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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!
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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."
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Credit Manager, Big Lots Stores, Inc., Wholesale Division
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The Credit Today ListServ has become the pre-eminent 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
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Ron Woods
Corporate Credit Manager-World Wide
Thales Navigation, Inc.
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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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Tip of the Week
Every week we send a free e-mail on a practice, technique, or strategy used by successful credit executives. The tips are short, to the point, and cover a wide range of topic areas but are all highly relevant to those managing credit, collections, or accounts receivable. To sign up for our Tip of the Week, use the sign-up form on the right. We value your right to privacy, and will never sell or share your email address with others, nor will we ever send you spam. Unsubscribe instructions are included with every tip you receive. Find the archives of the Tip of the Week below.
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There's No Such Thing as a Wrong Answer
For this week's tip of the week, we're indebted to Mel Kleiman of Humetrics for some great interviewing advice. In Mel's most recent missive, he wrote: "What answer would you prefer to hear when you ask these interview questions: . . .
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Taking Care of Your "A Players"
Among many great takeaways at Credit Today's Senior Credit Executive Symposium in Denver a couple of weeks ago was a strategy shared with the group by Dal-Tile Corporation Director of Credit Barry Hic . . .
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Wow - Talk About A Costly Miscommunication!
Rene Sacasas
In his search for a surge protector, Stuart Computer Owner Ralph Stuart ran into bewildering range of prices--from $20 to $300. None seemed quite right for his needs, however, so on the advice of a co . . .
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Credit's Mission Statement: Are You Framing it the Wrong Way?
A truly effective credit department should operate with a central, driving mission statement, surrounded by the four specialized activities of credit approval, billing, collections, and monitoring. Before being able to set goals for these four activities, though, you need to create your mission statement--your declaration of what your credit department is all about. Before creating your mission statement, you first must define what credit is. Ask some credit managers, and you may get answers such as: . . .
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Rising Inventories = Potential Red Flag
As a credit analyst, one of the most important indicators you can track is the ratio of inventory to sales. It's used by money manager and retailing expert David Berman. Berman originally cut his teeth as a CPA, where he learned that inventory accounting was a way managers could manipulate earnings. Berman points out that companies can let inventories rise over time and thus avoid the markdowns and hits to profits that they should be taking. . . .
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Have Toolkit, Will Travel
One smart credit exec we know doesn't leave home without his "credit manager's toolkit"--a well-stocked expanding folder stored within his briefcase. "The toolkit contains everything I need when I'm travelling to visit our dealer outlets or our customers," he tells us. The documents he carries include the following . . .
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Pushing Back When Customers Try to Change YOUR Terms
A few weeks ago, we wrote about the increasing problem of customers (usually big firms with market clout) arbitarily changing their "payment terms" to 60 or 90 days ("Are Big 4 Accounting Firms Really Telling Clients to Disregard Contracts?"). At the time, we noted that we had heard from a knowledgable source that some of this impetus is coming from the consulting arms of the Big 4 accounting firms. We consider this bad advice. . . .
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A Credit Group Run Amok?
I received a call from a credit manager recently who was seeking help because she and some others in her credit group were concerned about the behavior of certain group members. "What has been happeni . . .
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Collection Communication Checklist
Have you reviewed your collection letter series lately? Usually, that's the type of thing you put on auto-pilot and then rarely - if ever - pay attention to it again. But it's important to periodi . . .
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Being Willing to Walk Away
First, we received some really enlightening responses to our questions last week on the extent to which customers are increasingly trying to dictate new (i.e., longer) "payment terms" in the market place. The answer, based on this and other anecdotal evidence is yes, absolutely. In addition, it does appear that at least some of the impetus for this trend, but certainly not all of it, comes from the consulting arms of the Big 4 Accounting firms. We'll be revisiting that topic later because, this week, we wanted to focus on Warren Buffett's annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (and really, to the world), released a little over a week ago. . . .
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Too Many Metrics?
Over the holidays, I visited with a friend who's head of sales for a big division of GE. He was relatively new to the GE culture so it took a bit of adjusting, but he's a smart and adapatable individu . . .
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Bankruptcy Issues
