If your organization has not changed its credit department procedures in the last 24 months perhaps you should consider doing so now.

This is often a large undertaking and one where there is not sufficient time to take on such a project. I have written several procedure manuals in the last several years under contract for other organizations and know first hand the difficulty in bringing credit personnel together to agree on the steps necessary, especially where branch offices are involved. I have always held the opinion that the key to writing and implementing successful credit procedures is to let other departments in the organization do it for you.

It is generally overlooked that everything we do in credit and collections involves and affects everyone else in our organization. The primary reason for conflict between credit personnel and other department personnel is that we are often not in agreement with procedures. I suggest that we offer others in the organization the opportunity to submit their ideas as to how these procedures should be implemented.

To do this, we only need to create a list of the subjects that we are creating or giving thought to changing. Next, we provide this list to the department heads that will be affected by these procedures and ask them to submit their ideas as to the steps that should be taken. Once received, we then take the best of their input and write the procedures.

This provides us the following:

1) it eliminates us from having to budget time to address, create & change; 2) it reduces future conflict with company personnel who are affected by procedure because they have had input in the procedure.

A full list of subjects that should require written procedures can be found in the PPC publication "Credit & Collection Manual for Small Businesses" and is available to Club members at a discount by calling 800-323-8724 and mentioning "Creditworthy", or you can e-mail me and I will forward you a list of topics that should require input from other departments.

In next weeks column we will discuss department procedure topics that should be written but do not generally require input from other departments within the organization.

I wish you well