoption?

Even though we live in a digital age, many businesses continue to lag behind in digital adoption. The recent pandemic has served as a wake-up call for many organizations, exposing the weaknesses in their internal processes and systems as they pivot and adjust. Part of the problem also stems from the fact that many business leaders do not understand what digital adoption actually is. Luckily, we’re here to explain. Digital adoption is the process through which an individual acquires the ability to fully master new technology and successfully carry out digital processes for specific purposes. You can say that digital adoption is successfully achieved when everyone in your business starts using the digital tools available to them to their fullest capability.

What is driving digital adoption?

Businesses are quickly realizing the necessity of digital technology, shifting it from a mere business trend to a critical need. We reveal the many factors driving digital adoption of rebate management now and going forward into 2021.

• Remote workforce

With many offices now closed and employees working remotely from home, the initial phase of the pandemic proved chaotic as many had to quickly shift their processes to keep their businesses operating. Many finance teams faced a reality check as they struggled to access copies of their trading agreements and important data while operating remotely. These issues have driven the digital adoption of a cloud-based rebate management solution which can be securely, accessed on-demand from anywhere.

• Volume and complexity of rebate agreements

Rebate analysts and accountants are constantly under pressure to deliver, even in non-pandemic times. But as reality set in regarding how the pandemic would affect business, rebate teams were suddenly overwhelmed with agreement amendments and revised terms for their deals. It quickly became clear that the sheer volume of contracts demanded a rebate management tool that could help teams easily find, review, edit, and revise their agreements from remote locations.

• An increase in human errors

Finance teams have also been required to churn out financial information much faster and more regularly to be able to respond to the ever-changing situation, it can be common for those in the finance department to miss a digit or two when inputting data into a spreadsheet. Plus, with an increase in the amount of rebate agreements this can become unmanageable. In fact, a BlackLine survey found that nearly 70% of leaders said they’d made a significant business decision based on inaccurate financials. In business, these kinds of human errors can be an expensive cost and an administrative nightmare. But with the digital adoption of rebate management system, you can remove any room for mistakes.

• Relying on suppliers for rebate claims

We’re seeing more and more evidence of companies who rely on their suppliers or vendors to tell them what rebates they should claim. This is surprising given that rebates can be the largest contributor to profit. Given the complexity of rebate deals in some organizations and the lack of robust systems to track purchases against those contracts, it’s no wonder that some companies struggle to understand what supplier rebate claims they should be making.

• Time = money

Manual tasks like inputting data into a spreadsheet are very slow and labour-intensive, leaving little time for anyone to focus on making a real difference to the business. It can also lead to late payments which can result in dissatisfied suppliers, which can lead to additional charges or even impact other vendors’ willingness to work with your company. With the digital adoption of rebate management software all your employees are on the same platform and will have access to the information much more quickly therefore any work will be done more effectively. According to The PwC Finance Benchmarking Report 2019-20, 30% to 40% of time can be reduced with finance automation and behavioural change.

• Multiple stakeholders

Multiple approvers from different departments including sales, procurement, finance, and other stakeholders is hardly a new concept in the business world. However, as many have now shifted to remote work, managing multiple stakeholders has become increasingly challenging. Identifying and tracking the changes made by different approvers while maintaining multiple versions greatly increases the chance for error, which can ultimately result in revenue losses for the business. The digital adoption of a rebate management solution with a centralized deal repository can keep track of and manage different rebate agreements, while also offering notification and reminder features to help keep track any edits.

• Compliance

Companies need to adhere to the financial regulations that are in place. If they fail to do so, they will face harsh regulatory fines, at the very least. In order to prepare for this, these organizations need to take a closer look at their systems and processes for managing their rebates. Failing to comply with the governing laws can cause a huge loss of revenues and reputation, which any business cannot afford. The digital adoption of a rebate management solution can ensure organizations comply with such governing bodies and limit risks.

• Revenue leakage

There are several common rebate-related issues that can cause a loss of revenue for organizations such as the inability to track renewals or renegotiate deals, missing or delayed payments, and non-fulfilment of contract clauses. A lot of these can be due to manual processes and lack of collaboration, often resulting in revenue leakage. More advanced rebate management solutions like Enable can prevent these losses, according to a Gartner survey, 56% of CEOs say digital improvements have led to increased revenue. Are you ready to embrace digital adoption with Enable? Try our software with a 14-day free trial.

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