Uncovering Value -- NACM Exposed.

It was a sultry night. I'd been pouring over my accounts receivable, which were well past due of course. I had been so busy lately that I hadn't had time to collect my money. Somewhere between "30 days past due" and "ready to send for collections," I must have dozed off. Startled by the phone ringing, I nearly fell off my chair. It was a small group of business professionals calling me on their speakerphone. They told me they were credit managers. Coincidence? They said there was very important information they needed to uncover, and the work was to be conducted in a discrete manner. As a private detective, this was the perfect assignment for me. I agreed to meet with these credit managers in a small abandoned warehouse, not too far from my office. As I headed for the location, I wondered if the assignment would be too risky. No matter, I needed the work.

As I entered the warehouse, three individuals greeted me. One was a seasoned credit executive, another a more junior credit assistant and lastly, an individual who was recently given a promotion to a more significant role in managing a high-risk e-based credit portfolio.

The seasoned professional spoke first. She had been in the credit business for many years and was considered an expert in managing credit. She made all of her decisions based on detailed, factual information about her customers. Lately, she had been scammed by a business credit fraud artist, which cost her company thousands of dollars in lost inventory. She was not an expert on fraud detection, so she needed reliable resources to prevent such a horrible situation from happening again in the future.

Next, the junior credit assistant stepped forward. He had only been at his firm for a few months. He had done a terrific job assisting the credit manager in analyzing financial statements and putting together well-organized credit files. He had even been encouraged to make a few credit decisions and had met with a customer or two. Rumor had it that the Credit Manager would soon be retiring. As the only credit assistant, he was sure he would have an opportunity for the promotion, but he wanted to gain all the knowledge he could to have his best shot at the job. The largest portion of accounts receivable at his company seem to be government accounts from widespread locations. He needed an efficient means of getting the training and educational edge to land the job.

The last member of this secretive group was a man who already knew the challenges of electronic credit application processing. His company had recently engaged a web expert, and soon they were accepting applications and orders online. No sooner had the requests started pouring in than a new credit application showed up from South America. His firm had never sold to companies outside of the United States, so this would be their first opportunity for worldwide sales growth. He was excited about the challenge, but knew nothing about selling on credit terms in a foreign country.

This was a tough assignment. I was to find the information these professionals needed to enhance their knowledge. They wanted to make smart business credit decisions and effectively manage one of the largest assets their companies had, accounts receivable. Confidentiality was critical. The information was needed immediately. I was to maintain a low profile and disguise myself, so as not to be too obvious about my mission. I agreed to accept the assignment and pledged to get them the information they needed--if I only knew where to start.

I turned to leave but suddenly the lights went out. As I hurried for the door, I heard a voice whisper to me from a distant corner, "Try the National Association of Credit Management, ... and good luck."