Credit Debt Services

Dynamically credit and collect receivables to reduce bad debt losses

Default reduction through dynamic loans and collections Peter Jackson, Vice President, Finance - FP&A and M&A, and Randy Dacus, Director of Customer Financial Services, Lennox International, Inc. At the same time, client relationships were improved and a deeper dialog was established with riskier clients. by Peter Jackson, Vice President, Finance - FP&A and M&A, and Randy Dacus, Director of Customer Financial Services, Lennox International, Inc.

Loan and collection was not a priority for us during this time, but we realized that in order to successfully place the franchise in a radical change in the economy, we needed to enhance receivables management capabilities while at the same time helping our clients who struggled with working asset management.

That' s why we worked with REL to create a fast turnaround schedule for the difficult economic climate, with the goal of scalably and automatically delivering best practice to Lennox's requirements for the time being. Our main shift was to create a consistent, reliable and predictable way of managing loans and debt collection.

Replacing our current decentralized paradigm with a standard methodology that can be deployed to both new and legacy client account balances. Whilst many businesses rarely check consumer credit, our credit checking processes are now vibrant, with credit ratings for each client being assessed on a per-month basis using a refined algorithms that combine credit reference information with in-house information on past selling patterns and payments performances.

It allows us to pinpoint certain clients who need a check or customization, either on the grounds that they have difficulty paying, or on the grounds of clients who have outstanding payments-performances. After configuring our policy and procedures, a critical factor in the successful implementation of the right technologies was to ensure a high level of automated and transparent governance of our business indicators.

However, the decisive factor was that we first had to design effective procedures before attempting to do so. In addition, we have worked with a lender to develop our credit score framework. We knew, as with any change in employee working practice that would require change, that it would be important to address all concerns and make it easy for the entire organization to make the move to new process and technologies.

Executives were involved in the scheme from the outset as they recognized the effects of bad debt development on working capitals and operating capex. Also, we have made it clear that the transformation and automation of our credit and collection process is not an isolation of financial activities, but a process that increases equity and visibility into the way we work within and with our clients.