Extra Credit

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Credit card fraud has loomed larger in the business credit community in recent years, whether it’s during counter transactions or online ordering. As fraud evolves with advancing technologies, it is more important than ever that credit teams learn how to effectively spot and stop it wherever it may rear its head. Connect wi...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Credit leaders are constantly making decisions on behalf of their customers, teams and companies. With the right technology and data combined, they can find more accurate solutions more efficiently. Why it matters: Overreliance on digital solutions can quietly erode confidence and weaken critical thinking. By exercising sou...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! For many credit departments, the pursuit of stronger practices and better performance is a constant and ongoing effort. As economic and market trends fluctuate, the need for improvement only grows. Through benchmarking—comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices—credit teams are...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! In the credit profession, strong customer relationships aren’t just a nice-to-have—they’re essential. From the first conversation to the final payment, the strength of those connections can make the difference between delayed receivables and dependable cash flow. Especially in uncertain economic times, trust and communicati...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Having a customer that pays on time and represents a large portion of your earnings may be a dream for the sales team, but when too much revenue sits with one customer, it can create vulnerabilities in otherwise healthy portfolios. While a consistent, large customer can be good for business, sudden changes to their payment...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Business-to-business credit management can sometimes be viewed as a behind-the-scenes function, focused solely on risk control and compliance. Yet the true role of the credit profession reaches far beyond internal processes. Each day, credit professionals apply their expertise to support growth, build lasting relationships...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Career development is the key to long-term success within any profession. In a rapidly changing field like business-to-business (B2B) credit, professional advancement is essential. Yet not all professionals know how to advocate for it, and not every organization prioritizes it. Without meaningful support, both professionals...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Leadership is often associated with job titles or years of experience, but the truth is, most people demonstrate leadership long before they even receive a promotion.  Credit professionals, in particular, go beyond account management—making decisions that influence cash flow, customer relationships, risk management and cros...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Noticing your customers troubling habits is one thing, but finding the root cause of the issue and a long-term solution that protects your company’s interest while maintaining a strong customer relationship takes time and dedication. Root cause analysis is the process of researching a problem to identify and treat the under...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Effective negotiation goes beyond “winning” an argument; it’s about reaching a mutually beneficial agreement. No matter how conflicting each party’s interests may seem, the right negotiation tactics help credit professionals increase the likelihood of finding a resolution while also mitigating risk and preserving the relati...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly emerging as a powerful catalyst for growth, enabling organizations to innovate faster, operate more efficiently and unlock new opportunities across almost every part of business. As the expert system evolves, more credit professionals are looking to adapt, or at least explore, what it...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Everything in life is a balance—an even distribution of weight that allows someone or something to remain upright and steady. Without balance, even the strongest structures falter. In credit management, the same principle applies.  For credit professionals, major decisions are not driven solely by numbers or intuition, but...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Working in credit management requires a keen eye for strange customer behavior, whether it’s a customer whose payments have slowed or a company you’ve had an increasingly hard time getting on the phone. But even the most eagle-eyed credit professional will have customers abruptly shut down without warning. Your first instin...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! No aspect of credit management epitomizes the give-and-take nature of your relationship with your customer quite like disputes and deductions. Whether it’s a complaint about an erroneous charge on a bill or items left unaccounted in your order, deductions and disputes can consume a lot of your time as a credit manager, whic...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Credit professionals are wired for change, always adapting to new technologies and innovations. With so many options available, finding the right product or service can be overwhelming.  Those who have a clear strategy and a willingness to learn can more effectively narrow their choices, and the Credit Congress Expo Hall is...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Not every customer has a perfect credit score or strong balance sheet, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth doing business with. Marginal customers often stand in a gray area: high potential, but higher risk.  The challenge is to identify whether open, unsecured credit can be extended to a marginal customer or whether ot...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! As day-to-day communication shifts to largely online, it is critical that credit professionals make the most of every conversation, whether it is in-person or virtual. From facial expressions to tone to body language, there is a lot to keep in mind in conversation to ensure that you are not only making your point clearly bu...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! From education to networking to vendor-shopping, Credit Congress is a one-of-a-kind experience for credit managers that stays with attendees even after the convention doors close.  As we prepare for next year’s Credit Congress in St. Louis, many credit professionals are weighing the benefits of attending Credit Congress nex...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! As a leader, it can be easy to focus on your own perspective. After all, you’re ultimately responsible for making key decisions. However, leadership isn’t just about giving orders; it’s about guiding your team and ensuring their needs are met.   Leading selflessly, with love and compassion not only fosters trust but also st...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! For many credit professionals, burnout does not happen all of a sudden—it creeps in slowly, like a phantom in the shadows. The pressure of the job, from managing high-risk accounts to chasing down mounting receivables, can begin to haunt even the most experienced professionals.   If left unchecked, burnout can lead to reduc...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Credit managers can sometimes take on too much responsibility—from handling customer disputes to managing collections. A balanced workload significantly improves team performance and efficiency.  By delegating tasks, credit managers can ease their own workload while empowering team members to think independently, develop sk...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Lien and bond rights are essential tools for protecting payments in the construction industry. Whether you’re a general contractor (GC), subcontractor or material supplier, these legal rights provide leverage when payments are delayed or withheld. However, these rights and the processes to enforce them vary significantly fr...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! In business-to-business (B2B) transactions, when customers aren’t satisfied with a product or service, they request a deduction—typically in the form of a short payment on an invoice or credit taken on a check.  Customer deductions typically require approval from the credit department, as they directly affect collections an...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! Gathering job information for a construction project is an important part of the work of a credit manager. Having pertinent details on the customer, contractors and the project itself help the credit manager understand what to expect when they embark on a project.  While this process is closely tied to the credit manager’s...

Tell us what you love about Extra Credit and what topics you want covered! With the role of credit managers expanding each day with new responsibilities, outsourcing tasks within the credit department can be a key part of a risk mitigation strategy.   Collections brings a lot of problems for credit managers, making it one of the first processes many departments decide to outsource. Third-party col...