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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 |
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Selling Your Value
I was recently surprised and disappointed to hear that a friend--a credit manager who I knew and respected--had lost her job due to a reduction in force (a.k.a. reengineerng). I was surprised because the company that she worked for is sizable and doing well with both domestic and international accounts. Apparently, a decision was made by the top management of the company that the credit manager's job could be combined with that of the customer support manager. The fact that the customer support manager had no experience in collections, in financial statement analysis, or in risk management was somehow either overlooked--or, for whatever reason, considered unimportant.
One of the lessons that I learned from my friend's misfortune is as follows: Too many companies base the value of the credit department on its ability to avoid bad-debt losses.
This company reviewed their bad debt loss history, found it to be excellent, and concluded erroneously that its customer base was stable and that the risk management work performed by the credit manager was non-value-added. Therefore, the work (and the credit department) were unnecessary.
Human Resources Portal For Credit Managers
The biggest problems in credit are not financial issues; they're PEOPLE issues. So we've compiled a portal with all kinds of resources designed to assist credit pros manage this most difficult part of the job. Learn what's working and what's not from those in the trenches, as well as hard data from our benchmarking surveys, including our industry-leading Salary & Job Satisfaction Survey.
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HR Issues Portal for Credit Execs
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In fact, of course, it was the work done by the credit department over the years that prevented losses, not the inherent financial strength and the goodwill of the company's customer base.
Another lesson this scenario teaches us is as follows: Credit managers need to focus more on the value-added services that our department provides to our employers. We rarely take the time to document or discuss with senior management the problems we avoid, the disputes we resolve, and the other value-added services we perform. As a result, the credit department is often unfairly seen as a cost, rather than a profit, center. It is clear that the value to the company of its credit department is not intuitively obvious.
Therefore, as credit managers, we have an obligation to "sell" the value of the work performed by our credit departments whenever the opportunity presents itself.
In my experience, credit managers tend not to tout their skill in avoiding credit risks because they recognize that sooner or later they will experience an unexpected loss. Credit managers sell themselves and their subordinates short by refusing to accept or to require recognition for the value-added services they perform for the company including, but not limited to, avoiding high-risk accounts and limiting bad debt losses to acceptable levels.
Editor's Note: The above article originally appeared in the Credit & Collection Manager's Letter, a newsletter purchased by Credit Today in 2006.
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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!
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