Client Visits - So important

From a Credit Management perspective, there are two key drivers to visit a client; one is risk and the other dispute resolution. The outcome of either of these can be crucial and extremely beneficial to future trade and relationships, irrespective of contact with other personnel within your organisation.

The guideline and presentation will guide you through both scenarios in order to achieve the best outcome.

The one thing to remember is that your client and the relationship are vital to continued profitable business and are catalysts to the future development not only of their business but your own too.

Regrettably, some businesses still do not permit anyone outside of sales to visit clients but they are now in the minority. The more points of touch a client has with internal features of a supplier’s organisation, the more open and rewarding is the relationship. Costs are often used as an excuse to curb client visits but the actual cost in a credit manager’s time out of the office and travel can be insignificant when compared to the value of incremental business, early notice of problems and referral along with fresh business opportunity that presents itself in a relationship life-cycle.

The modern day malaise in term of sales contact with clients can be attributed to a number of factors:

·         The web and website marketing

·         Online purchasing and e-commerce

·         Email and mobile communications

·         Need to focus on larger clients and return

·         Disappearing ‘on-the-road’ external sale people

·         Lower sales head-counts

·         High turnaround ratio of Sales personnel

·         Video conferencing

·         Reducing the cost of Sales

Credit people on the other hand (aside from general collection calls) rarely take the time to talk to clients or indeed meet them. It is almost as if the ‘full-on’ client relationship can only be held by Sales.  Getting to meet business owners or their respective finance teams is immensely satisfying and very fruitful. It can foster close ties, trust, improved communication and dispute resolution, controlled risk management, transparency and increasing levels of business activity. How credit reacts or interacts with a client therefore can determine whether the client buys from you consistently or moves away.

Faced with a request of “I would like to know more about your business and activity so that we can support you better, can we arrange a meeting?” few business owners or finance directors will ever decline. It shows you are interested in them beyond the simple selling process and are willing to take the time to visit their premises and understand the nature of what they do and how they do it and frequently more importantly, where they are heading.