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Greetings!
The fragile economy continues, but most remain hopeful for a steady recovery which appears to be in progress. The main outcomes of the last few years events:
1. Everyone is watching what they spend very closely, business and individuals alike. The result being a slow recovery which hopefully means stability long-term.
2. Credit can be difficult to get especially if you have had some issues recently. It's not impossible but be prepared to answer a lot of questions to get the credit you need.
3. Mobility of people has decreased with the housing market, creating more movement in the home improvement market. The common story I hear is, "I can't sell my house so I have to make it more liveable". I'm certainly investing in my home, and I'm sure you are too if you plan on sticking it out until the market rebounds.
Please consider joining our LinkedIn group "Detroit Area Credit Social", a networking and social group for credit professionals. It's free to join and we will be hosting events like mixers, and mock trials for education. You can join by clicking this link: http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=3856185&csrfToken=ajax%3A9173504340394157923
Dale Smith III
CMCS
810-772-6827 Direct
[email protected]  
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Updating Credit Applications on Your Customers Can Save the Day
Update them now and get to know your customer, again...
 You may be thinking time is valuable to you and your department, and the last thing you need to be doing now is to update old credit apps. That may be a correct assumption but in Credit knowing your customer is not only a task but it is your directive. It is important to know who you are doing business with, and in times like these more than likely something has changed. Did they go from a 20,000 sq.. ft. commercial building to a barn? Did the owner sell out to the competition and head to South Carolina? Did they change their manufacturing from Automotive to Defense?
These kind of events are flags that should alert you to re-evaluate credit limits, but if you are not asking you are not going to get the answer. I am sure we are all hopeful that our sales rep was on the ball enough to report these types of events, but what if they forgot or overlooked the information? Being a sales rep myself I understand that most changes are not an issue if they quit buying, but they haven't. The best way to keep tabs on your active clients is to continually update their credit application or business profile. This should be done every 18 months or anytime along the way when you have the customer on the phone.
Laws and best practices are constantly changing, and so should your credit application. Consider adding a personal guarantee addendum and see if you can get one this time around. Add or update sections on banking information. Ask questions on the scope of the business, and ask for more detail on the organizations management team and responsibilities.
Knowing who your customers are is vital to the success of your efforts, knowledge is power! Take the time to update your accounts as a project over the next few months, you never know what you'll find.
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Taking A Trip On A Raw  Sewage Waterslide
We've all had bad days at work;
times when it seems as though
nothing goes right. Yet after reading
this next story, you'll never look at a
bad day at work in the same light
again.
In October of 2010, a construction worker in Missouri had a bad day at work to end all bad days at work.
Thirty-year-old Daniel Collins was going about his normal day, when disaster struck. He was examining a sewer drain in Raymore, a suburb of
Kansas City, when the safety line on his harness broke. He fell into a stream of rushing sewage, where he was sucked into a 27-inch-wide sewer pipe.
Following this accident, rescuers proceeded to frantically lift manhole covers all along the route in an effort to find him. It was like playing one of those wack-a-mole games where as soon as you focus your efforts on one hole, your target pops up in another. The force of the water propelled Daniel for some 90 minutes before he could be rescued.
Finally, when lifting one cover along the route, they heard him call out, "Guys, I'm down here, can you help me?" Half-conscious and suffering from hypothermia, he was pulled from the sewer and airlifted to Kansas City Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. Doctors worked to fight the hypothermia, and he was given a generous dosage of antibiotics in the hopes that they would counter the effects of ingesting all that sewage. One hopes a Tic Tac or two was also offered.
All told, Collins had taken a ride of a mile and a half through the city, courtesy of the underground sewage pipes. So the next time you think you've had a bad day at work-perhaps the workload has got you down or the boss is riding your tail--count your blessings, and remember this story to provide yourself with a little perspective. At least you're not taking a ride through raw sewage. Though I wouldn't necessarily give your boss any ideas... Child safety information by www.keepyourchildsafe.org. Visit our blog for the latest in child safety news and child health information. |
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About Our Collection Services
Rates:
25% up to $3000
18% $3000 and up
100k+ negotiated individually
Free Demand
Credit Reports Starting at under $20
*Free Debtor Search on www.CMCS.com
CMCS, Inc.
822 E. Grand River Ave.
Brighton, Michigan 48116
Retail Claims by Premium Collection Services
33 1/3% of any amount collected
www.premiumcollectionservices.com
* Password Protected, given at time of first claim being entered in our system. |
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Looking to take risks with your A/R but not sure where to start? Try running a report by Experian next time you receive a credit AP, and feel the confidence that goes with being informed. Reports start as low as $5 for consumer reports and $27 for commercial.
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 | | Detroit Area Credit Social Group | |
Join our group on LinkedIn and get connected to other Credit Proffesionals in the area. Free to join, and plenty of good information and good people.
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