Small and medium businesses constantly face cash flow problems and traditional funding sources are not often sympathetic.
Banks are obliged to impose stringent conditions for extending credit and small businesses always find it difficult to mobilise financial resources that they need to either make a purchase or expand operations.
Sound credit management is therefore imperative and organisations like EC Credit Control offer comprehensive products and services that are cost-effective, efficient and tailor-made to the needs of individual companies.
Established in 1989, the Company has grown from strength to strength, offering expertise and professional advice and guidance to a growing number of corporates and companies with varied activities and markets.
EC Credit Control’s New Zealand Sales Manager, Dave Wilson said that debt collection not only impairs the financial health of a company but also erodes time and energy of people, especially in small and owner-operated businesses.
“EC Credit Control has a high success rate in New Zealand for debt recovery. Since we deal with debtors on a daily basis, we are aware of the many delay tactics used. To counter this, we have developed a robust and effective collection process which will often have the debt paid sooner than would otherwise be expected,” he said.
“Our collection process is both fast and effective with a goal of gaining a result within 28 days of the debt being passed over to us. With the EC Credit Control operation spanning Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom, we can offer clients a global solution, Mr Wilson says.
Over the past 23 years Mr Wilson advises that EC Credit Control has developed strong easy to use services to assist business owners streamline their credit management whilst at the same time seeing them operate within best practise models.
Born and educated in Wellington, (Mike) Koshik Ranchhod Kanji moved to Auckland four years ago to join EC Credit Control and is one of the four Auckland and 13 nationally based Area Managers. He said he has seen the company grow tremendously since he started which now sees EC Credit Control service more than 65,000 satisfied customers in New Zealand, Australia and other parts of the world.
Debt Recovery
Since poor cashflow is a major problem confronting most businesses today, the services of an efficient credit management company like EC Credit Control cannot be over-emphasised.
“Imagine where your business will be if you were able to collect all your outstanding monies,” Mr Kanji said, adding, “Truly successful debt recovery is all about making sure you do not endanger the working relationships with your clients and other associated businesses but at the same time, being paid on time for the job that has been completed.”
Mr Kanji said that most clients of EC Credit Control are concerned about collecting their debt and maintaining a healthy relationship with clients.
“Truly successful debt recovery is all about making sure that you do not endanger the working relationship with your clients. We focus on successful debt management rather than on legal proceedings which can be very expensive for the client,” he said.
According to him, the Company has in the process achieved one of the highest collection rates in the industry.
“We concentrate on retaining the goodwill of your debtors and effectively reducing further credit abuse,” he said.
Debt Collection could be free
If you have the correct Terms of Trade documentation in place, your debt collection could be free. If you do not have sufficient documentation in place then we can assist you to protect both your business and its shareholders. Contact us to discuss how we can help you establish terms of trade early on before you have to consider recovering old debts.
Terms of Trade
Terms of Trade documentation that is correctly worded, establishes a clear legal relationship with customers from the beginning. This can improve cashflow as well as reducing the cost of monitoring payments, resolving disputes and unpaid accounts. In particular, documentation will prevent clients from taking advantage of your business at the expense of the shareholders and their capital.
“If your competitors have correctly worded Terms of Trade in place and you do not, then you are at a disadvantage. You could be working for nothing while your competitors are being paid on time,” Mr Kanji said.
He said EC Credit Control tailors the Terms of Trade documentation to suit individual businesses.
Credit Reporting
One of the greatest risks in business today is knowing your customers, prior to working with them. If you are not credit checking your clients, then you could be dealing with a customer who has a poor track record of payments and managing business. Through the relationship EC Credit Control has with Veda Advantage, EC Credit Control offers clients access to a comprehensive database which provides detailed information on businesses and individuals.
“The review of this historical data repayment behaviour is extremely effective in assessing risk of future defaults. Credit reporting can assist you to identify bad credit risks and reduce costs attributed to bad debt and write-offs as well as helping clients to analyse payment defaults, collection actions, court judgements, insolvency information, public notices and file notes,” he said.
Human Resources
New Zealand requires that a written and signed employment agreement is in place between employers and employees.
Employers who do not have a written employment agreement stand the risk of breaching the law, punishable with a hefty fine. Such a breach would also mean a three-year window of opportunity for employees to bring grievances against their employers.
EC Credit Control assists clients to review and update employee agreements as well as providing them with a comprehensive manual and easy to follow human resources package. Mr Kanji says that this is perfect for those businesses who are not up to speed with HR legislation which can be very costly if not completed correctly.
Website Design
The most recent service launched by EC Web Services (a subsidiary of EC Credit Control) has been to aid clients promote their business. If clients don’t have an internet presence these days they could well be missing out on potential new business, Mr Wilson says. A number of the old marketing tools used are no longer effective and have long past their use by date and in today’s world the internet really does rule. Most people have thought having a website is costly as well as difficult to establish, however EC Web Services has developed a cost effective and simple solution which can see everyone have a presence and increase their exposure which in turn could improve their cash flow.
If you wish to know more about the services offered by EC Credit Control, please either visit our site at www.eccreditcontrol.co.nz or call us on 0800 324 768
