In many companies, accounts payable people feel estranged, contends one veteran credit manager we know. "They work hard, and they're rarely given any appreciation by their employers. So they have the potential to bond more closely with suppliers that they talk to every day and that seem to care more about them than their own companies do!"

This may or may not square with your experience. Either way, her observations and advice are worth pondering. She has found that, eventually, A/P clerks who have bonded with appreciative suppliers begin to divulge information to these suppliers--information that not all suppliers receive.

"Most people like to do their jobs and do them well," she explains. "However, when they're forced to follow payment policies they don't believe in, they sometimes want to rebel against their employers. They want to help the suppliers."

How does she get A/P clerks to feel so appreciative? By taking these steps:

• Being genuinely and sincerely interested in getting to know them. "We get on a first-name basis with the accounts payable people," she says. "We get to know all about them, their families, and their interests."

• Being thoughtful and fair. "We try not to cause them any more problems than they already have," she continues. That is, rather than call and berate or threaten accounts payable clerks (who are usually hamstrung by their own companies' payment policies anyway), she tries to understand their positions.

  By getting the clerks to talk openly, she finds that they may say something like, "We're six months behind, I have no help at all, and all our customers are calling and complaining to me."

  "We support them and show that we understand what they're going through," she says. The company's collectors have no "scripts" to follow. They are free to communicate on a person-to-person basis.

• Caring. "We're really interested in what happens to clerks," she says. For example, when she calls and finds an A/P clerk is out sick, she will either fax a note or call the next day to see how the person is doing. "Their own companies often don't care that they were sick," she says, "but we do."

• Showing appreciation: She also makes an effort to show her appreciation to A/P people whenever the opportunity arises. She thanks them for getting payments out, for looking out for her interests, and for investigating problems that might arise. "People like to be appreciated," she explains. "In many cases, employers don't do this with their people, so we do it."

  Often, the "thank you" takes place over the phone. Just as often, it's in the form of a short thank-you note. It may read something like, 'Thank you. Every time I call you, you take care of my account. We appreciate so much your efforts.'

  Response to this kindness from accounts payable people? "It's usually something like, I can't believe you did this. Thank you!" she replies.

It is also not uncommon for her to send thank-you notes to supervisors, complimenting them on their clerks. Certainly, she does not single out clerks in a way that makes their colleagues look bad: 'We got the runaround from everyone else in your department, but this employee got us paid.' Rather, the notes are generic in nature: 'What a great employee you have! She can always answer my questions.'