In today's networked world there are
tremendous technologies that credit and collection professionals can use to
their advantage. If you don’t know how to Tweet, Link, Connect, Like, Share,
Comment or Post; you will get left behind.
Credit Managers, Business owners, and
receivable staff should be encouraged to have a profile on LinkedIn at the very
least. Care should be taken to use specific keywords when creating your
personal or company profile. Let the world know what you are good at. Ask your
customers and suppliers for references. Most importantly send your customers
and prospects a Connection Request. If accepted, you can learn a lot more about
your customer and them about you.
Why is Social Media Important in Credit?
In our popular article entitled “The 12 Danger Signs”, we outline several scenarios where a LinkedIn connection to your
customer would prove invaluable. Would it be useful to know if several of your
customer’s key management personnel left the company?
What if your prospective customer gives you
a credit application and states they have been in business for 10 years, yet
the company profile (and that of its owner) is either sparse or non-existent? Should
you be worried or at least pause a little bit?
If your customer’s business is operating as
a going concern, you should see some social media activity, some on-line
advertising, an updated webpage, perhaps an on-line store or even a Kijiji
advertisement. All of this activity should give you some level of comfort that
your customer or prospect is trying to build their business. Conversely if you
do a Google search and only find a website with your customer’s equipment for
sale – then that would be a major cause for concern.
At The PCR Group of Companies we try hard to post
relevant content to our followers that may be of interest depending on the
subject of the article. For examples of active social media accounts – just
click on the links below to see what we are doing:
What’s The Bottom Line?
Prior to
extending credit or entering into a contract, we strongly encourage you to
examine the social media of person or company with whom you are contemplating
doing business. You can tell a lot about your prospective customer by checking
their on-line profiles in LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pintrest -
just to name a few.
Perform an internet search on your customers email address and cell number.
You may be shocked/ pleased at what you find. Do your due
diligence on a prospective customer well in advance of processing the first
order.
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