The Credit Corner

By WIILIAM E. LOCKE

Bill hos loughf hundreds of independenfly owned firms, building 3upply ouflcts omong lhcm, how to build solcs ihrough credil selling, ond how fo collecf reccivciblcs. Bill's progron oftert thc deoler ond his stofi on the iob crcdil troining ond periodic supcrvision. He hos eorned o most envioble repulotion leoching "profcrsionol credit monogemenl" lo progrcssive reloilcrs during fhc lost I I yeors ol his totol of over 3O yeors in thc ficld of retoil ond conrumcr credil. For dcloils wrilc him direcl, 3401 Bolboo Streel, Son Froncirco 21, Cqlifornic.

More and. more individualsnot businessesare going through bankruptcy every year. The majority o{ them are employees who, for one of many reasons, seek relief through this federal law seemingly designed for those without sense enough to manage their finances.

Often it is with the help of creditors without sense enough to discriminate between those individuals with ability to manage finances and those with no sense of responsibility.

Easy credit is the bane of those bankruptcy referees who surely know that bankruptcy is not the final answer for those individuals and businessmen "taking the cure" when they think all else has failed. In my opinion, if all credit salesmen and credit granters, retail and wholesale, were trained in credit selling with its many ramifications, bankruptcys would decline. Far too many business men will not accept management as a profession and delegate the responsibility of "guardian of receivables" to stafi members who are as irresponsible as many they grant credit to. This is no figment of my imagination. I have seen it all too often.

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Simply stated, not every business man, credit salesman or credit granter is mature enough to choose right from wrong on the basis of good management practices and business ethics. Some lack sufficient knowledge, others fail to employ their thinking ability or assume the responsibility they have been chosen to accept, or have willingly assumed. Some wiH ask others to make important decisions for them because of laziness, lack of loyaltytotheiremployer, or the desire to have some one else share the responsibility. Whatever the reason, failure to carry the load of responsibility assigned to the job is to the disadvantage of the person himself and the employer. At this point it is well to distinguish between good business and credit granting principles and a law. A law asks simply that you obey. The first and most important business principle asks that you do your own thinking.

The case of a combination credit manager and office manager I was recently asked to help comes to mind. He was asked if he would assume the responsibility of control of his important office. He willingly agreed. He immediately opposed all effort to teach him a better way to do his job. Why? Because of fear. Fear for himself. His immaturity caused this fear and he avoided anything pertaining to control of the accounts receivable. He was on the verge of leaving his job and seeking employment of another kind, even though it might not have been as rewarding from a financial standpoint.

Yet our credit manager friend is still on the job and doing nicely. He has accepted a better way to do his job through education. He has learned that o'hard core" credit management is not the answer, and that better credit department administration is the answer. He is now in a better position to carry his own load of responsibility and it is a good bet that his employer will suffer fewer losses from bad debts and bankruptcys.

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