In Focus Commercial Credit
Saying ‘yes, and’ to stronger collections
Taking a new, more positive approach can be a risk, but can also bring real rewards
Neil Curran Global credit & collections manager, Cadence Design Systems (Ireland)
ncurran@cadence.com
Over the years, I have heard many a sales person refer to their Credit Control department as a ‘sales prevention unit’. While it may raise a chuckle to many credit professionals, I often wonder if we become too accustomed to saying ‘no’ in our approach to business and even allow it to become our opening position?
Improviser When I am not managing the debtor asset for my company, I am an improviser who performs unscripted comedy on stage, embracing a different world where we learn the power of saying ‘yes, and’ to everything that is presented to us. The concept of ‘yes, and’ means to accept
the opportunities that are offered, good and bad, and to build upon them. But is there a place for a ‘yes, and’ culture in your organisation?
An excercise Take this simple exercise. One of your sales managers wants to trade with a customer in a risky sector that has limited financial data and approaches you with a proposal. What is your initial gut reaction? l You e-mail the sales manager on your frequently used ‘rejected’ template? l You know that you want to say no, but, if you do, the matter will be escalated to your manager who will approve it anyway because you are a revenue-driven organisation? l You consult your scorecard, make a decision, set the required terms and then move on?
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By taking a ‘yes, and’ approach, like answer four, you are opening up the possibility of thinking outside the box and truly judging a challenge on its own merits
l You ask yourself: what will it take from me to make this happen? If your answers were somewhere between
one and three, then it may be time to ask if these responses are always the best approach to business. Are you doing it that way because you
have always done it like that? There could be a risk that you are not taking an
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innovative approach to the challenges your organisation faces.
A new approach By taking a ‘yes, and’ approach, like answer four, you are opening up the possibility of thinking outside the box and truly judging a challenge on its own merits, potentially turning that challenge into an opportunity. While the above example is specific to a
credit application, think of other scenarios in the every-day workplace where a ‘yes, and’ philosophy can make a difference: change management, team meetings, new projects, holiday approval, the list goes on and on. We cannot say yes to everything in
business, but we can move our mind-set from coming up with excuses not to accept new ideas or solutions, to having a mind-set where we ask ourselves: how can I make this happen? CCR
January 2018
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