How to find a logistics partner or why you do not need to wait for a steam locomotive

The market of crediting of purchases on the Internet is stalling. And we know why. Because the signing of a loan agreement with the buyer is too expensive.

So - short and clear.

Now about everything in order. It all started with the fact that 2 years ago we decided to create a service that allows you to buy in online stores on credit Conpay.ru . There were many online stores — it was enough to look at the growth rates of e-commerce over the past few years (this is now ridiculous, and then it seemed quite a convincing argument). Products that can be sold on credit - even more. The greatest interest was represented by segments of household appliances, electronics and furniture.
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The technical implementation of the project was not a big deal. The whole project consisted of a code for installation on the websites of stores and a personal account of the seller, where application status was monitored from the moment the customer submitted the loan until the loan amount was transferred to the seller and the goods were shipped to the buyer. A loan calculator, new partner banks, an application only by phone number (own call center) and other pleasures of life appeared later.

The business process diagram looked pretty simple:

1. The buyer presses the button "Buy on credit" and leaves the contact phone
2. The manager of the Call-center calls back to the buyer and conducts questioning.
3. The application is sent to the Bank. If the loan is approved, the loan agreement is uploaded to the seller’s personal account.
4. A store representative signs a loan agreement with a customer when transferring goods and accepts a down payment.
5. The original loan agreement is sent to the Bank
6. The bank transfers the loan amount to the loan broker (that is, us).
7. The broker transfers the loan amount to the online store and withholds the commission.

A few months later we developed a script for automatic distribution of payments. All processes have been fully automated. It seemed that here it is - a victory. It was then that the first strategic mistake in management was made - we moved away from the developed and debugged technology in the direction of customer service.

A very large proportion of purchases are made using delivery methods such as cash on delivery, courier services and transport companies. In this case, clause 4 cannot be fulfilled, since personal contact between the store representative and the buyer does not occur. That is, there is simply no one to draw up a loan agreement with the buyer. This spoiled our whole raspberries, and we began to look for a solution for the delivery of credit contracts. In view of the limited resources, the only solution for us was a partnership with the federal courier courier service.

An important circumstance was that when a credit agreement is drawn up with a buyer, passport data are reconciled. The representative of the store or the courier is obliged to check whether the person signs the loan agreement. The procedure for checking passport data is described in detail in our agreement with the store and does not constitute anything complicated. You need to take the passport number from the loan agreement, take the borrower's passport, check them, then check the passport photo with the face of the buyer. And that's all. At the same time, the buyer is already informed about the procedure for processing a loan agreement with a courier and is ready for everything.

But when we started looking for a logistics partner for loan agreements, it turned out that our courier services are very keen on easy money. We received commercial offers in the region of one and a half thousand MNT for one delivery of a loan agreement. I want to note that this is only the delivery of documents, without the goods. In this case, the goods were delivered by the online store after the loan amount was transferred and without our participation.

Fifteen hundred rubles for return shipping + passport check - we could not afford such costs. Having bargained with several courier and transport companies, I spat on all this and realized one very important thing for myself: Russia is not only a country of opportunities, but also a huge country, and the delivery of something anywhere here will always be a problem. And God forbid, if in addition to the delivery itself, you also need to perform any, even the simplest operations. You turn your hands and vydat you dry! Because building your own delivery network in permafrost conditions and bears with vodka is almost impossible task.

After five months of ordeal, we still managed the impossible! We have agreed to cooperate with the federal courier service. Thanks to this, we can arrange loans for any purchases regardless of the delivery method. But this little victory cost us very dearly - we lost a lot of time and a few large customers.

I apologize for the lyrics. Now about the mistakes that we have to learn:

The main managerial mistake was that we were driven by the client. Having a ready-made technology and a working system of business processes. We, with inherent only designers and programmers, perfectionism sought to bring it to a state where the client would fall into karmic zen immediately after registering on the service site.

If our client is a business, then he will never be satisfied. He will never fall into the desired state of complete harmony with our product. His task is to get more from us than it should be. Our task is to make a profit. This is the work with the client. All the rest does not matter. We conducted many experiments with the delivery of credit contracts in the expectation that after one of them all the TOP 100 Runet stores would connect to us, but this did not happen. And it will never happen.

Working with a client doesn’t mean to be confused about doing what he wants. It means explaining to him how to achieve a positive result with what is already there.

Now we offer online stores to use online customer lending for free. At the same time, a loan agreement will be executed in one of three ways, which the store manager chooses when confirming the application:

1. Registration of the loan agreement when the goods are transferred by the store employee to the buyer,
2. Drawing up a loan agreement at the local branch of the Bank prior to shipment of goods.
3. Registration of the loan agreement by our courier prior to shipment of goods

We have worked all possible options. Whatever way the online store does not deliver the goods to the buyer, we can arrange a loan for this product and sign a loan agreement with the buyer. In this case, the manager of the online store independently chooses the method of delivery of the loan agreement.

We are just learning to sell looking for partners (the Conpay.ru service is completely free). I will be glad to hear the opinion of a respected community on how to promote this service for stores, and in what form it would be most in demand by the market.