Credit Chameleon: a new look at your job title.(NACM's 110th Credit Congress & Exposition)(credit managers)

If I thought my job as a Credit Manager was just to call customers to collect money, I would have stayed at George Goodyear's collection agency in Charlotte, NC, where I started my career 25 years ago. What has made me successful has been my recognition that this job tests all my talents in many ways, making me a credit chameleon. My purpose in this article is to give newcomers a jump on just what they are in for, and to give some veterans feeling overwhelmed or burned-out a new perspective and a secret to revitalizing their spirit.

I hope you cannot remember that horrible song from Culture Club years ago, called "Karma Chameleon." No, No, No--stop singing it to yourself, you'll be stuck with it all day! I only mentioned it to be sure we all know why I chose the word chameleon as our new job title. A chameleon is a lizard that has the talent to change his color to blend into the background and survive a possible attack from a predator. And so it goes with the successful credit manager. We must also choose which "color", or talent, is needed for each issue throughout the day's challenges, so that we blend into a solution rather than an remain an easy target. Let me give you several examples:

BLACK--Profit Partner

Trick question: What is the most important word in the entire business model? PROFIT. Without it we all go home. I still find credit people who do not understand that they are an important part of profit results. Also shocking, are upper management employees who think the credit department is nothing but overhead. Your new mission is to educate them on just how you contribute to the profit picture. EVERY time you decide to take on a risky customer, you will affect the profit picture--either with a loss or a gain, right? Also, if you turn down an account, the same profit impact occurs, only in reverse. So keep your chameleon color black, and think profit first when making a difficult decision; because keeping your company's bottom line "in the black" is the number one job of every person who manages credit and risk for their company.

GREEN--Financial Counselor

Do you consider it part of your job to help a customer locate the financing to pay off your bill? Or have you always taken the "that's his problem" or "I don't have time" bad attitude? Well wake up, it is now your problem and you must find the time to educate that customer on obtaining a loan. Turn your color to green--for money--and begin with a site visit to obtain an honest verifiable financial statement that gives him several options to try. Of course, if this does not work, you may have to turn yellow.

YELLOW--Lawyer