Credit Matters Newsletters

Unfortunately, the best laid plans do not always eventuate. As a consequence, the new changes we were working on during March did not quite get up in April. However, all things being equal, these changes will be announced in May.

In the meantime, we can announce two new listing in the Better Business Club, the Risk Management Institute of Australia and RISQ Group.

Advertising via Credit Matters

If you are interested in reaching a wider group of business prospects, contact Kim to see what we can do for you. There are many different opportunities to advertise your business. However Credit Matters offers one of the few opportunities to reach a broad marketplace of customers with financial risk management requirements.

Attached this month are brochures from the AICM, Investor Upgrade and the RISQ Group.

It seems the most overrated words used in business world today are CHEAP, CHEAPER and CHEAPEST. The business person is always looking for a cheaper business solution, a customer is looking for a cheap price, the supplier offers a cheap product etc.

To a point, there is nothing wrong in reviewing your business costs, and hopefully finding a less expensive way of doing business. However when we complete these reviews in an uncritical manner and based on just finding a cheaper solution for today, this is often fraught with danger for the long-term.

Too often we hear the words cheap, cheaper, cheapest, without also hearing the words of "value" or “long-term effects" in the same conversation. It seems value and managing a business for the long-term is now not as important as getting something cheaper in the short-term.

Therefore this month's conundrum is as follows when looking for a cheap business solution. Will the cheap solution now also add value for the long-term or will today’s cheaper costs add to tomorrow’s long-term costs?

Too often, people in business are tempted to promise things that can never be achieved or alternatively embellish the truth. Such comments, in most cases, are the causes of future problems. It is in these situations which makes this month's quote so true in the business setting.

The problems which are caused by promising things which cannot be delivered factually will haunt your business in to the future. By telling the truth you always add to and reinforce the reputation of your business. Furthermore, should the customer decide to commit to the purchase despite knowing it may not be fulfilled as required, you are placing responsibility back on to the client for any adverse outcome.

If we analyse the aforementioned situations, we see where the telling of untruths, lowers the reputation of your business in the eyes of the customer. Furthermore, you affect your future sale opportunities whilst you clean up the problems of the former untruths. If you don't believe me, just ask those business people which find they spend more time and dollars fixing mistakes and misconceptions, rather than selling.

On the other hand, by telling the truth, you may miss an immediate sale. However you have also eliminated a potential liability. For instance, if you raised an invoice incorrectly and the customer refuses to pay, time and dollars are lost in cancelling the invoice and removing the liability from the Debtors Ledger.

From another perspective, if you advise the customer that you MAY NOT be able to deliver the product or service (for whatever reason), your honesty is appreciated. In addition, if they still wish to go ahead with the order, knowing you may not be able to supply the product your firm's good reputation remains intact.

Finally, it would be wise to understand, there are NO SECRETS anymore. Inevitably if you do the wrong thing, you will be found out and your untruths exposed.

In conclusion, the pain of missing a sale by being honest and upfront with issues is always less expensive than trying to fix the mistakes of telling an untruth. Telling an untruth today may be a quick fix to gain an immediate advantage. Unfortunately it often means time and money are lost in the future as you try to repair the damage caused by the untruth.

It goes without saying therefore, the time and money not lost on fixing mistakes can be better used to sell and grow your business. The choice is yours.