Jason Lemkin’s recent LinkedIn post about Salesforce shutting off his service without warning was a stark reminder: every single touchpoint a customer has with your company — whether it’s the sleek marketing visuals that first catch their eye or the way your billing team handles an invoice — shapes their perception of your brand. 

So many companies pour all their energy into the front-end experience, obsessing over acquisition while neglecting the operational moments that follow. What happens when a customer has a frustrating experience with your billing department? If you're selling "tech" but can't keep your own financial processes straight, why should they trust your expertise? Brand experience doesn’t end at the sale; it’s stitched into every interaction, big or small.

A/R is Customer Success Too

Accounts Receivable (A/R) teams are often seen as back-office operators, dealing in numbers and invoices. But the truth is, they’re also frontline representatives of your brand. The way you handle billing disputes, overdue payments, and even simple account updates can define how customers feel about your company.

In Lemkin’s case, Salesforce’s A/R process failed him. Here’s what went wrong:

• No proactive communication – His service was shut off without notice.
• Lack of human touch – He had to chase them down with multiple calls.
• No accountability – Even after proving payment, Salesforce insisted it was his fault.
• No recovery effort – No compensation, no goodwill gesture—just more friction.

The result? A 20-year customer turned into a detractor overnight. He posted on LinkedIn about it, garnering 1200 reactions and more than 500 comments by Monday, such as:

“Companies will spend millions on marketing without realizing that quality customer service IS marketing.” 

“As Julia Robert’s would say in Pretty Woman… ‘big mistake, huge.!’ Move to HubSpot and make the transition their challenge. With your thought leader influence, they should jump at the chance!”

How Tesorio Helps A/R Build Brand Loyalty

At Tesorio, we believe A/R should be proactive, not reactive. No company should find out about a payment issue only after their service is shut off—especially in 2025.

Here’s how we help companies avoid these costly missteps:

• Collections Campaigns: Tesorio enables automated, yet personalized, email sequences to remind customers of outstanding invoices—well before service disruption is even a thought.
• Customer Graph (New!): We recently launched Tesorio Customer Graph, a continuously evolving, network-powered system that leverages aggregate and anonymized data from across hundreds of thousands of businesses. For example, detecting invalid AP contacts before payment delays happen ensures invoices always reach the right person.
• Relationship-Driven A/R: Our platform helps A/R teams engage with customers as partners, not just payers—making every billing interaction a brand-building moment.

Brand is More Than a Logo—It’s Every Interaction

Your brand is not just your website, your messaging, or your product—it’s how you make customers feel. And that means everyone, from A/R to support to sales, is part of the brand experience.

The takeaway? If you want to build a truly customer-first brand, invest in every single touchpoint—not just the obvious ones. Give your team the modern tools they need to avoid Because in the end, brand isn’t what you say—it’s what your customers say about you. 

Ready to learn more? Talk to our team today and we'll show you how top SaaS companies streamline their financial operations.