A Surprising Bit of History About the Founder of Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day in the US had several starts and contributors, but it is Anna Maria Jarvis (May 1, 1864 – November 24, 1948) who is credited as the founder of our national Mother's Day holiday. Anna Jarvis' campaign for a special day to celebrate...
Dear Crabby — I’m Feeling Blue After Our Credit Department Was Audited
Dear Crabby, I have been the controller at a US subsidiary for the past 11 years which has its headquarters in Germany. Like every year, in March our organization was audited. Normally when the auditors are here, they spend a great deal of time verifying...
How the Credit Professional Can Respond to Supply Chain Disruptions
Every day there seems to be another revelation regarding the global economy. Although the Covid pandemic seems to have come under a reasonable level of control in the US and Europe, China has continued to implement severe anti-virus spread restrictions in some of its...
Take the Poll – How to categorize an excuse for non-payment.
In the above scenario, one of the first questions that may come to mind is why after two months when the invoice is past due is the customer now mentioning a problem with the product? To understand if the customer’s complaint is legitimate, we...
Why Was April 15th Chosen to Be Tax Day?
Between the middle of March and the middle April, I get a little strange feeling in my stomach. Not only does it have to do with turning our clocks ahead one hour, but that corporate and personal taxes are coming due very soon. My thoughts swing back and forth...
Hector the Collector – Trying to Calm One’s Nerves Before Collection Calls
Hi Everyone!It’s Hector and hope Spring has arrived in your area. As always, I appreciate hearing from you regarding your credit and collection issues and challenges, from which we can all benefit. I heard from one senior credit manager who has a full-time...
Beware the “Reviewed” Financial Statement
In these unpredictable times, regretfully there are going to be instances where the scruples of some customers, for whatever reasons, may begin to fall short. Consequently, we need to be vigilant about the validity of financial statements submitted to support...
Take the poll — How often have you had to pursue a personal guarantee to pay an outstanding commercial A/R?
Personal guarantees will often make the difference in collecting a past due account compared to simply obtaining a judgment. Obtaining a personal guarantee should coincide with your credit policy and like every contractual document that...
Did You Know that Spring Cleaning Week Starts March 27th?
If you didn’t know, it’s alright — I didn’t know either. But here we are with a wonderful event to keep our personal and professional spaces clean and tidy. National Cleaning Week begins each year on the fourth Sunday in March. It is a week-long lineup of...
Dear Crabby — It Appears Our A/R and Credit Departments Will Be Outsourced
Dear Crabby, I’ve been working as the credit and collection manager at a large heating & cooling equipment installation and maintenance company for the past 20 years, and about two months ago a new CFO came on board. From the start this person has been...
Are You Trying to Survive in a Declining Industry?
Every business in every industry is ultimately susceptible to a disruption, stagnation, and becoming obsolete. As technology progresses or sudden events occur, many new opportunities will arise, while leaving many people behind who cannot change with the times. For...
Do you deposit post-dated checks earlier than the check date?
Sometimes creditors will receive post-dated checks that are generally between 10- 90 days beyond the date received. Whether a check can be deposited prior to the actual check date written depends on the: Amount - smaller amounts get deposited...
When Valentine’s Day Flowers Keep on Blooming and Blooming
Who doesn’t love getting a gorgeous bouquet of flowers on Valentine’s Day? They are not only beautiful to look at, but they remind us of how special we are to someone. Along with a lot of chocolates and other delicious sweets, they make us feel like a million bucks. ...
Hector the Collector – When Office Romances Affect Collections
Hi Everyone! It’s Hector and as always, I greatly appreciate hearing from you. Recently, as Valentine’s Day is coming up, readers have been letting me know about how company romances in the collection department are having an impact on collection performance. Before I...
Eight Ways to Undermine Your Company Culture
We often hear and read about ways to improve a company’s culture, but we often don’t realize the things that may be going on which are negatively impacting a company’s culture. Following below is my list (not totally comprehensive) of what I believe can nibble at...
Take the Poll – Has the Great Resignation Impacted Your Workplace?
The Great Resignation continues on with a new record number of workers, approximately 4.5 million, leaving the workforce According to a recent global survey by Future Forum, 76% of workers want more flexibility about where...
Serving Up Great Customer Service
I have to tell you an interesting story that occurred over the holidays. I bought a personal computer last year and to be on the safe side, I decided to sign up for one those 24-hour tech support services. Since I’m a very active nighttime computer user, being able to...
Dear Crabby – I Feel Guilty Over My Non-Credit Decision
Dear Crabby,I wish I could tell you that I had a nice holiday and new year, but something was gnawing at me dampening my holiday spirit. Let me explain. I have been the credit and collection manager at a mid-size industrial electronics part distributor for the...
What’s in Store for Our Economy in 2022
You can probably forecast winning at Monopoly if you are able to buy Park Place and Boardwalk early in the game. If you have the cash and can build hotels, before long, the other players who land on your expensive properties will be paying you big bucks. I wish...
Take the Poll – What’s your credit and collection goal for 2022?
Any one of these credit and collection goals is perfectly acceptable. If you try to do two or more, you’re really cooking! But perhaps just maintaining the status quo is also acceptable. Sometimes we create more problems for ourselves in trying to...
Happy Holidays from CMI 2021
https://youtu.be/U8yaWXxDlEg
Why Credit Managers Must Understand Supply Chains
As credit professionals, most likely we are rarely thinking in terms of global supply chains. Conversely, our natural focus is on how much credit to approve and are customers adhering to our credit and payment terms. That said, if you were trying to buy a car...
Hector the Collector – When Customers Short Pay Your Invoices
Hi Everyone! It’s Hector and over the past couple of months I’ve been hearing from you regarding more than the usual share of short pays on your invoices. Let me take a moment to recap the Short Pay problem and offer some solutions. Short Pays, Short...
Take the Poll – Are you still sending invoices out by snail mail?
I suppose that at first blush, it makes more sense to send out your invoices by email. The time and cost to print-up and send these out, especially a large number of them, is neither efficient nor effective in comparison to sending by email. However,...
Burying Your Credit Head in the Sand
One of the nice things about my day-to-day activities is lending an open ear to my clients and staff. Recently, I was talking with the credit manager of a new client who was placing some claims with our office. One of the claims, a sizable amount, was...
Dear Crabby – What Is the Appropriate Halloween Credit Costume Guideline?
Dear Crabby, I’m the credit and collection manager at a mid-sized fragrance manufacturer and like many managers, beyond the usual credit and collections challenges, I also deal with a myriad of human relations issues. So, it’s that time of year again when...
Take the Poll – Have you ever been called about a Zombie Debt?
You may be asking, what on earth is a Zombie debt? Like the name implies, it’s an invoice or a debt for a personal charge that you thought was paid off but comes back to life to haunt you! More specifically, Zombie debts include: debts you...
Sometimes It Pays to Bypass the Credit Reporting Bureau
One of the most uncomfortable situations for many SME’s has to do with divulging their detailed financial information, whether it be to a credit information and reporting bureau (CRB) or directly to their supplier. A colleague of mine and I were talking the...
When a Team Member Goes Off Course
Hi Everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful summer and took some badly needed vacations. I was informed from one collector, Ms. A, at a mid-size stationery company, about a very interesting summer vacation planned by one of her team members, Mr. B. Here’s what...
What do you think?
It’s frustrating when payment agreements are not upheld but it’s also important to recognize that as a company struggles to make good on the obligation, at least a payment agreement usually shows initial good faith. Here are my thoughts about when...
With Pandemic Bankruptcies on the Rise ↑ What You Need to Know
From majestic entertainment giants to world famous department stores, the coronavirus devastated certain parts of the U.S. economy. Falling consumer demand and reduced pleasure spending took its toll on many areas of the retail industry, along with its endless...
Dear Crabby – I Received a Souvenir from My Past Due Customer
Dear Crabby, I’m the credit and collection manager at a small scrap and metals processing company. We basically buy old industrial electric motors and disassemble them for the copper, silver, titanium, and other precious metals. We’ve had a long-term client, who...
What do you think?
This is an age-old credit and collection question and one that doesn’t often have a one size fits all answer. Some creditors might stand by their customer's difficulty and try to help them out in depth because of the long-term relationship,...
Social Media is an Indispensable Credit Risk Management Tool
For many credit professionals, LinkedIn and Facebook may not be usually viewed as sources of important credit risk management information. When it comes to LinkedIn, it is often perceived as being mostly about finding new clients, a new job, or prospective employees....
Hector the Collector – Keeping Your Cool in the Heat
Hi Everyone! Although most people are having fun in the warm weather, I heard from one colleague about how the excessive heat and the lack of air conditioning at their office resulted in exacerbating an already difficult collection situation. Let me recant the...
What do you think?
When we hear the term, “statistics,” we might be taken aback a little bit because it conjures up highly sophisticated mathematics — something we’re not always so comfortable with. However, almost every day we come face to face with simple statistics...
Are You a Credit Professional Planning to Negotiate a Pay Raise?
A colleague of mine who is a credit professional at a mid-sized beverage wholesale distribution company was recently asking me for some advice about requesting a raise from his employer. He felt that since his job duties were considerably increased during the...
Dear Crabby — I Uncovered a Questionable Trade Reference
Dear Crabby, I have an interesting scenario to share with you. A month ago, I received a new credit application with an unusual looking company name. At first blush, the company looked good as I began the credit risk evaluation. This new customer was requesting...
What do you think?
Whether sales should be involved in collections is still one of the most difficult balancing acts around. As a rule of thumb, salespeople should be aware of their customer’s payment status. Depending on the reason for the past due situation,...
The Right of Set-Off, a Major Pitfall in the Suit Process
When a debtor has his funds in a bank account at an institution to which they owe money, for example on a working capital loan, that institution may have the right under state law to seize any funds from the debtor's checking account, money market, or other related...
Hector the Collector — Trying to Return to Pre-pandemic Credit Standards
Hello Everyone! I hope all is well and that your businesses are turning around. Like you, I’ve been watching many of the economic indicators and with the unemployment rate trending downward, I suppose one can start to feel encouraged that we are slowly...
What do you think?
I’ve been hearing from some credit professionals informing me they have been assigned to take over another department, letting me know who to contact in the future. Depending on the size, product or service, and other factors, a few of the credit...
Beware of Nicknames on a Credit Application
Over the years when we receive claims, I’m always delighted to see a signed credit application attached and completely filled out. As we know full well, the credit application is the initial contractual document by which the terms and conditions are established. It...
When a Family Member Becomes Our Debtor
Dear Crabby, I’m glad there’s someone like you to talk to right now because I have a touchy problem at work and I'm not sure how to manage this delicately. First, a little background. We’re a small business of about thirty employees with a long history in our...
What do you think?
The answer to the above choices is probably that there is no one real choice. It depends on many factors that include: Size of the company and the role you playParameters and nature of your job responsibilitiesType and volume of business that the...
What’s the Best Route to Choose on International Claims?
One of the most difficult parts of being a global credit manager is that trying to find an overseas collection agency or law firm can be daunting. The biggest question that often comes to mind is, “Can this entity be trusted.” Unfortunately, there are many unsavory...
Hector the Collector — Turning on the Light in Difficult Times
Hi Everyone! Normally, March and April are kind of quiet collection months. If a lot of snow has fallen up north and the weather has been nice down south, most businesses, especially seasonal ones, have managed to do fairly well. Unfortunately, this year we’ve been...
What do you think?
What’s the range of the average salary for a credit risk manager in the U.S.? $60K - $80K$80K - $100K$100K - $120KOver $120K According to the website, Salary.com, the average Credit Risk Manager salary in the United States is $121,703 as of January 29,...
Life After Credit & Collections
I periodically speak to credit and collection professionals who are heading towards retirement and wondering, “What do I do now with my life?” For starters, the longer we credit professionals work in our field, the deeper and more diverse our expertise...
What do you think?
How valuable would it be to serve on the Committee of Unsecured Creditors? ExtremelySomewhat Not so muchNot at all With bankruptcy filings up by more than 25% during this past year, and surely with many more to come in the near future, an increasing number...