CREDIT MANAGEMENT
Do’s And Don’ts Of
Customer Visits As A
Tool Of Debt Collection
By Wasilwa Miriongi
O
ne client who had given me debt
collection accounts once asked
why I was able to collect an
amount they had given up three years ago
and my answer was simple, I visited the
customer’s premise and we went through
the reason for non-payment. to action to pay when you are standing
right in front of them and even taking tea
together, as opposed to an email or a mere
telephone call. This also gives you a chance
to strengthen your relationship with the
customer; you don’t have to be the grim
reaper standing on their doorstep.
One thing I realized was the company’s
records got burnt but we were able to
reconstruct the evidence to enable the
payment. We got the details of the van
that delivered the goods, and the dates
of delivery were important here, from
then they were able to retrieve authorized
delivery notes which were a point of
contention. Then we just agreed on the
payment dates. Importance Of Customer
Visits
So many invoices go unpaid because
of lack of such mechanisms as credit
controllers just operate from their office
without visiting customers to get their real
challenges first hand; the secret sometimes
may lie with customer visit.
Studies have shown that if you can make a
personal visit to a customer, you are much
more likely to have success with your
open accounts. It is hard to ignore a call
Customer visits can generally offer the
credit department valuable insights about
the risks and benefits associated with
doing business with their customers. It’s
important to consider personal visits
because they give the credit manager a
unique perspective about the competitive
environment in which their company
competes, provide an opportunity to build
rapport with the customer, and often
result in faster payment - at least in the
short term.
It is easier to convince a customer to share
financial statements during a personal
visit than it would be on the phone, and it
is also easier to convince the customer to
repay a balance they claim to be in dispute.
Personal visits enable the credit decision-
Personal visits enable the credit deci-
sion-maker to make better-informed deci-
sions about their customers’ long-term vi-
ability, and during a tour of the facility, an
observant credit pro will often be able to
see for themselves which other creditors are
selling to the customer.
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maker to make better-informed decisions
about their customers’ long-term viability,
and during a tour of the facility, an
observant credit pro will often be able to
see for themselves which other creditors
are selling to the customer.
The visiting credit professional will be
able to observe firsthand how busy their
customer’s business is, how well-organized
the customer’s business seems to be, and
can examine the customer’s production
equipment to see if it is (a) state-of-the-
art (b) outdated, or (c) somewhere in
between.
The credit professional can discuss
the customer’s future plans, and long-
term goals, the customer’s future credit
requirements, and utilize the visit as an
important tool to discuss and resolve past
due balances.
The Do’s And Don’ts
Whether you are visiting a customer to
introduce yourself, to solve a problem, or
evaluate a request for a change in their
credit terms or limits, there are some
things you have to remember. Here are
some of the major do’s and don’ts of an
accounts receivable customer visit.
Things You Should Do
Take some time before the visit to put
together a complete and up-to-date folder
that has all of the account’s relevant credit
information and other related documents.
Travel with the sales person that works