KBC TOOLS PRESENTS TOOL TALK – EPISODE 1

ATTENTION TOOL FANS! KBC Tools & Machinery is proud to present a new talk show geared toward those of you who simply love to talk tools. Click the link below to listen to Episode 1 of TOOL TALK – funny, informative, and focused on tooling: what more could you ask for?!? 

http://www.4shared.com/audio/enCOB9cn/KBC_Tools_Presents_Tool_Talk_-.html

PUMP UP THE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE – June 2011

PUMP UP THE CASH FLOW

For June 2011

Greetings from Oldcastle !!!!  Here we are again!!!  It is Spring. Spring showers bring June flowers. The sun is shining.  It is time to be positive.

Leaves are sprouting up out of the ground.  Daffodils and Tulips are popping up. Wow!! How I love Spring/Summer. It is also a great time to dig into your Aged Accounts Receivable Report. Stay positive .Get that Cash Flow pumped up.  Call your customers. BELOW are some ideas and suggestions to bring in the accounts receivable $$$$$.

The Smoke Screen

You certainly will have a few customers that are not going to be able to pay their accounts and will go to great lengths to invent problems in order to defer their account. Know these customers and keep a close eye on them.

Problem areas

It is important to communicate clearly with any customer who has a problem situation such as price, carriers, purchase order discrepancies or even the fact that they have not received an invoice for a packing slip.  If the client has called and has a problem, take care of it immediately.  This will quicken the collection of their account.

Be enthusiastic

Nothing turns a grumpy, cranky customer into a friend faster than enthusiasm in your voice.  Be enthusiastic and your customer will reply in the same way.  You may even get your money faster!

Show appreciation

It is often difficult to show appreciation to someone who is trying to avoid paying their bill.  When you are dealing with this type of customer nothing will turn them around faster than sincere praise and appreciation.  Try it, it works. Say something like this, “Mr Jones, we value you as a customer, what can we do to resolve this situation”.  This puts the next step in their hands.

Customer Credit

Be familiar with your customer’s credit.  Only extend credit to clients you feel will pay you.  Make sure you do not have to write off you hard earned sales through bad debt.  Pay close attention to credit terms you offer your customers.

Tips on Phone collections

Be sure to identify yourself and KBC tools.  Call the person in charge of accounting.  Ask for payment in full by a specific date.  If the invoice is disputed suggest a resolution to the problems.  If a solution is met, put it in writing. Make notes in the computer.

Train your customers

Train your customers to be good payers. Creating an accounts receivable collection process and following it consistently will allow you to accomplish your goal of keeping your accounts under 60 days or even 30 days.

FINAL COMMENTS

Review your internal processes.   Collecting accounts receivable is an internal process as well.  Before making collection calls, be sure your internal books are in order.  It is very important that you accounts are timely and done correctly.  It is extremely embarrassing and inefficient to have your our accounts receivable representative make a collection call only to find that the customer has already paid the bill and the payment has been misapplied. (I hate to say this, but this happens when you don’t look into the computer first.)  Payments must be applied quickly and accurately.  If a payment cannot be matched to an invoice, you must call the client immediately and resolve the issue.

We don’t want to become our customer’s banker.   This is exactly what we become when we extend credit on sales.  Collecting these accounts receivable is critical to healthy cash flow and yet many suppliers simply send out the invoices and wait….and wait… and wait….  Don’t let our clients do this…. Stay on top of these accounts…. Call….. And send out statements…..so they can keep on buying and manufacturing.

Marg
Oldcastle Accounts Receivable

PUMP UP THE SALES – June 2011

To: All KBC Team Members

From: Paula

June 2011

Pump Up The Sales

This Pump Up The Sales edition is different than the others that we usually send.  Usually we send suggestions of what we’d like you to do or think you should do, and then we leave it up to you to decide what to do.  This time we are not suggesting, we’re telling you what you need to do….and DO IT NOW!  Your branch manager will make sure that everyone is clear who is doing what.

Welcoming New Clients and Keep Them Coming Back

We are through with the one and done client.  No more will we have a series of first dates!  We’re into building the relationship from the moment the client rings our phone or enters our building.  As AAA used to say, “Bring ’em back alive!”

 At the counter and on the phone:

-Make sure the client has a catalog and flyer and your business card (if you have one, if not give them a KBC card)

-For corporate clients, give them a credit application and encourage them to fill it out for a Net 30 account.  We have found that clients with open accounts buy more.

-Find out what the client/company does.  Show interest.  Ask questions.  This part is not only fun, but completely fascinating.  Our clients do some incredible things and truly keepNorth Americaworking with their efforts. Put a few short notes in the computer in the client’s file.  (For those of you with access, notes can be updated from ENTRY, and then ADD/CHANGE NOTES.  For those without access, please give them to your manager for updating or to be shown how to do it.)

-How many machinists do they have?  What machines do they have?  Where else do they buy?

-WELCOME THE CLIENT TO KBC!

Dorin inMississauga shakes new clients hands when he thanks them for their business and tells them his name again while offering his help in the future.

-Smile and make sure to say thank you and, “We’ll see you next week!” Put it in their heads that they will be coming back to KBC.

Faxed in orders and web orders from new clients:

-Pick up the phone and call to welcome them and thank them for their business, then do the same things as above.

-If you can’t reach them by phone, it’s ok to leave a message.  Don’t leave them this message: “Hello, this is Paula calling from KBC Tools.  I just wanted to call and thank you for your order.  If you need anything else, please feel free to call me at 1-888-KBC-TOOL.”

Instead, add some warmth and enthusiasm to your voice, and leave this message,” Hello ________ (name of client), so glad that you’ve discovered KBC Tools and thank for your recent order.  We’d like to know more about what you do so that we can make sure to let you know about new products and special offers on the tools you use. So, call me back at 1-888-KBC-TOOL so we can get to know about you and your company………or to buy even more tools.  This is ____________.  Thank you for choosing KBC Tools.”

If you can’t leave a message, then send a thank you e-mail or fax. 

Within a week, call to let the client know that you will be sending out a 10% discount offer as a thank you for their business and a big welcome to KBC.  Then send them a 10% discount coupon addressed to their name.

Remember:  it is up to you whether you bring ’em back alive.  Don’t kill our new clients with your I don’t care attitude or lack of service or enthusiasm.  You make the difference.  You keep them coming back.

We have a goal to double our sales by 2013.  Your treatment, encouragement, and welcome of our new clients can go a long way to making that happen. 

Bring ’em back alive!

Follow up on your quotes!

-for small faxed in requests for price and delivery, fax them a fax follow up sheet if they haven’t ordered within 4 business days, (I’ve included one.) 

-for larger quotes call the same day to ensure that they received the quote, then follow up within 4 business days.  take notes on the back of the quote and determine when to follow up next if you have not received the order.

-remember when following up on quotes, it is also an excellent time to find out more about your client and to ask for more business…..not just the quote.

Steal time from the insignificant…..and use it to make a difference.

 -Do you Windex your desk every day?  Do you really need to do it any more than 2 or 4 times a month? 

-Do you keep shuffling through your pile of papers, vs. just tackling the first thing you touch?

-Do you stop working just a few minutes before the end of the day while thinking I’ll take care of that tomorrow?  Are you at the time clock with your bag and jacket at exactly time to punch out?

-Are all the cutsie things on your desk getting in your way?

-Do you spend more time worrying about speaking to clients vs. actually speaking to clients and asking for orders?

-Do you spend time moaning and groaning about our clients instead of making them happy and wanting to come back?

-Do you start working right away or are you doing the coffee and social rounds every morning for the first 10 or 15 minutes?

STOP. THINK. CHANGE.

You make a difference.  Your attitude makes a difference.  Your effort makes a difference. 

Thank you for making a difference,

Paula