When notified that your client filed bankruptcy, your client is now a debtor, and you begin gathering all relevant information, including:
1. Quotes
2. Orders
3. Invoices
4. Proof of delivery
5. Collection activity
6. Correspondence with the client
7. Other items that may be needed
As with all unforeseen risks, time has a powerful, sobering effect. Dates and responsibilities ensue, you begin corresponding with
Of all platitudes, “know your client” seems the most obvious and obnoxious. Who doesn’t want to know his or her client? And more to the point, who thought it was a good idea to remind people of that fact?
And yet business experts continue to get paid a lot of money to tell business owners the obvious: Companies should know their clients. No kidding.
Let us start with a basic tenet: Customer knowledge directly impacts your company’s financial performance
To ensure that losses are limited, risk is mitigated and it's most valuable assets, such as buildings, inventory, employees (human capital), etc. are safeguarded, industry-leading organizations are careful to have an adequate amount of insurance on such assets. Oftentimes, however, a company’s largest and most vulnerable asset, the Accounts Receivable, is left completely unprotected.
The chances of a company’s Buyer(s) experiencing an insolvency or protracted default event are common place in today’s economy and, depending on the
When senior management makes the decision to utilize key distributors, significant impact is felt across the enterprise—both short-term and far-reaching.
Key relationships are mutually beneficial, and have an organic quality; in a word, they are grown, over time, with great care.
For both buyer and seller, the benefits and ensuing burdens increase.
Benefits:
What is it precisely that draws customers to purchase your product or service? There is a clear distinction between stated intent and true intent. In other words:
- Why your customer buys your product or service typically involves both identifiable and unidentifiable factors.
A similar reality applies to nonpayment for your product or service invoiced on open account. When your customer’s ability to repay you becomes impaired, identifying the root cause can be a challenge. With long-
