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January 1, 2012 BCMA - It’s All About You! Welcome to the latest issue of BCMA News! This month’s topics… 2. Multiple Tasks, Multiple Distractions 3. Words of Wisdom to Lead a Credit Staff Whether the change is in your personal or business life, you're likely to experience some in the near future. So the ability to deal with constant, continuous change is a skill that everyone must have today. You must personally keep growing and changing in order to guarantee you will have the skills necessary to stay in your job or be able to find another one. Yet studies show that the greatest majority of us don't like change. So what are you to do? Try some of these ideas. The first step in dealing with change is to realize why you may be resisting it and try to put it behind you. Chances are there is nothing you can do about it and resisting the change will only guarantee that it will not work. Try to find the positives of the change and embrace that part and let the rest go. "Another way to develop a mindset for change is to watch yourself talk. The way you talk to yourself during times of change is very important." One way to do that is to think of past times that you successfully weathered a difficult change. Remember the strategies that helped you in those situations and see if they might help you now. It can be personal or work-related. I always think of the many times when I have moved to a different city. I remember how devastated I was at the first announcement of the move, but then I also remember how much I liked the move later. I think of some of the things, like focusing on the positives instead of the negatives, which worked for me then and try to use them in my current change situations. Another way to develop a mindset for change is to watch yourself talk. The way you talk to yourself during times of change is very important. If you keep saying things like," This will never work," "I can't learn this new software," or "Why can't we just leave things the way they are?" it will add to your negative mindset about change. Instead, deliberately choose to be optimistic and enthusiastic about the changes. Use positive statements like, "I can do this," "I can see the positives in this change," "This will result in added revenue," and other statements that put a positive spin on the situation. So how good are you at adapting to the constant changes in your life? If you would like to improve, try some of these techniques to help you become more change-adept. And if you have any examples or suggestions to add to this list, send them to me! I will pass them on. Peggy Morrow is available as a speaker for keynotes, breakouts or training in customer service, team development or communication/interpersonal skills. peggy@peggymorrow.com 281-280-8190 1-800-375-1982. 2. Multiple Tasks, Multiple Distractions
"Although there are always exceptions to the rule, research shows that, in the workplace, multitasking while trying to solve a complex problem is a very bad strategy," says Michael Komie, a psychologist who teaches at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and consults with executives. Since you're probably saddled with your own multiple responsibilities, how do you recapture your ability to sustain attention? Experts offer these six recommendations: 1. Start the day with a manageable to-do list. If your list is overly ambitious you'll put yourself in a state of anticipatory anxiety, warns Dr. Sirini Pillay, author of "Your Brain and Business" and an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. That makes it hard to concentrate. "Choosing three or four things as your priorities for the day allows your brain to settle down and focus," he says. Look at what's realistically possible and be specific with yourself about what you can and cannot do that day. 2. Visualize a reset device in your brain and say: "I need to press the reset button and get back on track." This takes the spotlight off the distraction and puts it on the redirection. "You're rewiring your brain," says Dr. Pillay. 3. Take more control by structuring your time and becoming more aware of your behavior. One psychologist often sets his phone alarm to go off every hour, as a reminder to stay on task. "It's a way of creating awareness," he says. "You have to notice you've lost focus in order to do something about it." 4. Stop what you're doing and listen to music for a few minutes or go for a short walk. Take a deep breath, count to five slowly, hold it and breathe out very slowly. This can "blow out all the tension and clutter in your mind, and that can restore your focus," says Robert Epstein, a research psychologist in San Diego and founder of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. 5. Schedule distractions as a reward for productivity. These can motivate your brain to stay focused, says Dr. Pillay. Ideally, those distractions should also be good for you -- like a massage, a yoga class, or just putting on headphones and listening to music. "The brain benefits significantly from breaks," he says. "You may even come back and feel more creative if you take your mind off its primary focus for a little while." If your distraction of choice is Facebook, Twitter or other social media, schedule time for that, suggests Dr. Epstein. "You're being proactive, not reactive. You control it, rather than it controlling you." 6. Stop what you're doing and listen to music for a few minutes, go for a short walk or "take a cleansing breath, where you breathe in deeply, count to five slowly, hold it and breathe out very slowly. This can "blow out all the tension and clutter in your mind, and that can restore your focus," says Dr. Epstein.
3.
Words of Wisdom to Lead a Credit Staff Kent Knopp-Schwyn, credit manager Minnesota-based hearing aid company GN ReSound recently offered us these words of wisdom for every credit department to focus on: 1) Lead a staff by getting everything out of their way so they can do their jobs (get proper training, usable reports, etc.) 2) The most efficient way to collect is to make calls. A credit exec's roll is to reduce distractions so collectors can spend their time on the phone. 3) Know your customer. Know what works for them and what does not work. 4) Give your staff freedom to get the job done (with oversight). Do not micro-manage. The staff wants to be successful. Point to being successful and give them the proper tools to attain success. 5) Measure results on a daily, weekly and monthly basis so you can see how they do. One of Credit Today’s listserv members asked for some input from his fellow credit practitioners. Here’s a small sample of their input. (http://www.credittoday.net/public/department96.cfm)= = = = = We make it a habit to communicate with sales especially if they are good paying customers. We are very customer relationship driven.-Wendy = = = = We will share information at anytime. I'm not saying I would give YTD sales, but I would definitely give credit info, especially if there are problems. And I would hope I would get the same consideration. In some industries, it's the only way to stay one step ahead of the nefarious accounts. lol -Catherine | Credit Manager = = = = = Credit information exchanged should be used for credit purposes only. I thought that was an unwritten code among credit professionals. -Rodney, Director of Credit & Collections = = = = = Trade Reference requests come in to us through a shared fax and also to our other building which houses sales managers. While these faxes aren't generally seen by our sales reps, the inquiry isn't exactly secret either. I was stunned to find out that sales managers at our other location were throwing away "some" of the requests for info from particular vendors. Needless to say this didn't make me happy as their decision to throw some away inhibits my ability to get information in return. I started making a note on the incoming ones from the wrong building to be sure to use our fax# here so no one would throw away their request. Short sightedness and fear tend to do some strange things. -Deanna, Credit Manager = = = = = Short sightedness and fear tend to do some strange things. -Rodney, Director of Credit & Collections = = = = = We've experienced the same thing many times. Sometimes Sales will forward us the paperwork; sometimes it never makes it to us. Before you know it we get calls (sometimes very angry calls) from the person/company who had originally sent the reference request, wanting to know why we haven't answered. We, at that time (as well as when we forward the completed reference back) emphasize what our direct fax number is. However since it seems to happen over and over again (with the same companies), it appears that they just don't want to make the effort to make a note of the correct number. -Colleen, Credit Manager = = = = = Any reference request that come into the office building are sent directly to myself or my assistant to follow-up on we then follow-up via email so that they are aware of our procedures. We are very much now in the stage of "GO Green" and try to curtail any other form of communication other than email. -Lupe', Credit Manager = = = = = Yes, there is an ethical issue at play here. No way would I ever disclose this information to our sales department. I always assume that information shared among credit people was kept confidential and not disclosed to sales. Sales has a job to do, and credit has a job to do. If I knew another credit department was disclosing my reference information to their sales department, I would NEVER, EVER, EVER again give my information to that company. The information is given in confidence, and given to the credit department for the purpose of establishing a credit line only. It is not to be used by their sales department for sales leads. -Tracey, Credit Manager
= = = = = I do not give out the confidential information that a competitor gives me but I do advise sales when a competitor is asking for information. Dianna, Credit Manager = = = = = = In my previous life someone I worked with shared this information and put a twist on it, the results were $$$$ in lost business. Never ever share. -Sam, Credit & Collections Manager = = = = = We only share credit information with credit professionals. -Judy, Divisional Credit Manager
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