· You have to enjoy what you do.
· You have to come across professionally on the phone.
· You have to know what you are talking about.
· You have to ask for each of your customers by name.
· You have to have the ability to build rapport with your customers.
· You have to be focused on results.
· You have to keep accurate records of every single call.
· You have to follow up when you say you are going to follow up.
· You have to maintain a positive approach.
· You have to be in control at all times.
· You have to know the right words to use.
· You have to know the words you should never use.
· You have to know the right questions, and the wrong questions.
· You have to get that “Yeesss!!” feeling every time you get a result.
· You have to be aware that you are competing for your customer’s money in the same way your salespeople are competing for their business.
· You have to be the hub of all internal communications
· You have to realise that a debtor and a customer are the same thing.
· You have to respect all your customers.
· You have to find a way to deliver every order.
· You have to persist until you succeed.
· You have to be consistent.
· You have to be innovative.
· You have to be numerate.
· You have to have an excellent personality.
· You have to be a great judge of character.
· You have to be a decision maker.
· You have to take responsibility for all your decisions.
· You have to know when to say “Yes”.
· You have to know when to say “No”.
· You can add at least twenty more things to the list, I am sure – is it any wonder that excellent Credit Controllers are rare and valuable. If you measure up I hope you are appreciated by your company for the contribution you are making.
When you have done all that you have to know when and where to look for help.
· Help in Education and Training to show you how to achieve everything on the list above.
· Help from experienced professionals on collections and legal when you find you are wasting your time.
· Help in the form of up to the minute information on all your customers to make sure you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.
· Help to deal professionally with all your customers.
You have to know when you should be looking for help – a simple rule of thumb is that if your Debtor days are more than double your stated terms – you have a serious problem. If your three month debt exceeds 25% of the ledger total – you have a serious problem. The thing about credit problems is that the longer you leave them the worse they become. We are just starting a new year, promise yourself that your business is not going to fail because it ran out of money – just like the thousands of businesses that failed up to now and you are going to do whatever it takes to survive and thrive no matter how challenging things become.
It is a sign of strength not weakness to recognise that help is required and availing of it. What matters is results, make sure you get the right results.