Western Region Conference gets down to "The Nature of Credit".($ The Nature Of Credit)(Conference notes)

There are many facets to the art of business credit and financial management and sometimes it's beneficial to distill them down to their basics. That's what attendees at this year's Western Regional Conference, held at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas, NV from October 15-17, 2008, got a chance to do with the theme, "The Nature of Credit" Each of the conference's educational sessions corresponded to one of four elements: "earth" to grow every credit professional's knowledge; "air," to carry attendees to the next level by incorporating management skills; "fire," to forge necessary collection skills; and "water," to craft career growth and stimulate alternative thinking.

Several sessions focused on hot topics in the credit community, including more technical items like trends in payment processing and PCI compliance, as well as solid strategies for creating contracts and handling legal issues. Other sessions offered attendees a chance to brush up on softer skills by enhancing their leadership qualities and time management tactics. Speaker Barry Maher, author of Filling the Glass and other books, started the conference off with a bang, delivering a rousing presentation that even had the audience jumping up and down in their seats!

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Maher asked attendees to jump with excitement, which initially received a less-than-enthusiastic response. Then Maher offered $50 to the liveliest jumper in the room, which prompted many attendees to explode out of their seats with excitement. The point, Maher noted, was that it's important in credit and collections to illustrate to the customer the benefits of taking the action you're asking them to take. For instance, if a credit professional is hoping to receive payment from a particular customer and has been forced to call a customer frequently, they could inform the customer that their decision to pay will lead to an end in annoying phone calls and the constant prodding that most creditors necessarily rely on to collect what's owed. Maher also offered his own brand of negotiating tips as well as inspirational ...