SEIZE THE DAY AND GET PAID
When we read or hear a statement such as "Seize The Day", the assumption is, suddenly an event has occurred which should motivate us " ...to go for it!" Whether that means we should create some new opportunity or move in a new direction is immaterial. You just have to make the decision to act and you will achieve the goals that you have always wanted.
As an example, many years ago, a business acquaintance asked me if I had a certain type of product. I said no. He said why not?. When I thought about what he said, I realised I could and should have had such a product.
I then created this new product and was able to sell it. Subsequently I was also able to adapt the product again to create another modified product and to sell that as well.
However we rarely see the same emphasis toward seizing the day in the world of credit and accounts receivable. For example, what do you do when you see the same type of issues affecting your payments? One thing I suggest you mostly don't do, is to act quickly to repair and stop the faults
In my experience, I suggest you will do nothing about rectifying the problem until you are embarrassed or frustrated by the evidence of the problem. for instance, the Debtors Ledger 90 and 120 day figures are so large, they indicate a problem that can no longer be ignored.
So what problem might you see in credit or accounts receivable which could be rectified by seizing the day? Several examples come to mind including the following.
1 Repeatedly putting a customer on stop supply because they exceeded your payment terms. Once they paid the outstanding account, you supplied them again. 30 days later you put them on stop again when they did not pay on time, again!
As Frank Duke said in his blog, these customers could well be "supplier hopping" and playing one supplier off against the other. When it is obvious that any particular customer is doing this, why aren't your salespeople talking with the customer and doing something about it?
2 The same type of credit claims and adjustments are being raised by one or more customers. Why isn't somebody doing something to stop these same type of claims happening time and again? After all, these claims or adjustments are usually faults caused by a poorly designed or managed process.
3 The customer always raises credit claims or adjustments for small dollar amounts because their system is geared for the needs of their management and not for your authorised price.
For instance, one of our customers recorded our products at $10.056 in their purchasing system. Naturally when entering the receipt of our products at the agreed price of $10.06 their purchasing system produced a credit or adjustment claim.
4 Invoices are sent to customers with incomplete information and customers keep asking for more information before paying the invoices. When is somebody going to address this situation which shows clear indications of poorly trained or lazy salespeople?
In each of these situations, failing to act allows the customer to slow payments down, expenses to increase, plus increase to another level as you try and rectify the problems. It is also more than likely, you will lose sales because you spend more time talking with customers about mistakes than on how to increase sales.
So next time you see any indication of system process flaws, lazy selling or manipulative customers, seize the day and do something to correct these types of problems.
By taking such actions, you turn negatives into positives, you get paid sooner, increase cashflow and become more efficient.
May you be paid today rather than tomorrow.
Kim Radok
