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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."
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"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."
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"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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HR Resources For Credit Execs
To move ahead in business, you must be skilled at dealing with people. Whenever we poll our Members about what their biggest problems are, people-related issues - more than DSO or bankruptcies or credit risk - are always at the top of the list! So one of our goals is to continuously bring our Members the best thinking anywhere to help succesfully manage the people issues in the credit field. Here you'll 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. Ensure that all members of your credit department work to their potential... Resources you'll find here: Everything you'll need to know about motivating your staff, the role of incentives, interviewing and hiring, downsizing, managing bosses, staffing and pay issues.
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What's Your 30-Second Elevator Pitch?
Not long ago, a question was posed on Credit Today's listserv, inquiring what others' "30 second elevator pitch" was. A 30 second elevator pitch is just that - a quick summary of what you do for someone who probably isn't familiar with your job. Some of the keys to an elevator pitch are: . . .
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How To Handle Criticism
By Peggy Morrow
We all think we are perfect most of the time so when we receive criticism, either in a performance review or informally, it can make you feel terrible. Oh, yes, I know about constructive criticism and all that and we need to hear it, but it certainly is no fun when you are on the receiving end. Every person has to deal with criticism but it doesn't mean you are a failure or incompetent. It is just a situation to be handled with as much composure as possible. Here are some tips to try next time you are the target of criticism. . . .
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Goal-Setting Ideas for Credit Staff
Do you struggle to find the right kinds of goals for your staff? The best goals are not easily achieved, but also are not so tough that they are unreachable. Here are some ideas for goalsetting: Annual targets alone are too distan . . .
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Getting Good Service
By Peggy Morrow
Are you fed up with the poor service you seem to experience everywhere? Especially during holiday season, it can be a real hassle just to get people to take your money. Well, have you ever considered that you may be part of the problem? Here are some tactics you can use to get better service. . . .
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Changing a Toxic Workplace
By Peggy Morrow
Do your employees show very little appreciation for each other, gossip, and complain? In other words, do you have a toxic team? I hope not, but if that is the case, here is an idea you might use to turn things around. I discovered it while I was looking through my team exercises for a recent teambuilding session I conducted. . . .
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Negotiation Speak: Five Words To Avoid and What to Use in Their Place
By Jessica Butler
If you read my first article on negotiation, you understand that much of the time you spend with other people is actually spent negotiating. Whether you are working with your colleagues to prioritize the work that needs to get done, trying to convince a customer that a deduction has been taken in error, or deciding where to have dinner with your spouse, you are negotiating. . . .
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Case Study: What to Do When Credit Group Confidentiality Is Breached by an E-Mail to Sales
The following is an actual occurrence, but we have changed the names to ensure confidentiality: Bill McCloud, the director of credit for a national electronics manufacturer, encountered a problem with the confidentiality of credit group information. He took Fred, another credit manager from a subsidiary, to his regular credit group meeting. During the meeting, some very negative information about one of their major customers was discussed. The next day, Fred sent e-mail to several of the company's regional sales . . .
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Communicating With Diplomacy and Tact
By Peggy Morrow
Do you ever "start fires" with your communication? Do people sometimes misunderstand you and call you "pushy?" Here is a rating quiz from my training workshop on one aspect of this subject to help you learn how to eliminate communication misfires and boost your interpersonal effectiveness. The first step in learning to communicate with diplomacy and tact is to be aware of whether you are coming across in an aggressive way in your communication. Some people do it unknowingly. The aggressive style will earn you the reputation of being less than a tactful communicator and should therefore be avoided. Check off any of these verbal and non-verbal characteristics that describe you. If so, you might be coming across as too aggressive. . . .
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Dealing With The Challenge of Change
By Peggy Morrow
Change is the new normal. Whether the change is in your personal or business life, you're likely to experience some in the near future. So the ability to deal with constant, continuous change is a skill that everyone must have today. You must personally keep growing and changing in order to guarantee you will have the skills necessary to stay in your job or be able to find another one. Yet studies show that the greatest majority of us don't like change. So what are you to do? Try some of these ideas. . . .
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Take This Job and Love It!
By Peggy Morrow
Do you ever wake-up in the morning and not want to go to work? Of course you do?it happens to us all. But if it is more than an occasional event, you need to think about doing some things to renew your passion for your job. Do you remember how you felt when you were first hired for your job? How excited and motivated you were? Well, what happened? In order to love your job, you need to love what you do, why you do it and who you do it for. . . .
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Five Managerial Keys to Operational Success
by Keith Gibbons
Are you so busy "running your business" that you actually can't run your business? Are you missing deadlines and getting bogged down with day-to-day tasks? Do you want to drive positive change in your organization but can't seem to find the time? If so, you're not alone. Many operational managers often find themselves . . .
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The Six Habits of Lucky People
At last week's Food Industry Credit Bureau's credit meeting in Quebec City, one of the keynote speakers was Alain Samson, author of "Make Your Own Luck." Samson has studied and written about the concept of "luck," and has identified 6 habits that will make you "luckier." The good news is that anyone - with some personal discipline - is able to "make their own luck." Here's how: . . .
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Getting Along With Others
By Peggy Morrow
Do you know that the most common reason why workers get fired is because they are unable to get along with their co-workers or managers? We spend much of our time honing our technical skills--how we do our job--but not as much on the interpersonal skills necessary for success. And the so called "soft skills" are the hardest to learn and implement. Every once in a while it is good to take a long, hard look at ourselves to see if we are the kind of person that adds to the work environment or detracts from it. . . .
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Avoiding Presentation Bloopers
By Peggy Morrow
Whether you are making a presentation to one person or many, there are a host of mistakes you can make. In my twenty-eight years in the speaking business, I have seen many of them. Here are three of my favorite presentation bloopers. Avoid them in your next presentation. . . .
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Dealing With Gossip
By Peggy Morrow
Gossip. It goes on in every office. Ideally, it's best not to gossip but that is probably unrealistic. Besides, sometimes there is a fine line between gossip and information on the company grapevine that is helpful to know. Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject of office gossip. . . .
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Avoiding Procrastination
By Peggy Morrow
Are you a procrastinator? Of course you are. Everyone is guilty of procrastinating occasionally. But in this fast-paced world with too much to do, we can't afford to do that. Here are a just a few of the techniques I use to help me get starte . . .
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Using Networking to Your Advantage
By Peggy Morrow
I bet at least once you have attended a session on "networking". Most people think that is something you do outside of your work environment. But you need to network internally, too. A strong network can help you get ahead, get things done faster and more easily, and help you create a power base. Here are a few ideas on the subject. . . .
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Auditing Your Time Leaks
By Peggy Morrow
In this fast paced world, time has become a precious commodity. Does anyone have enough of it these days? However, I have found that many of us waste some of those precious hours through time leaks. Here are some examples. See if you are guilty of any of these. 1. Starting a job before thinking it through. This is usually caused by . . .
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Executive Compensation in a Bankruptcy Plan
"In good times you pay management a lot of money, and in bad times you pay them a lot of money based on what you paid them in good times?" Make that "top management" of a major corporation, in this case Delphi Corporation, filing for Chapter 11 bank . . .
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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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Webinars