WIN(win) Streamlines Business Deal between Online Travel Engine and Large Telecommunications Provider

Business rates can be affected by external considerations that may not have been factored in during negotiations between buyers and sellers. After negotiations, rates may go up or fall. In either case, invoices sent to the buyer should reflect these changes. If rates go down but invoices are not updated, the buyer ends up being overcharged. This is what happened between the Online Travel Engine and Large Telecommunications Provider.

About the Online Travel Engine

They are an online travel company that leverages innovative technology to provide business and leisure travel packages to its worldwide clients. The company's use of innovative technology has seen it improving its bottom line as customers from all over the world contact them in search of affordable travel and accommodation packages.

About the Telecommunications Provider

This leading telecommunication company uses innovation to provide reliable, high quality communication products and services to individuals and companies alike, and is known around the globe.

Background

The business world has evolved to a data-driven one. Moreover, businesses are growing fast and opening up to global markets thanks to the Internet. For the Online Travel Engine, having a global audience means there is a need to have a reliable way to interact and capture their data. They contracted with the Telecommunications Provider to give them a stable communication platform. The Online Travel Engine chose the telecommunications provider because it needed a one-stop shop solution provider for both voice and data communication.

Problem

Negotiations between the buyer and the seller went smoothly resulting in a contract where the buyer agreed to pay the seller a monthly fee for the services. However, telecommunication rates are often reviewed. In this case, the rates were reviewed downwards implying that the figures used during the negotiations were higher. This was not to be a problem as the contract made it possible to get the invoices reviewed in line with the rate changes.

However, the problem arose when the invoice review was not implemented immediately. One year down the line, the buyer was still paying the old rates to the seller. When the problem was realized, the Online Travel Engine had to bring in a 3rd party to audit and correct the invoices. Most of the staff members were also allocated to the correction process. This resulted in extra costs for hiring the 3rd party, time wasted, and human resource deficiency.

The Solution

The Online Travel Engine realized that the audit was expensive and time consuming and sought a solution that could catch such cases early enough. This is where WIN(win) comes in.
WIN(win) enables organizations to manage suppliers on a monthly or a quarterly basis. This management capability would have been instrumental in identifying the overpriced invoices during the first month, saving the company a lot of money and resources. They would not have paid for a whole year of incorrect invoices.

WIN(win) identifies discrepancies such as incorrect invoices from suppliers and alerts the buyer for prompt resolution. Prompt resolution of supplier discrepancies eliminates the need for third party audit firms and cuts down the time taken to implement a solution.

For an entire year, funds of the Online Travel Engine were tied up at the Telecommunications provider in the form of overpaid invoices. With the implementation of WIN(win), such scenarios are arrested in time meaning any funds held can be diverted for better purposes.

Impact