The Factor Guru

Tips on accounts receivable financing and business practices.

Archive for September 23rd, 2008

Measuring Results

Sep 23

Posted by Gen Merritt in Collections, General Information, IRS Information, Sales and Marketing | No Comments

Yes, we had several questions this week on payroll tax monitoring, 8821 forms with the IRS and past due taxes, along with IRS tax liens. In all cases, we are happy to provide our experience; however, you should also consult your legal counsel or a CPA to insure you are protected. We’ll save this for another time. If you have questions in the interim, you can email us directly. (A link has been added for this form so you can use this now, if you are not already). Note this was updated in August 2008.

What I wanted to talk about in this entry was planning and measuring performance. Do you have the ability to measure productivity… performance… results? How do you know that the processes you thought you established are truly being followed? What tools and management do you have in place? (This works in any business – not just factoring).

Have you ever wondered why marketing/salespeople bring in a lot of leads but minimal results? Have you ever wondered why a collections staff can call on aging invoices all day but with limited success? Some would say it’s a numbers game in both cases. I respectfully would disagree.

Sales can be a numbers game, but wouldn’t it be better to identify who your salespeople are calling on, what they are saying, what they know about the product they are selling? Is it just the features? Or, do they know what the true benefits (and challenges) are for a prospective client? Can they outline those benefits to a prospective client to add value to any new customer? Can they breakdown a good lead from a ‘not a good fit’ lead?

Likewise, in collections, do your collectors just call to identify the status of a payment without understanding what they are calling on exactly? Do they follow up promptly? Is the reason they are calling because of an internal issue in either your company or your client’s company?

In both cases, you will notice, ‘understanding’ is required and needed to produce efficiency in efforts and to maximize the value of your organization.

Although I have lots of ideas about both — I more or less want to pose the question to readers for them to think about their operation, their company, and ultimately their success.

Wishing you success… the Factor Guru.

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Welcome

Sep 23

Posted by Gen Merritt in General Information | No Comments

Welcome. Isn’t that what your first blog should be? Find out who we are, why we are here, what we want to say, why you should come back. Well… Yes.

As an underwriter, account executive, credit officer and consultant to other factoring companies, I have been in the factoring and asset based lending industry for over 13 years. This is the part where I guess you could say I have been in the industry, have helped run a factoring business, and have experience in all aspects of factoring.

I am doing this now with the help of friends and industry peers to create this blog. We are here because those in the industry want interaction and feedback, because others in the industry want to share information, and because if we cannot help each other, then who can we help? I also do this because I do get calls every week with questions on the business and just thought this would be a resource to share that information. So you know… it will not be 100 percent factoring related. If you know me, I have a tendency to go off on tangents. That will happen on occasion, whether I intend to or not.

Under the introduction of how this Welcome started — why do this? Because I do (if you know me) seem to have a lot to say… not to those who already know everything but to those that don’t or that want to get more information, or just those that want that ‘one good thing’ out of this… to help them do better both personally and professionally in our industry, to those who want to learn more, to those that that believe factoring is their passion – not just their job.

So, why will you come back? That’s easy. It’s a resource that will include articles from across the industry (us, other factors and niche providers). And, I don’t believe in this being an outlet for companies to sell their services or companies. Those that help in providing articles for the blog can give their contact information if you want more answers… but that is all (sorry but this is not for advertising – yet).

Whether you find this blog helpful – or not – we will be here (at least for now). We look forward to being your resource you can use in your work and day to day lives.

Wishing you success… the Factor Guru.