Credit Management
Winning Habits Every Debt Credit Manager Needs In 2025
By Wasilwa Miriongi
There is a common saying in finance circles that in today’ s fast-paced business world, operational efficiency is key to staying ahead. As we begin the New Year it should bring a fresh start and a chance to build better habits that set you up for success. For credit managers, 2025 can be the year to create a more efficient, positive, and rewarding work environment. After your assessment of the previous year, you must have noticed some gaps that need to be addressed so as to dive into some approachable, practical areas to kick start your year and make it your best one yet.
Companies face constant challenges in streamlining business processes, maintaining compliance, and enhancing customer experiences while keeping operational costs low and yours may be no exception.
One habit a credit manager has to adapt is leveraging technology wisely and technology can feel overwhelming, but it’ s a powerful ally when used effectively. Tools like automation and analytics can make your job easier and more efficient.
Let us look at an example of using automated reminders which can help the businesses to focus on high-priority tasks and reduce human errors like forgotten contract follow-ups. They make it easy to follow up with customers about pending payments, contracts, and invoices without taking extra time out of your day.
The importance of automated reminders is that they help collection agencies, debt recovery firms, and Law firms handling collections increase recovery rates by reminding consumers of their unpaid balances, they are good for businesses with recurring billing or payment collection needs. For companies with annual contracts, automated reminders help customers remember infrequent payment obligations and securing deposits or large payments from customers.
I had a discussion with students of collections management about the use Artificial Intelligence- AI in credit
When most people think of debt collection in the negative light, professional credit controllers know that company processes need not threaten customers. Building a positive relationship and clear channels of communication with your clients is the best way to ensure an effective credit control process.
processes, more so in debt collection given the problems with traditional collection process which is time consuming and faces insufficient workforce, take manual credit assessment that is time consuming and may cause erroneous result during approval process due to human error; manual collection process that purely relies on human resources to monitor and track debtor’ s payment and follow up all debtors may experience insufficient workforce when there is unexpected increase in defaulters. There is belief that one size fits all communication methods leaves debtors feeling threatened by the desk collectors or field collectors with the harass type calls and messages at inconvenient time.
As a credit manager you should explore AIdriven solutions that can help prioritize accounts or predict debtor behavior besides bridging the technological gap that exist among organisations knowing that even small tech upgrades can make a big difference.
The modern credit manager has no option but to keep learning and growing also ensuring the training of credit management workforce by a credible, well established, and statutorily recognized professional body focusing on local and global credit management matters, is the energy source for a healthy business and consumer credit management operations. Remember the credit management profession is always changing, and staying informed can make a big difference.
Whether it is new regulations or innovative tools, there is always something new to learn. Let us take an area like credit risk management which is the key to lending profitability and
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