The InterConnection VOLUME 5
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ISSUE 6
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017
Customer Visits - A Valuable Tool for Any Credit Executive Want to improve payments, grow sales and build relationships? David Feigenbaum, CCE
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ave you ever visited one of your customers? If the answer is “no” you’re not using one of the most valuable tools a Credit Executive has. There is no doubt that distance and travel expense are mitigating factors for many, but if you have a local customer base, or a few local customers from a more distant customer list, you should take the opportunity to visit. What is there to be learned from a customer visit? Customer visits can give you a view of your customer that
you never had before. The obvious first benefit is that you put a face with a name. Rarely do people appear as they sound on the phone and a new impression of the customer is almost always immediately derived from the first in-person encounter. A visit, usually in the company of the Salesperson, provides an up-close view of the customer and their business. A customer visit can serve many purposes and an agenda should be determined in advance. This is especially true if you don’t normally visit customers because it’s a good
bet your customer is asking “Why are they coming here?” If you’re visiting a slow paying customer to try to find out the reasons for the delinquencies, Sales should understand that there will be sensitive conversations taking place. It might be best if Sales sits in on the introductory part of the visit and any tour of the facilities but not Continued on page 4 >>
2017 Conference Update Lillian Novak, CGA
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ith the NACM Central Region Conference held this year in St. Louis and the NACM Midwest Conference in Chicago under our belts, we are
looking forward to one more NACM Connect event in Indianapolis on November 15 & 16. The annual conferences are always the educational highlight of the year for many NACM Connect members with the opportunity to gain job-related knowledge, network with fellow members and learn what our Preferred Provider partners can offer to help make credit and collections a
more efficient operation for many companies. Our keynote speakers this year included historians, motivators and a former Navy Seal that shared what leadership lessons he learned during his time of service. And as always, economists were on hand to share the outlook of the local, national and world economies. The Robert Vodraska Scholarship Foundation will be the recipient of $4,669 from fundraising activities Continued on page 4 >>