New Customer Onboarding

Scope

Scope: Every new customer, whatever its size or channel. SpringNE acts as a trading company in most transactions, so SpringNE must also be onboarded as a supplier or vendor in the customer's systems.

Purpose: Onboarding sets up a new customer after the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) approves it. The commercial, compliance, and finance teams complete the customer's setup, agree secure payment terms, and create the customer in our systems.

Owner: AM.

Applies to: Account managers, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and the commercial, compliance, and finance teams.

Process

1. AM — Confirm the SLT has approved the customer. Onboarding starts only after the customer passes due diligence and the SLT approves. See New Customer Development.

2. AM — Confirm and document the key contacts. Use the contacts built up during new customer development.

   • Wherever possible, introduce the customer's senior management to the CEO.

3. AM — Collect the customer information. Record the details below before setup starts.

   • Invoicing party
   • Payment terms
   • Registration number or Value Added Tax (VAT) number
   • Expected annual business level

4. Finance — Confirm the due diligence records are on file. Check that the financial and insurance checks from new customer development are complete.

   • Confirm the Customer Credit Insurance Check Form is on file. It is listed under Forms to be used.
   • When credit insurance was not available, confirm that secure payment terms are agreed before you go further.

5. AM — Agree the payment terms. Customers may pay by Telegraphic Transfer (TT), Letter of Credit (LC), or Documents against Acceptance / Documents against Payment (DA/DP).

   • Prefer TT where credit insurance is available.
   • Where insurance is not available, use a secure alternative: LC, Standby Letter of Credit (SBLC), advance payment, or bank guarantee.
   • Any exception needs approval from the Group CFO and the CEO.

6. AM — Apply the small customer model where it fits. A customer with three-year revenue potential below $3M follows Management of Small Customers.

7. AM — Start cross costings and development in parallel. Where the customer shows commercial potential, do not wait for onboarding to finish.

8. Commercial, compliance, and finance teams — Complete the customer supplier setup forms. Each customer has its own onboarding process and forms.

   • Complete the forms together, so each team supplies its own section.

9. Finance — Create the customer in the CRM and SAP. Every new customer needs a record in both the CRM and SAP.

10. Finance — Prepare the documents for invoice factoring. Most customer invoices are factored or discounted. Each one needs the documents below.

    • SNE invoice
    • SNE packing list
    • Forwarder's Cargo Receipt (FCR) for sea shipments, or CMR consignment note for truck shipments
    • The FCR date must match the Cargo Receipt Date the forwarder gives, not the Bill of Lading date.

Workflow

AM — Confirm the SLT has approved the customer

AM — Confirm and document the key contacts

AM — Collect the customer information

Finance — Confirm the due diligence records are on file

AM — Agree the payment terms

Forms to be used

• Customer Credit Insurance Check Form

Tutorial

This training video supports the New Customer Onboarding process. It does not replace the numbered steps.

Pending

Training video not linked yet

Admins will add a Microsoft Stream or SharePoint watch URL when the tutorial for New Customer Onboarding is ready.

Exam

Pass mark	Expected duration	Attempts
80%	Admin will provide this soon	Admin will provide this soon

Pending

The exam is not published yet. Admins will add it here when the assessment is ready.

Changelog

Changelog

Date	Changed by	What changed
2026-09-22	Sales Team	Article added from SOP 2.0 Sales & Customer Development, section 2.6.