Cutting Through the Clutter of Contracts and Chargebacks for Enhanced Customer Satisfaction

The Situation

Based in the US, this multi-billion dollar full-line specialty distributor fulfills product sales based on vendor contractual obligations to the medical sector. The company achieved record cash flow in a year dominated by major changes in how it was compensated for its services.

Although some vendors utilized electronic data interchange (EDI) for transactions, many of the submissions were non uniform, warranting manual intervention. At the same time, numerous vendors utilized non-standard electronic and paper formats to communicate contracted prices and eligibility terms. The client was keen to ensure that any misalignment did not ripple through to customers, and sought solutions to protect and enhance customer satisfaction levels.

The Solution

The client collaborated with Capgemini to turn challenge into opportunity. The joint team set out to isolate the problem through a series of diagnostic interviews and operational assessments. Following this in-depth study, the team streamlined relations with vendors, providing better alignment of claims, prices and payments. It concentrated on providing recommendations to improve current processes, some of which also included enhancement to technology.

Key technical recommendations were surrounding automation of EDI processing, web-based EDI capability, executive reporting implementation and a membership collaborative portal. The results served to assist in training client staff, aiding in EDI related problem-solving and communicating with vendors, all with the vigilant focus of improving customer service.

Initiatives were developed, prioritized and mapped within a constraint-based plan. The goal was to support the client vision to remain a leader in its field for contract management by leveraging technology solutions in collaboration with suppliers and vendors.

The Result

As a result, the client increased operational efficiencies, further enhancing customer satisfaction and establishing new standards that put customer service at the forefront. In addition, all initiatives resulting from the project were prioritized to establish a long-term company transformation that continually advanced this concept.

The project reinstated trust not only in the institutional knowledge of pricing and claim settlement, but also in the flexibility and accuracy of electronic data interfaces, contract management and the chargeback system that had continually been developed and enhanced.