There’s no question about it: the surest way to maximize the value of software is to get users talking with one another about how best to use it.
Sidetrade took a big step toward enhancing its own user community recently by holding an in-person customer forum in Houston. While originally expected to draw only Houston-area users, word of mouth quickly spread and users from all over the U.S. joined the one-day get-together in mid-September.
The full-day agenda included plenary and breakout sessions, and featured lively discussions and comprehensive presentations on Sidetrade’s full suite of Order-to-Cash solutions. Customers learned from one another by sharing tips on Sidetrade solutions they already license and use, and also learned about other Sidetrade offerings they can still add to broaden their Order-to-Cash solutions portfolio.
Kopech started the day’s presentations by sharing change management lessons from NOV’s transformation to electronic invoicing and the challenges posed by its customer base rapidly moving to payment portals – all supported by NOV’s adoption of Sidetrade invoicing solutions.
That was followed by two discussions led by Sidetraders. Chief Customer Officer Emmanuel Thiriez charted Sidetrade’s journey to today’s end-to-end Order-to-Cash platform, and how Sidetrade customers uniquely benefit from the industry’s most comprehensive database of real-time B2B payments data mined by purpose-built Artificial Intelligence (AI). That was followed by a lively and engaging question-and-answer period about current and future Sidetrade capabilities, which was facilitated by Dan Howarth, Sidetrade’s AVP of Pre-Sales for North America.
The final sessions of the day were two breakouts – one focused on Sidetrade’s collection solutions, and the other on Sidetrade invoicing. Each was a mix of attendees who were already using or considering the use of those Sidetrade solutions, with all users learning and sharing with one another.
One striking aspect of all those interactions was how familiarly users spoke about Aimie, who is Sidetrade’s personification of its expert AI capabilities.
“Aimie touches accounts we wouldn’t touch,” said one user who leans heavily on Aimie to automate collections activity. ‘She takes all that information, reaches out to customers (via email), and she gets the money for you.”
“Does she write the emails herself?” asked another user who had not yet implemented Sidetrade’s Augmented Collection module.
The answer, of course, was a resounding yes. One could almost sense a tinge of Aimie envy in the air. Users clearly enjoy having Aimie on their teams to perform a variety of crucial tasks at scale – from recommending and executing Order-to-Cash strategies to using her Generative AI capabilities to craft customized and automated communication with buyers. Her mastery of data-driven insight using AI for all things Order-to-Cash is indeed truly impressive.
“The conference provided great value in terms of exchanging ideas and learning from both new and experienced Sidetrade customers,” said Mina Gindi, CPA, Director of Finance, Shared Services at NOV. “It was a fantastic opportunity to benchmark where NOV stands in our journey and identify future possibilities for growth.”
Sidetrade is currently planning similar customer sessions for 2025. To express interest or share ideas for future customer gatherings, please contact a Sidetrade Customer Success representative.