Posted by Sue Sanford
As the Training Manager for the ContractPro® solution at Answers Systems, I have seen many contracts created that cannot be used to pay on the claims submitted for that contract. The creator (usually a Sales Rep or Broker) logs into the ContractPro® application and finds a pending or learns that their customer has not been paid. What do they do now? Some will go to the pending claim and enter a comment to use the contract they created while others will investigate to determine why the contract was not used to pay the claim. These types of pendings are usually caused because the contract was either set up as a direct rebate (HQ Rebate) and a distributor has billed back for the deviation, the time period of the contract does not match the time period of the claim; or a program was set up as a Market Support (lump sum) instead of at the SKU level.
How can this be prevented? By pausing for a moment and taking the time to think or writing down the basic parameters of the contract before launching into system and hastily creating a contract. A few extra minutes taken during the contract creation process will save you time later on. You want to think about the intent of your contract and ask yourself the following questions:
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During your deal discussions, did the Operator say they would like their rate deviated through the distributor or would they be receiving velocity reports from the distributor(s) and submitting for their rebate?
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What was the agreed upon time period for this program?
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Is this a SKU only program or does it include a marketing, lump sum type of element?
Once you have the answers to these questions, you are ready to create your ContractPro® contract! After your contract is approved, send a copy to the contractee and request that they reference the ContractPro® ID on their submission. By using the contract letter from the ContractPro® system, you will eliminate the chances of misbillings which results in pendings and slow pay. ContractPro®, Answers Systems
Technorati tags:
Rebates,
Contract Management,
Claims