Synopsis

The adage that “Volume is VANITY, Profit is SANITY and only Cash is REALITY” is still as relevant today as in the past. Any sales professional, credit controller or entrepreneur who does not truly understand this will end up with a lot of business and poor cash flow.

A key role of the sales professional is to ensure timely collections from all the customers. This is against a backdrop whereby sales professionals are “pressured” to increase the sales to their customers with management stating explicitly that they want sales revenues, profits and collections. And, the sales professionals’ and credit controllers retort that the good paymasters are those who will provide volume albeit at much lower than targeted margins. Inevitably, sales professionals are forced to look for more businesses to grow their sales at the possible risk of securing bad paymasters.

Sales professionals need to work hand-in-hand with their credit colleagues to assess the credit worthiness of their existing and potential customers so that they can jointly decide as to the risk and reward they expect.  The ability to manage cash flow is a crucial factor in ensuring the long term growth of any organization and hence we need to be able to balance between sales revenues, profits and collections. 

Every sales and credit professional needs to understand BOTH the “hard” and “soft” data when dealing with customers. The mentality of “we will lose the business if we do not accord the credit required or match competition” must be replaced with “we expect this type of return from the risk that we are taking—as such it is a well-calculated risk”. This can only happen if they have the competencies to make these informed decisions.

This two-day session aims to provide the practical “hard” (essential knowledge of basic finance) and the “soft” skills (collection strategies and tactics) needed to improve account receivables management effectively during both good and tough times.

 

Benefits to You

• Bring about the appropriate mind-set about collections
• Identify the common challenges in managing collections and develop strategies to overcome them
• Apply basic financial knowledge in choosing customers to deal with and the terms to deal with them
• Identify and secure the non-financial information required to make informed decisions
• Apply the five-step process in choosing which customers to deal with and which to avoid
• Make proper credit recommendations that take into account the impact on the sales volume, EBIDTA and DSO
• Learn how to get the customer committed to the original payment terms from day one of opening the account
• Know the importance and how-to of involving both the accountant and the purchaser in making payment
• Apply simple, yet practical strategies to enhance the supplier’s importance to the customer so that they give priority in paying us first
• Learn how to be assertive so that they are able to collect money on time, all the time
• Be able to deal effectively with habitual late paymasters
• Know when and which type of legal action to take when necessary
• Appreciate the common tricks that customers use and learn how to handle them

 

Programme Outline

• Overcoming the challenges faced in collections
• The collection process and getting it right the first time
• Integrating collection, sales and profit
• The collection process and the customer value/collection matrix
• Driving the right behaviours through valid key performance indicators
• Getting it right the first time
• Essential documentation upon formalising a new account
• Deciding on the collection strategy
• Where do your customers see you in terms of your importance to them and implications to your selling and collection strategy?
• Implications of dealing with sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited companies, public-listed companies, and others
• What drives their behaviours and how to manage them?
• The “hard” financial and soft skills required
• The different legal entities’ financial statements and what they tell us
• Using relevant data to make prudent credit decisions
• Relevant factors to look out for apart from financial data
• How to combine both “soft” and “hard” data to enhance quality of decisions
• The risk/reward matrix and its implications
• Strategies to get collaterals successfully
• The art of walking away without losing the business forever
• Be daring to ask the tough questions and recognize that good questions lead to good answers
• Dealing with habitual late paymasters
• Negotiating late payment arrangements—the do’s and the don’ts

Who Will Benefit by Attending

1. Sales & Marketing Vice-Presidents/Directors
2. National/Regional Sales & Marketing Managers
3. Sales & Marketing Executives
4. Credit controllers and Accountants
5. Entrepreneurs
6. Anyone whose job responsibility is to collect money from customers

Programme Leader

This programme will be conducted by:

Mr. Patrick Ng is a highly acclaimed international Sales and Marketing cum Management trainer/consultant who will use his 21 years of corporate experience and fourteen years’ training/consulting to help you achieve the desired results. The corporate experience garnered from the ranks of sales/marketing executive, Sales Manager, Head of Strategic Business Unit and then to Chief Executive Officer of a multinational in different industries ensures that participants learn practical tools that can be implemented. Participants have consistently commented that his training is effective because they are able to relate to what they are actually facing.

He is an associate of the Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia which allows him to keep abreast with the latest developments from the Harvard Business. In addition, he is the external Sales/Marketing trainer for the Europe, Asia and Middle East Region for a leading U.S. based medical device company with annual turnover of US$9 billion. This allows him to share global best practices.

Patrick will challenge and change your perspectives, delight and entertain you and impart essential competencies and the appropriate mind-set to enhance your effectiveness.  His greatest satisfaction are seeing his participants become more productive and enjoy what they are doing and coaching his two children to graduate as medical doctors from the University of Cambridge.

---

Venue	The Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur
Duration	Two Days
Time	0900 to 1730
Fee	RM2, 756 per person for local delegates or US$880 per person for foreign delegates [price is inclusive of 6% GST, programme documentation, tea breaks and lunch]
Enquiries	+603-27131165
Email	info@pkmh.com or pkmh.training@yahoo.com