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How Do I Know That My Customer Is Having Financial Problems?
Written by: Lee ListerArticle Overview: In times of recession we are all trying to survive and sometimes the worst thing that can happen to your business is that one of your customers is in trouble. If they go down, your business could be the next in line. So how do you know when one of your customers is having problems?
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How Do I Know That My Customer Is Having Financial Problems?
In times of recession we are all trying to survive and
sometimes the worst thing that can happen to your business is that one of your
customers is in trouble. If they go
down, your business could be the next in line.
So how do you know when one of your customers is having problems?
The first and most obvious one is that they have not paid
your latest invoices. This is a rather
drastic way to find out so look for these clues to their having financial
problems:
·
They pay later than usual.
·
They order more goods than normal.
·
They ask for extended credit terms or increased credit.
·
They ask for a change in the credit terms that
seem a little unusual.
·
They send an order outside of the credit terms.
·
They make a sudden surge in their advertising and/or
increase the pressure on their sales staff.
·
Their sales staff seem very stressed from being pressurised
into finding new customers or having too few staff available.
·
They make key staff redundant.
·
They change their trading hours – more means
they are chasing sales, less means they are cutting costs.
·
They restrict their product line.
·
They do not order goods from you in their less
popular ranges.
·
The hold a lot of sales.
·
Industry gossip indicates problems.
·
They become the takeover target of predatory companies.
·
Their accounts group becomes difficult to
contact.
·
They do not return phone calls.
·
Their support line is unusually busy with
complaints or quiet from lack of business.
·
Their cheques are returned unpaid.
·
There appears to be a lot of meetings of their
top staff.
·
A manager, more senior than you usually deal
with, asks for a meeting to discuss trading matters.
If you see one or more of the above then you need to
seriously review the credit that you extend this company. You should also consider meeting with one of
their senior managers to discuss matters.
It may be that you can assist them or barter some of their good for
assistance within your company.
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About the Author: Lee Lister RSS for Lee's articles - Visit Lee's website Lee Lister is a Business Consultant with more than 25 year's consultancy experience for many household names. She is known as The Bid Manager or The Biz Guru. From an early age she began an unparalleled journey through business consulting that continues to span across the UK, USA, Europe and Asia. She has consulted for a considerable number of companies all over the world. Specialising in business change management, start up consultancy and trouble shooting. Lee's experience in marketing and internet marketing is also keenly sought after. She is a prolific published writer of books, ebooks and articles and can easily be found on major search engine and Amazon. Her books include: FastTrack Bid Management, Proposal Writing For Smaller Businesses, How Much Does It Cost To Start A Business, Entrepreneur's Apprentice and a series of Start My New Business books that do as they say in the title! Her major web sites are: Click here to visit Lee's website Entrepreneurs How To Establish And Market Yourself As A Fashion Designer Entrepreneurs Want To Open A Kennels And Not Sure If Is Needed Entrepreneurs Do You Really Need A Marketing Strategy Entrepreneurs Want To Be An Airport Driver Why Surfers Coming From Search Engines Still Wont Buy From You |
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