 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Our Subscribers Say...
I think Credit Today is fantastic. You cover many practical topics in the credit field that I use regularly. Just one recent example—a conversation on the ListServ about preferential payments—gave me tips that I used in an actual case. The specific information I picked up from this one discussion saved me $10,000, enough to cover my membership for many years!
- Steve Savino
Manager of Credit & Collections, ASSA Abloy Americas Division, New Haven, CT
Credit Today's Resource Directory and their online e-mail forum (ListServ) provide information on almost any credit-related topic you can think of. It is a great way to exchange information with other credit professionals. As the saying goes, "You don't know what you don't know."
- Scott Goen,
Credit Manager, Big Lots Stores, Inc., Wholesale Division
"We've recently started using the ListServ tool within Credit Today. This is phenomenal and powerful forum for gaining immediate feedback, ideas, and suggestions, relative to any credit topic under the sun, all in a real-time e-mail format."
-Javier Vela, Senior Credit Manager, Global Credit Services, JDA Software Group Inc.
"Being a part of the Credit Today online community is like having the expertise of hundreds of credit managers at your fingertips. These credit execs are willing to help you solve topical business issues as they arise. In the current environment of ever increasing competing priorities which reduce our opportunities to meet peers out of the office face-to-face, this is the most valuable tool you can have on your desktop! It's important that we have a mechanism to reach out to our counterparts quickly to exchange knowledge as well as to stay on top of industry trends."
- Victoria Artis, Director of Customer Financial Services, Pfizer, Inc.
"Over the last 10 years I've seen Credit Today evolve from a monthly credit publication into a quality source of information and guidance for the B2B credit community. The website, with its user friendly form downloads, will take you from examples of new account credit applications to bankruptcy forms and everything in between.
The Credit Today ListServ has become the pre-imminent online forum, providing an opportunity for discussion and comments (and occasional humor) from an impressive list of credit professionals."
David Dungan, Director of Credit
Justin Brands, Inc. (A Berkshire Hathaway company)
Fort Worth, Texas
"There are numerous credit periodicals available to the credit professional today. How good is Credit Today? Is it relevant? I always have to read it late, or online because my credit analysts want to read it the minute it comes in. When my staff wants to read a publication before I have a chance to read it then something is working in that publication. We have cancelled our other subscriptions. When you have the best you do not need the rest."
Ron Woods
Corporate Credit Manager-World Wide
Thales Navigation, Inc.
"The newsletter, coupled with the website and the ListServ, are to us, more valuable than any other credit publication, bar none. I try to use at least one article out of each newsletter for departmental training/discussion sessions."
D. Mark Constantine
Corporate Credit Mgr
Fulton Paper Company
"I love Credit Today and read every issue cover to cover. For me, the greatest perk of a subscription is ListServ. I believe Credit Today's ListServ members may be the most knowledgeable Credit brain trust in existence today. I have saved and categorized hundreds of contributions on a wide variety of topics which I refer to often. It's an easy and cost effective way to network and learn."
Doug M. Thomas
Kimberly-Clark Customer Financial Services |
|
|
 |
The Challenges and Opportunities of International Credit
"Net-30 is easy to say," notes Kevin Chandler, CCE, "but that might not be the standard in some places." The "places" he is referring to could be anywhere. Chandler is worldwide customer financial services manager, for Landmark Graphics Corporation (Houston, Tex.) which has 50 offices and four service centers around the world and total revenues of about $300 million a year. These service centers are responsible for all the backroom functions, including order processing, credit management, and collections. This is all done geographically and the service centers work with the local offices in some countries. Chandler has all of his credit and collections are focused in these four offices. The exception is in certain geographic areas where they have to have on-the-ground assistance in order to make things happen.
For instance, the service headquarters for the Americas is in Houston. Landmark gets collection help out of Brazil, the biggest reason being because Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking country in South America. There is someone on the staff in Houston who is from Venezuela, and she deals with all the Latin American accounts except Brazil. That would be an example of where you get local help.
Everything Done Geographically
"We have outlying people in China, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, Arabian Gulf, North Africa, and West Africa," he notes. "We have service center offices in Houston, Denver, Singapore, and London. From that group we're able to basically cast a net around the world. This encompasses everything that goes on within Landmark's 50 offices." Landmark does everything geographically. The office in Houston takes care of everything in the Americas. London's office takes care of Europe, Africa, India, and the Middle East. The office located in Singapore deals with everything in the Asia Pacific, and the office in Denver is a wholly-owned subsidiary company by the name of GeoGraphix. They interface and work with the other offices and the outlying collection people around the world.
Landmark has certain approaches to credit and collections. Its market is much defined because it sells software and hardware in the oil and gas industry. The company doesn't end up with 50 new customers a month; it has a high repeat business. Therefore, it has to be able to develop relationships and work with all its customers locally and worldwide. The company has to work with credit options that would work with its customers around the world.
International Credit Management Portal
In an increasingly global world, it's critical to know what steps to take if you receive orders from outside the country. Check out Credit Today's resource center for international credit issues. We help you assess foreign risks, collect foreign debts, benchmark the best sources of international credit reports, and much, much more...
Check out Credit Today's
International Credit Management Portal
|
"We try to be as flexible as possible, and we try to understand what the local terms and conditions our customers are that working under," he says. "We look at our standard conditions, and then we negotiate. We spend a lot of time understanding up-front what the transaction is all about and what our risks are."
Limited Risk
In the software business, Landmark is very fortunate that, if it sells a piece of software, it does not have a tremendous amount of economic risk. Although, if it were to go out and sell hardware, that is an economic risk. This is because it has to go out and purchase the hardware, and then resell it. "Landmark is very conscious of not only who its customers are, but also the types of transactions it enters, and therefore what the risk profiles are," he points out. "When you deal with intangibles and software is an intangible that is a different element of the risk profile that you have to be aware of."
Landmark spends a great deal of time working with its customer base and understanding the customer's issues. The company really tries to accommodate the customer's best needs. "Credit is an integral part of the negotiation and discussion phase of these transactions with the company's customers," says Chandler. Landmark sales reps don't go out, create sales, and then come back and say "Hey look. Here is a deal. Process it". Credit works in concert with them to understand what is going on.
On occasion, the customer base wants to see creative financing. The company is involved early on in the process with the customer base. It spends a tremendous amount of time with the customers that want creative financing to develop solutions. "I really work at dealing with different financing entities across the world," he comments. "I deal with everything from straight leasing companies to banks and other financial institutions. I am providing financing or financing guarantees on particular transactions."
Negotiations
For Landmark, credit isn't just a review of financial statements and making a decision. It spends time working at negotiating transactions that make everyone happy. Everyone would include Landmark, the customers, and any involved financial institution. "There is a difference between when you are negotiating a transaction, and when you are trying to get paid on a transaction," he says.
"The most important thing I can tell people about international credit is that you must be very flexible, extremely diplomatic, and understanding of the fact that business is transacted in the United States differently than in other parts of the world," Chandler states. "Therefore, you have to be open-minded and accommodate the customers' business practices." For example, in the Middle East, before you really transact any business, you may sit down with a cup of coffee and have a conversation for 30 minutes before business is brought up.
Something to watch out for is the company's concept of time. If you are trying to get something done in a certain amount of time, make sure you relate that amount of time to that company. Let's say you are working with an Egyptian company. You say right away. You mean one month. He hears six months. You must communicate what you mean. "You have to be flexible with that aspect and negotiate a suitable amount of time," he advises.
To be able to do this you must get out of your office and visit your customer base. You need to spend time with them to understand their customs and develop relationships with them. This is transacting business in the most intelligent fashion. It is very difficult to make international credit decisions from your office.
Collections
"With collections, we work very hard up-front to identify and negotiate with the customer what terms are acceptable," Chandler notes. "The collection end is nothing more than following through with the promises that have been made in the contractual or credit process. We try to be proactive in our thought process." Landmark always follows through with its collection process. "Most of the time that works smoothly, but sometimes it doesn't," he adds.
Sometimes things that happen in an international arena won't necessarily happen in a United States arena. For instance, currency may devalue. When you put the deal together two or three months ago no one had any idea that it was going to happen. How does that impact your customer, and how will they pay you? You have to have "your fingers on the pulse" of what is going on the marketplace in which you operate. Landmark takes the opportunities to gather information and understand the marketplace.
As for Landmark's accomplishments, there have been many. "I'm probably most proud of the amount of technology that the company has deployed around the world," he notes. "This technology has been given to our employees to effectively deal with credit and collections issues. That is everything from being on SAP on a global basis, to giving them the GetPaid collection software around the world." It is a lot of work arming people in various places throughout the world. These places need this equipment to be successful, and you must be able to pull it off. Landmark has successfully done this. "This is an accomplishment I'm very proud of," he concludes.
Editor's Note: The above article originally appeared in the Credit & Collection Manager's Letter, a newsletter purchased by Credit Today in 2006. This article originally appeared prior to 2000.
| |
|
 |
Outlook 2012
This month's survey explores...
- What the top problems are facing credit execs currently, and
- What the top improvement initiatives are.
Click here to participate!
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
February 2012
|
|
| S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| |
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Webinars