Commercial Collections And Credit Granting

It is estimated that billions of dollars in delinquent commercial credit is currently being carried on the books of both American and international businesses. This figure changes as our economy grows or contracts. Increased competition, diversification of product lines seem to indicate that these figures will continue to move upward. Regardless of the state of either the national or international economy, the necessity to grant credit and to collect commercial receivables using professional methods remains vital to all businesses.

Credit Sales Volumes Are Important

The average commercial business sell between two to five percent of their products for cash. The credit department is responsible for the other 95 to 98 percent of the goods and/or services sold. Businesses have varying percentages of their financial resources tied up in receivables. Actual losses might range from one-half of one percent to five percent of sales without serious results. This depends on profit margin and other factors. Losses can explode to significant sums very fast if not restricted by the credit manager.

Good Customer Relations Are Paramount

The credit department must also be in tune with customer relations. This quality is absolutely necessary in order for the company to prosper when selling on credit. It is very, very easy to say "no" to prospective customers, and it is also very easy to firmly demand payment at the time of the sale. If this attitude reduces sales, then the credit department is not performing its complete function, which is to create a balance between sales and collection of money.

When extending credit to a new customer, the following basic information should be harvested for your credit evaluation and kept on file:

Is the firm individually owned, a partnership or a corporation?
You must obtain full names of owners, partners or officers and all business addresses. This is a must. A follow-up form letter to the hastily approved customer may supply this information and the local city directory may be helpful with details of ownership or tenancy. You should, however, get the information before delivery of the merchandise.

How long has the applicant been in business?

Statistics show that 50 percent of business failures are firms less than one year old, 75 percent are less than five years old.

At what bank does the applicant do business?

What is the average size of his bank balance and are there any loans outstanding? The customer may have a financial statement which will reveal this, and certainly a phone call to their bank manager is in order. They might only confirm the existence of an account, unless your customer pre-approves release of the details. A carefully worded and signed application will gain you the most information.

What do the records show?

Are financing agreements kept, or have legal suits been filed? If the amount of credit requested is substantial, additional financial information may be secured from an outside credit information source such as another supplier trade association or business reference. n What are some of the business firms with which the applicant is currently dealing? You will want to check with at least three companies to determine how much credit has been extended and the creditors' payment experience with the applicant company. This procedure may help you and other businesses in exposing customers who exploit their suppliers.

Search for Patterns of Problems

It is a constructive idea to analyze those customers who have become collection problems and to note reasons for their delinquency. A pattern will probably be revealed.

It may be found that some collection problems involve businesses which were in operation less than a year at the time credit was originally granted. This is a "red flag." It does not mean that a new business should be denied credit, but it does mean that additional information should be obtained to ensure that the business is potentially a good credit risk.

Sometimes the credit manager will have to deal with a sales person who is overanxious or under-trained. In the desire to sell, they may make promises that lead to collection problems. When such a pattern develops in an area, it would then be wise to advise the sales manager about the problem. It is often expedient with large orders to send the potential customer a letter spelling out credit terms.

Some Delinquencies Are Unavoidable

It is inevitable in granting credit that certain conditions cannot be foreseen and that there will be unavoidable delinquencies.

It is usually acceptable company policy that credit losses within certain percentage limits can be sustained, as growth can only be achieved by reasonable risk taking. Reserves for bad debts and collection costs are an acceptable and recognized expense for business. A too-tight credit policy can dry up potential growth. A too-loose credit policy can be a great expense.

By granting credit intelligently and by following good billing and collection procedures, it is possible to hold risk to an acceptable figure--to a balance between company growth and losses due to bad debts.

Get free information and advice on commercial collections.

Hit the Road With a Dodge Sprinter

Who hasn't dreamed of hitting the open road and having an adventure with friends or family via an RV trip through the United States? But adventurous road trippers are exceedingly rare in a rocky economy with unpredictable gas prices.

Motor homes and RVs can be expensive to run and operate and are not always the most comfortable option, especially when travelling with children. Fortunately, Dodge has developed an alternative that can not only quench your thirst for the open road, but doubles as a great family car, utility vehicle, or simply a personalized road hog.

Meet the Dodge Sprinter, one of the most customizable and unique vehicles available on the market. Unlike bulky trailers or costly motor homes, the Dodge Sprinter is a comfortable, roomy, and multi-purpose van. It initially became popular navigating the tight turns and tiny streets of Europe as a commercial vehicle, but now America is embracing this versatile vehicle and discovering its many uses.

Why is the Dodge Sprinter a better deal than a traditional RV?

First and foremost, the 2.7 liter turbo diesel direct fuel injection engine gets 28mpg at 55mpg, making it more economical than many RVs. It has 10 removable seats (not including extra storage room available) so you can haul guests and goods comfortably and can make last minute adjustments.

If you do not need a lot of room, seven or nine passenger seating is also an option. No matter how much passenger room you need, there is always a lot of room for luggage, equipment, and whatever else you might need to haul.

Everyone will have a secure seat and seatbelt, which is safer than tumbling around in the back of a motor home. Once you're ready to set up camp, you can simply reconfigure the seats to make extra room.

The Dodge Sprinter also comes with hauling capabilities so you won't have to leave any of your big toys at home. It has a towing capacity of 7,500lbs, which is plenty for most families. You can also choose your roof height: standard, high, or mega.

You even have the choice of body length in 233 inches, 273 inches, or 289 inches, as well as a 144 inch or 170 inch wheelbase. You'll probably have more room to spare than you would with a large RV that is cluttered with unnecessary amenities.

The Dodge Sprinter is practically a blank palette, allowing you to add only what you need. Many RVs come with cumbersome cupboards, poorly constructed storage space, and some items you may not need such as bathrooms.

These can all add to the cost of renting or buying an RV. With a Sprinter, you can choose what additions you want to make, saving you money and space. Many Dodge Sprinters have been successfully converted into luxury campers with fake fireplaces, flat screen televisions, and even disco balls. But if you're more practical, they can easily hold mini fridges, bathroom units, and comfortable sleeping spaces.

Don't let the finances keep you from finding freedom on the road. The Dodge Sprinter is an economically friendly alternative not only for everyday driving and hauling, but for taking a break and finding some freedom behind the wheel.

The Dodge Sprinter can easily be customized that makes it a good alternative to an RV. It is much economical compared to an RV. Learn more about this great family car and utility vehicle at http://www.sprinterdealer.net

Grow Your Dental Practice - 3 Ways to Start Doubling Your Growth Right Now Even If You Hit a Plateau

How would you like to double your practice growth? How would you like to double your net income?

Of course you would!

But what we want and what actually happens are two different things.

When you first started your dental practice you felt the excitement. You experienced large percentages of growth for the first few years. Then your dental practice became stagnant. You're not seeing growth in your dental practice now. Your "adjusted gross income" and "net income" decreased to the point where it depresses you to look at the numbers on your tax return. You hit a plateau and it is commonplace for all businesses, including dental practices, to hit a plateau at some point in their life. Many will hit multiple plateaus.

Now I completely understand why hitting a plateau or even a decline in business would depress you. It's because you're seriously feeling the squeeze. You discovered that your expenses don't plateau just because your income has flattened or declined.

* Your staff wants more money
* You need more space
* You need more updated, emerging technologies and equipment
* It takes more money to run your practice

Not only do your expenses rise at the office, but they rise at home. You've got kids, private schools, bigger houses, insurance, higher taxes. So how can you as a dental practice owner get off the plateau, take your business to the next level and make more money?

3 Ways to Start Growing Your Dental Practice - Even Double It Right Now

1. Get the right training, skills and resources you need to build your business.

Look, you're either on plan, off plan, or you don't even have a plan. If you have been in practice for any significant amount of time and you are not investing heavily in your practice, I wouldn't be surprised if you're experiencing a plateau in your business right now. See, if you're not learning better ways to build your practice then you are just doing the same thing over and over again. How is that going to solve your problem and take your practice to the next level? It isn't!

2. Get the Right Employees - Implement a NO Mediocre Employee Tolerance Policy

With so many people unemployed today, you can find top talent. There is NO reason for why you have to accept mediocre performance. Remember, you get what you deserve. If you hire mediocre employees or if you keep mediocre employees then you deserve to get mediocre or sub-par results along with the gray hair you'll get for dealing with these people. And it doesn't take much effort to hire the right staff. In fact, I have a hiring system that allows you to hire new staff with less than 60 minutes of your time.

3. Get a NO excuse mindset

If you want to shorten the lifespan of your plateau then you need to stop being your own worst competitor. And I mean this in the most caring, loving way. You make and accept too many excuses for why you can't get new patients. For example, you blame the recession. Yes, many small and large businesses are failing. However, we've doubled our business in this economy. I have clients who've been practicing dentistry for 35 years and they had their best year ever in 2009. A few of these top performers are in the State of Michigan - one of the hardest hit states during the recession. If they can get new clients and double their practices, so can you.

But you have to adopt what I call the "two-economy system" mindset that accepts no excuses. I define the two-economy system as putting yourself in a bubble where the economy is good, and keeping everything out of the bubble that you don't have control over. So unlike most dentists who let all of the negative energy ooze into their office and into their existence, I reject it like the plague.

I adopted the policy that you get what you deserve - there are no excuses. I haven't made an excuse in 20 years. If I get a bad result, I probably deserved a bad result. It's that simple. So I don't make excuses. I just say, "I got what I deserved," and I need to figure out why and how I'm going to fix it so I get a better result next time.

So if you can figure out what actions and efforts it takes to deserve more... bingo, you can get it. If you make excuses about your ability to generate new patients, like your town or the economy or whatever other pathetic, whiny excuse you might have made in the past, you literally cannot do anything. It immobilizes you.

Want to Start Growing Your Dental Practice? Here Are Your Next Steps...

1. Get the training you need. If you'd like, check out my products and services for those who want to grow their dental practices at:http://www.SchedulingInstitute.com
2. Adopt a NO mediocrity tolerance policy.
3. Don't make or accept excuses. When you complain, whine and moan, you take all the power out of your dental practice and completely destroy the mindset of your staff.

Remember, it starts with you. So are you ready to grow your dental practice?

Jay Geier adds 10 to 50 percent more new patients to clients' practices with little or no change to their dental marketing or advertising budget by simply leveraging their staff and getting them to focus on New Patients as their #1 priority. To see how your staff stacks up against your competition and more than 10,000 practices worldwide when it comes to turning prospects into scheduled appointments, take Jay's NEW 5-STAR CHALLENGE for free at: http://www.FiveStarChallenge.com

Commercial Automobile Liability Insurance

A commercial insurance policy is needed if you use your car in a business and it is titled to a business. This is different than using your personal car for business purposes; you can have a personal auto policy and get a business rate if the car is titled in your name. You need to explain how the car is being used and the name that the car is titled in when you speak to an Insurance Agent and they can let you know what type of policy you will need.

The commercial auto policy provides some of the same basic overages as a personal auto insurance policy. You will want to make sure you purchase Liability Coverage and this coverage will cover the injuries of people that are involved in an accident. The coverage will also cover medical bills and lost wages as well.

The next coverage that you will want to buy is the Collision Coverage; this coverage will pay for the repairs to your vehicle if you are involved in an accident and it does not matter who is at fault, your car will still be covered.

You will also want t purchase Comprehensive Coverage because this coverage will pay for claims that are caused by vandalism, fire, or hail to name a few of the items covered.

Also, you will want to purchase Uninsured Motorist Coverage so that you can have protection in case another person hit your car and they don't have any insurance. This coverage will also pay for injuries and any property damage that the accident might cause.

The Insurance Agent should recommend the proper amount of coverages that you will need, however, you need to make sure you buy deductibles that you can afford. So, ask for multiple quotes with different deductibles on the coverages to see what package will work out best for you. Also, I would recommend that you can quotes from at least three different companies before you make your decision.

Hi my name is Deovon and I write articles to help teach people about commercial insurance. I am the author of this article "Commercial automobile liability insurance". My site http://www.urtopics.com is about all around topics for different types of insurance.

Credit Card Financing and Working Capital Funding

As a result of an increasing commercial financing crisis, commercial borrowers are evaluating new alternatives for business finance funding. Business cash advances and credit card financing are two working capital financing options which have proven to be effective and practical sources of operating cash for small business owners.

The use of credit card financing often refers to business cash advances in which working capital is obtained by business owners based upon future credit card processing activity. Alternatively the use of personal credit cards to obtain a cash advance is also referred to as a credit card loan. With business finance funding shortages, small business owners are increasingly using both approaches to obtain operating cash for their business. The two financing approaches are not equal in terms of how they are viewed by commercial financing experts although the strategies might be called by the same name occasionally.

Business lines of credit and other variations of working capital loans have been recently cancelled or reduced by many commercial lenders. In response, many business owners have been forced to rely on cash obtained via their personal credit cards to sustain their businesses. In order to prepare for several of the most undesirable actions being taken by many credit card loan lenders, we urge all commercial borrowers to review the predatory lending discussion in The Working Capital Journal.

For business owners using or about to use personal credit cards to secure operating capital, we want to make two important comments: (1) We consider this to be a last resort method of business financing and whenever possible it should be avoided. Before assuming that this is the only source of capital available, commercial borrowers should consult with a working capital finance expert. The possibility of business cash advances and working capital loans should be thoroughly explored. (2) This questionable method of obtaining commercial finance funding will prove to be increasingly more difficult because credit card issuers are already cutting back on their unsecured lending programs.

Like reductions in their lending programs for business lines of credit, most banks are now making similar cutbacks in credit card lending. They are reducing or cancelling credit lines even when borrowers have a superb payment record. The rationale for banks reducing both credit card lines and commercial lines of credit is similar. With unsecured commercial loans or personal loans, banks fear that massive defaults are almost inevitable due to a very shaky economy and business lending climate. Unlike residential real estate financing in which real property is pledged as collateral, banks know that they have no collateral to fall back on with working capital loans and credit card loans because they are unsecured. Many small business owners use home equity lines of credit to obtain operating cash, and these funding sources are also diminishing in most areas of the United States. Although these lending programs are backed by collateral, the value of homes in many areas has decreased to the point that many outstanding loans exceed the current property value.

One of the most disturbing and frustrating occurrences in the current difficult commercial financing environment is the lack of clear information for many business owners about which funding options are realistic and possible. Thousands of borrowers might have obtained operating cash from personal credit cards when there were better options for this one factor alone (confusion and misinformation).

Due to the growing tendency of several major credit card issuers to exhibit predatory lending practices, the use of personal credit card loans should be avoided. At a minimum, each business owner should contact a business finance funding expert to determine if a business cash advance program or a working capital loan program can be used to obtain needed cash.

Learn about avoiding working capital finance mistakes - Stephen Bush is a commercial loans expert => AEX Commercial Mortgages and Business Cash Advances

Freddie Mac Changes Hit Real Estate Investors Hard

With today's historically low interest rates coupled with a glut of foreclosed properties that can be picked well below market value, one would think today would be a great time to be a real estate investor. The old adage of "buy low and sell high" is tailored made for today's market but the bubble is about to burst with a recent announcement by Freddie Mac.

August 1st Freddie Mac revised its requirements for investment property mortgages that will negatively impact the real estate investor community. With these new revisions real estate investors will be limited to a maximum of four mortgages on 1-4 unit investment properties. The previous limit was 10.

Why should investors care about a change made by Freddie Mac? Freddie Mac and its sister organization Fannie Mae underwrite almost 50% of conforming mortgages on the secondary market in the United States. Freddie Mac's impact on the lending market is so great that if it sneezes, the entire industry catches a cold.

If Freddie Mac makes a change in the lending requirements then you can bet that Fannie Mae will follow soon thereafter. Many lenders have already implemented these changes in their lending practice well ahead of the August 1st date. These changes do not bode well for the real estate investor community.

With the recent tightening of the credit market followed by these changes by Freddie Mac it is becoming a difficult time for real estate investors. Savvy investors are salivating at the opportunities in the marketplace that allow them to purchase properties in some cases up to 50% less than their value just a few years ago. Starting August 1st these opportunities will disappear as investors will be unable to get mortgage financing.

For investors like myself who already own more than four investment properties, we will no longer be able to get mortgages, and most of us will probably leave the real estate investment market. The only lending option available to us would be portfolio lenders. 

Real estate investors may choose to just sit on their current inventory of investment properties and wait out the storm. Until the clouds clear these investors will not be able to even refinance their existing mortgages.

These changes will have a ripple effect in the real estate investment community. There will be a smaller pool of investors competing to purchase investment properties. Houses that are normally purchased by investors instead of owner-occupied buyers will languish longer on the market which will result in a decline in price.

The only silver lining with these changes are for all cash buyers. If you have money then you can almost name your price for investment properties since the pool of competitors will have all but dried up. Banks will be jumping at the opportunity to offload their non-performing assets at any price.

The changes by Freddie Mac appear to be punishing investors as if they were the sole culprits of the recent turmoil in the lending market. Investors will be forced to find alternative sources of financing or just be content with four investment properties.

There are many ways to make a fortune investing in real estate. For more information about real estate investing visit my website at InvestInRealEstate101.

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Active Hopes For Delhi Real Estate Market

Like the Delhi residential real estate witnessing a sluggish phase for the past few months, the commercial properties have also been hit down by a slowdown. Subsequently, some business districts in Delhi have seen a decline of up to 25% in office rentals in the June quarter, media reports.

The rental values of grade A and B properties in the city have seen a significant decline. For instance, the rentals of grade A properties in Nehru place are down from Rs 280 per sq ft to Rs 270 per sq ft.

With the retail boom and increasing return on investment from the real estate market, the value of Delhi properties have been sky-high since long. The Delhi real estate builders are taking the drop in prices as positive, since many of their projects are lying vacant for quite a long time now.

Individuals and business firms have been cautious of investing in residential as well as commercial property and were waiting for a price correction, reveals a renowned Delhi Real Estate Developer. With this drop in the commercial property values builders and real estate agents are now expecting some activity in the market.

Space crunch has been the prime reason for the soaring commercial property values in the city. But, with a lot of expected supply in the Delhi-NCR market by early 2009, rentals are likely to trim down more in the city, opine the industry experts. Amid Jasola being one of the few remaining places where land is available in Delhi, it will continue to add more space in the coming time to the Delhi property market.

Besides, being the much sought after residential property market the commercial properties too have always been in much demand in Delhi. As the city has better edge over many other metros in terms of infrastructure, availability of professional work force and connectivity, Delhi real estate has maintained an apex position in the real estate ladder of the country.

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