"Thanks to Pliant, we've been able to win customers from other Atlassian partners.”
As an Atlassian Platinum partner, acocon uses our credit card solution for licensing. We speak with CEO Mark Schoenrock about his experience with Pliant.
Mark Schönrock founded acocon GmbH in 1991 together with a school friend. Today, he is responsible for the administration and finances of acocon. The company's mission is to help customers design and build the best possible products, and to serve them perfectly. The company is active in IT distribution, product configuration and software development.
Provides a fast and flexible credit card solution for the companies that manage licensing
International payments with no transaction fees and no currency fluctuations
Fast response times from account managers
Challenge: Currency fluctuations and high fees
Acocon GmbH buys Atlassian licenses on behalf of its clients and they required an Atlassian credit card solution. When paying by invoice and bank transfer through its regular bank, the Bielefeld-based company was particularly concerned about exchange rate fluctuations and the handling of fixed-term contracts.
Atlassian allows four to six weeks payment terms for its customers. "If I pay later, I don't know what exchange rate to calculate. That has been the source of a lot of discrepancy," Schönrock said.
Over the past few years, we've seen an increasing number of customers move from Atlassian Premium to the Atlassian Cloud, where they pay monthly. This results in unreasonably high fees at the bank.
“My bank charges €15 plus VAT for the smallest turnover, which is a huge burden on our finances. The ratio is totally wrong if I buy $50 in licenses and have to pay €17.85 in fees.”
Mark Schönrock, CEO acocon GmbH
Solution: Suitable credit card solution for licensing
Since implementation, Pliant has provided acocon with an account manager for all issues. Even a last-minute limit increase was quickly approved by contacting Pliant directly.
“I got my personal account manager at Pliant and the process was super straightforward. He showed me the Pliant App over a video call and my account was up and running quickly. Even when I had a question, Peter called me as soon as the email was sent and helped me.”
Mark Schönrock, CEO acocon GmbH
With Pliant credit cards, all transactions take place in real time. And it can take up to 45 days for the funds to be debited.This eliminates the need for hedging and allows acocon to benefit from Atlassian's payment targets. Cash flow and invoicing can be in sync as usual. Pliant also offers a compelling solution for foreign payments made in U.S. dollars. This means that no transaction fees are charged, as opposed to those charged by the bank. In addition, acocon GmbH receives attractive cashback for high card spending.
“The currency fluctuations of the US dollar have been very volatile over the past year. With Pliant, we have been able to handle this very well. When I buy the licenses, I know right away what the customer's price will be at the end of the day.”
Mark Schönrock, CEO acocon GmbH
Outcome: Flexible credit cards are a competitive advantage
Pliant's credit card solution and direct support provide acocon with speed and flexibility. The result: increased retention and new clients. "Simply because it's convenient. Our clients' accountants, who use standard bank cards, naturally understand the uncertainty caused by fluctuating exchange rates. We provide them with a flexible solution. With us, they only pay for what they use each month. And that is very popular with customers right now," says Schönrock.
“Pliant allows us to better serve our customers. In a matter of hours, Pliant was able to increase our credit limit. In one case, we were on the brink of closing a deal. But unfortunately, we were actually at our limit. So I called my account manager and said, 'Can we do this now or not?‘ I easily got the required documentation out of the accounting software and then we were able to make this deal happen. The bank would have taken much longer, and we would have lost the client because we didn't act quickly.”
