The
holidays—or as they are commonly referred to by credit managers—“Merry
Late Payment” season, are officially over. A new year has begun and we
are now nursing the holiday hangover. For those of you unfamiliar with
the phrase, it describes the traditional plethora of excuses by
customers who have the inability to pay their creditors on time.
We
all have that customer who, for every job they sign a payment agreement
on, swear on their mom’s 401k that they will pay on time. We both know
we will not see that payment for another 90 days past its due
date; there will be a few lien threats and several uncomfortable
conversations before that payment graces our company. My personal
favorite and a staple irritation to credit managers everywhere is the
MIA customer. The one that drives the Mercedes, wears snakeskin boots
and designer clothes, and takes the family on a well-earned holiday
vacation with none other than our money! However, we will wait, right?
Damn, our money went to more fun places than we did last year.