CHAPTER 4: CREDIT MANAGEMENT
While building a relationship with sales and asking for the opinion of the sales rep regarding potential and existing customers, the credit manager must discern whether the sales rep, in trying to make the sale, is just telling the credit manager what he or she wants to hear—or can be trusted to offer true insight into the customer’s business. It is a very subjective process, but over time can become very reliable as the relationship develops. Sales contests are a popular way to excite, incentivize, and increase sales. However, there are sales reps who will take orders or inflate the quantity of the order without the consent of the customer in order to win the contest. Auditing product returns from invoices that were part of the contest can uncover these kinds of actions. Such practices can also be deterred by a strong relationship between sales and credit management.
4.8 Resources for Credit Managers and the Customer Master File
The customer master file maintenance specialist may conduct basic research on the consumer or company. The following can be useful resources for the credit manager.
Consumer: Government sites for bankruptcy White pages to verify address and phone numbers Social media: possible picture to confirm identity and gain insight into personal traits Google their name: find news articles Google Earth (residence)
Business: Research license, tax ID, Bankruptcy filings, liens Customer websites Verify address and phone number
Company officers Financial postings Parent, subsidiaries, locations
Google Earth (see the business virtually) Google business name and officers’ names Read blogs to learn about customer satisfaction
Government websites are often very valuable. In the U.S., the State Departments of each state have made available licenses as well as fictitious name filing DBA (doing business as) information. Valuable information also can be found on the customer’s website, including company history, financials, officers of the company, company structure, products and services, and so on. Even if the customer supplies a website, search their name on the Internet and see what the search uncovers. Sometimes commentary from their customers is available.
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THE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE SPECIALIST CERTIFICATION PROGRAM E-TEXTBOOK
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