It takes up a lot of time--several meetings a month, in fact--but Kim Lindgren, CCE, is committed to doing what it takes to remain actively involved in the credit industry groups throughout the state of Florida.

"We sell to customers in a number of industries, and many industry groups have several different regional meetings I attend, so I stay pretty busy," admits Lindgren, District Credit Manager for Hughes Supply Inc. She attends group meetings, for example, in plumbing, building materials, electrical, and pools. What's the value of finding the time to attend all of these meetings? Lindgren cites five:

1. Many of the meetings feature speakers (Editor's note: check out Credit Today's Online Speaker's Bureau to find a good speaker for your credit group) who provide expert information on a number of topics, such as the lien law and how to handle cases in small claims.

2. During the meetings, Lindgren has the opportunity to mingle with other experienced credit professionals. Often, the topic of conversation turns to various programs, projects, and philosophies they have successfully implemented in their departments that others might also utilize. "We get a lot of ideas on how to improve our internal operations."

3. If members are looking for new credit employees to fill vacancies in their departments, the credit industry group meetings are often an excellent place to recruit. (Professionals rarely try to steal employees from other companies. Rather, if a member happens to have been recently laid off, he or she is often able to meet another member at a meeting who is trying to fill a position.)

4. The primary purpose of the meetings, though, is to give credit professionals the opportunity to discuss customer payment performance. Members, following stringent guidelines set by the National Association of Credit Management to prevent any problems with anti-trust laws, are free to discuss current and past performance of their customers. "We don't discuss terms, discounts, pricing, or plans that we have for the future," she emphasizes.

5. While Lindgren considers all these benefits to be worthwhile, probably the one she considers most valuable is the opportunity she has to get to know other credit professionals well enough that she can call them on the phone between meetings to discuss customer credit and collections issues.

"It tends to be difficult to get useful information from credit people who do not belong to credit groups," she notes. "You usually have to leave messages, and they'll then fax back sparse information, such as how many years they have been doing business with the customer and how up to date the customer's account is."

By getting to know credit managers personally at group meetings, though, Lindgren is virtually always able to get through personally to fellow members on the phone and get additional information (e.g., whether the customer is cooperative). "You can't get this kind of information from credit people you don't know personally," she observes.

It's certainly not all a "take" situation, though. "The real key to success in getting the most from credit groups is to give as much as you receive," emphasizes Lindgren. "If you aren't willing to exchange information about your customers and share useful information with other credit professionals, they'll eventually stop doing these things for you."

See also Credit Today's online Directory of Credit Groups for a group that might be a good fit for you.

Editor's Note: The above article originally appeared in the Credit & Collection Manager's Letter, a newsletter purchased by Credit Today in 2006.