Credit Matters Newsletters

If I have done my sums correctly, we now have 90 business listed in the Better Business Club with the listing of Debt Unlock. You will find Debt Unlock in the Accounts Receivable Category.

This is good time to remind anybody who wishes to advertise their Credit / Accounts Receivable business about our special rates for those wishing to promote their business. If you are not sure what is involved, we can assist with products and services to assist with the development of your business. At www.cmars.com.au you will find further information or you can contact Kim for a no obligation chat.

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. The benefit of advertising with Credit Matters is we offer one of the few opportunities to reach a broad marketplace of customers with financial risk management issues.

This month you will find attached a press release for the next World Credit Congress in 2016.

There are two factors which are continually promoted over the years which generally lead to a more profitable business. Even today, these factors are endorsed and are recognised as beneficial by many business professionals. The two factors referred to are (i) personal relationships and (ii) good communication.

Personal relationships between business contacts is recognised as a key source of new business and an avenue for increasing sales.

Good communication is required to ensure each business party understands the other and can operate efficiently and effectively together.

In a world that promotes efficiency through the use of modern communication channels it is interesting to note, the opposite is often happening. Suppliers and customers, existing and potential, are finding personal relationships and good communication practices, are increasingly difficult to develop and maintain. It is not necessarily the channels that are the problem. Rather, it is how these channels are designed and expected to operate without adequate human backup support. 

Your conundrum is therefore; do your modern communication channels and facilities help to grow your business or do they affect your business adversely because the development of personal relationships and communication is increasingly difficult?  

There are many quotes about self-discipline. I have chosen Clint Eastwood's quote specifically for this month's article because of its multilayered message. As Clint Eastwood suggests; we cannot underestimate the power of these factors because this is where our real personal power lies.

Too often we fail to understand the relationship between the self-respect we feel for ourselves and how that impacts on our ability to deal with issues related to self-discipline and vice-versa. Consequently, if we are affected negatively by an undisciplined act, we may lose self-respect for ourselves. 

As a result, people who lack self-discipline and self-respect, are too often tempted to undertake or become involved in matters that cause them long-term harm. Once they have crossed the line the first time, these people often repeat the same type of actions again and again. It is almost like a self-perpetuating circle of actions which they cannot get out off as they have lost the ability to discipline themselves and no longer have any self-respect for themselves.

Temptations exist at every level of our work and business lives. The people who are most risk of transgressing are those that are "living for today", are focused on money, power, or lack self-discipline or have no self-respect.

Unfortunately, those people which do compromise on their beliefs, usually find the rewards obtained were only a short-term fix for their problems. The reality is as they soon realise, they have exchanged their beliefs for long-term and potentially damaging consequences.

Typical examples in the business environment which may tempt people to compromise on their values for short-term gain include:

(i)    where they are asked to "look the other way" when criminal actions are observed to help a mate or earn a few extra dollars;

(ii)   when salespeople are forced to hide the truth or tell untruths to make a sale;

(iii)  where it is observed other employees are rewarded despite ignoring or breaking the organisation's governance guidelines;

(iv)  where management colludes in cartel like behaviour with their competitors;

(v)   a lack of office guidelines or procedures and / or audit trails;

(vi)   where employees feel they have not been rewarded for doing "the right things";

(vii)   where employees believe they have to participate in actions they know to be wrong to keep their job because of bullying endorsed by management, etc.

Despite the strength of Clint Eastwood's words, the fact is many people cannot easily afford to be choosy about which of their values they are forced to compromise in order to keep their job. These people usually have other life issues to contend with, such as being responsible for the welfare of others in their family.

It is also almost immoral to insist people to be pure in their behaviour, when most of us have probably compromised on our own values at some stage of life. We should always be on the look out to understand why people have compromised on their values before being too judgmental. If possible, we should also try to help those people to avoid making the same mistakes again because they have lost their self-respect for themselves as a person.

In the commercial environment, an organisation can endeavour to create a work place with clear boundaries and disciplines. These work environments do help people who have self-discipline and self-respect issues to manage their weaknesses and to act appropriately.  It should be acknowledged, we all need boundaries to help guide us through our business and personal lives. Even the strongest and most resilient of people benefit from working and living within accepted and recognised boundaries of behaviour.

If an organisation can create the right environment to help employees manage their behaviour and keep their self-respect, both the organisation and individual benefit. When people believe they must act inappropriately to keep their job, they are acting to the detriment of themselves and your business.