Shaping Attitudesand Stance

 Shaping attitude and stance…

There is a tendency to dwell on events that may or may not have shaped the way in which I approached Credit Management or more specifically, what I like to call the enlarged role of Credit. What I refer to I guess are pivotal moments that some of us encounter that set the furrow and lead to enormous satisfaction and joy; I speak of real value add and client relationships.

One such moment for me came in 1992. I had just joined a vibrant Distribution business and was tasked with managing Credit and Risk while on the outer rims of a heavy recessionary period that started in 1990/1991.

I was asked to consider a 50K line to a small system builder business based in Berkshire who had operated under a strained 10K credit line and was obliged to continuously pay in order to receive further supply.

The business was a partnership operating from what appeared to be premises above a motor cycle dealership. It had indeed incorporated the initials of the store below but had no direct association with it.

I vividly recall climbing an external staircase to the first floor to find three or four people inside a fairly confined space, one being the principal owner while the others managed product build. It was so cramped I had to sit up close with nothing to lean on, occasionally shifting position to allow the system builder room to work in or collect product from the warehouse (a far corner of the room).

Not the best environment to conduct a client interview and more difficult given the owners reluctance to share any financial trading figures with me. I had of course already done some research on him and his business but was greatly taken by his attitude, candour and determined approach to business. At one point, having said he checked on the quality and rating of all suppliers, he pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk and brought out detailed business reports on our company and many of our competitors. He also accurately in my view, summed up our position and standing but urged me at the same time to judge him correctly.

I spent some two hours talking to him on a number of issues, his plans, aspirations, family, what got him involved in the first place and what was it that excited him about his business and how he saw us as players in his evolvement and growth. I admit, he impressed me greatly and that “gut feel” Credit people get came into play and I elected to support the request for an increased line to 50K. I also took the view that as partnership with his wife, personal liability showed his commitment and that we in turn had to offer something in return.

That first meeting was the beginning of a great trading and business relationship and indeed friendship that lasted almost nine years. 

Within a year, his credit line had increased to 100K and he relented enough to supply me with regular management information and trading data. His payment behaviour remained excellent and there were plans of a move to bigger premises close by; something incidentally he chose to share with me unprompted, asking if this move would cause me any issues or concern.

He added excitedly, “Eddie, at the same time, I’m going to become a Plc, will this make a difference to my credit line or the way you look at us”? I could sense his pride and puffed out chest while he said this and secretly shared his obvious excitement. I replied that given the required issued share capital and his commitment to sharing of information, it was very much business as usual.

Conveniently, his new premises were close to where my car was serviced twice a year and I made a point of popping in to see him on each occasion.

As his business grew, it became apparent he did have some weakness and one was an inability to “let go” or allow others to manage his growing business activity. He also spent too much time looking at what one or two major competitors were doing and this invariably meant his focus was not always fully aligned. I recall telling him this on several occasions. He, of course, nodded his head ruefully saying, “You’re right and I will deal with this, I promise”.

In those early years, he was eager to seek my views on his business and his management style and was generally receptive to advice given, either critical or constructive. One instance I recall was when I told him one of his major competitors in the North of England had opened a trade desk and this had proved successful, had he considered this I enquired? His reply was along the lines of “No, I really don’t fancy having all sorts of people walking in off the street asking me to look at other people’s equipment or problems”. Some six months later on my next visit, I noticed his reception area had been revamped with a 15 foot trade desk, three employees and some marketing literature. It was obvious also that it was busy. As I climbed the stairs behind him I commented on his apparent change of heart. “It’s great” he said, “I’m helping them out and they are buying my product and support instead”

On another occasion, I had a bit of a dig that given his revenue had grown to above 12m, he should think of appointing a quality accountant to help him manage that side of the business. He had continued to rely on general accounts people, external accountants and his own control. He rang me quite excited shortly after saying he had finally recruited a finance director with experience. He was confused however by my lack of enthusiasm once he detailed who he had selected. I explained my concern was his background of one familiar with forecasts and budgets of businesses with turnover of over 220m. “You’re a small OEM” I said, “A radically smaller business and one that has to keep things tightly controlled. You may struggle to keep his interest or control his aspirations” 

He lasted less than three months. “You were right” he said, “He was not on the same planet as us, was not suitable and I’m looking for another”.

The credit line we applied bounced up and down between £200,000 to 700,000 and trade remained brisk and profitable. Indeed in the period 1992-1996, gross margin was in the region of 11%, a quite reasonable percentage for supply of component product.

In June 1997, I was working late in the office when I received a call. It was the owner and he was concerned. He was due to visit his bank manager with his most recent year end results that would show a small and first ever operating loss of around 50k on sales of around 15.5m and while we had discussed this well before and considered actions required, he wanted me to run through his proposed Directors statement to accompany the financial results.

I asked him to fax this across immediately and he did. It stretched to almost three and a half pages and was incredibly detailed in outlining specific events that contributed to the loss. I picked up the phone and called him back. “Are you sure you want to say all this? I said, “There is really no need to be so detailed and precise and you may give completely the wrong impression”.

We re-worked the statement to just one page and he appeared happy with it (I certainly felt better). His meeting with his bank manager went well and there were no repercussions.

The business turned in a profit the following year on slightly lower sales and similar profit in 1999 on increased sales of almost 19m. The failure of one major competitor had contributed to this surge but at a cost. Gross margin declined and direct costs had risen higher than they should. Stiffer competition and the need to compromise on price began to impact and I was obliged to control exposure tighter toward the end of 1998 and throughout 1999 and visits became more frequent in the latter part of that year.

In fairness he responded extremely well and worked very closely with us in efforts to correct growing cash flow pressures. We in the meanwhile continued to offer support where we could although we had noticed our own margin return on trade with them had declined to around 8% since 1996.

Their tangible net worth had never been high, a common feature for this type of business in the IT sector but had steadily declined from 120k in 1996 to around 39k in 1999. More ominously however, cash had become much tighter toward Q4 1999 and continued into Q1 2000.

We had with client’s agreement reduced overall exposures to a level of around 120k by March 2000 and the pressure at this point had become intense. He had been obliged to lay off people at the beginning of the year to cut cost but this had little impact. The effect of a recessionary period between 1998 and 2000 later labelled “dot.com bubble” had perhaps proved too big an obstacle and the nature of his off the page business model was now being fast overtaken by others. He and I both knew the writing was on the wall.

Our final meeting in June 2000 was a sad one. Our debt had reduced to 80K and I met him and his financial advisor late in the evening after he had been obliged to lay off all staff. He looked visibly thinner than the last time we met and also appeared physically drained.

His opening retort was “Eddie, I’m really sorry we lost you money but thanks for all the support you’ve given us over the years”. I immediately replied “No need to apologize, we’ve done great business for many years and you worked with us to reduce exposure over the last year. Our relationship has been extremely fruitful and profitable”.

I went on to add that he should not take personal blame for business failure and the only failing perhaps was a reluctance to see his business model and activity was being outpaced by change. This change had however been singularly rapid and the lack of quality management around him had not helped either. 

He ended the meeting by asking me if I would support him with a credit line should he set up again immediately. My unequivocal response was “Most certainly, but only if you are not the same business you were”.

He smiled and I knew he would not set up again. This had been a pivotal time for him and he felt incredibly sad to lay off people that to him were almost a family.

Some two years later and totally out of the blue, I received an email – it was him, asking me if I would be so kind as to provide a personal reference as he had been short-listed for a role of Managing Director. I assured him I would. 

For some 11 years in total, our sector was enriched by his inclusion. Another very positive factor for me was the 290K of gross profit generated in the 6 months preceding failure while we nudged the credit line downward together. Given trade well in excess of 13m over the years with excellent payment and DSO in the low thirties, (for those purists) along with great overall gross profit return, the final loss of 80K was less significant. Our nine year relationship was most definitely not a loss but a massive win.

This summary of events could be more inclusive but highlights what to me encapsulate the changing nature and face of Credit or how perhaps it should be applied. I held the relationship with this client from day one and was fortunate to work with a salesman who equally was exceptional and understanding. Not enough of us get close enough to customers and sales to manage risk or indeed support and grow business and such relationships can be absolutely crucial. They offer a wonderful opportunity to impact on client’s direction and progress and create a foundation that amply supports future correction or disaster recovery.

Wherever possible, I have emulated this approach and found it incredibly rewarding. It’s great to have a client in difficulty talk to you first before banks and also seek your advice on a range of channel and business issues. I have led informal moratoria ensuring business survival and onward sale, business re-financing and have even been directly involved in putting buyers and sellers together. None of these roles are seen on Job specifications or CV’s for people in Credit management but perhaps it’s time they were. Few organisations recognise that Credit touches all parts of business and its real function extends beyond mere debt collection and risk management.

Mergers & Acquistions

 Many years ago, I gave a presentation to fellow Channel Credit Managers, the topic being ‘knowing your customer and risk’.

I chose to select a company I had got to know extremely well and who had recently approached me to assist them in working a recovery plan as cash generation and flow was strangling the business, unable to meet its payment commitments to all major suppliers. Coincidentally, on the day I first met with Directors, the CFO of another major Distributor crossed my path in the client car park and together, we subsequently decided to assist the Reseller, bringing in one more chosen supplier we could trust. I won’t mention the Reseller by name save to say they were based in Fleet, Hampshire, were acquired twice since then and are now part of Dimension Data.

I could not explain at the presentation that we were engaged in working a recovery plan but the gist of the session was to show how getting ‘beneath the skin’ of clients, fully understanding how they operate and being able to question or challenge direction can make a huge difference to the supplier/client relationship. At the close of the presentation, despite having presented publicly filed or presented financial information that suggested some issues, I suggested that if I had the resource, I would buy them, and I explained why.

As indicated, the recovery plan worked well, lasting for almost 12 months and we avoided not only significant debt but managed to entrench and increase ongoing business relationships and trade.

The Channel remains fertile ground for anyone intent on acquiring or building through what is horribly described as ‘bolt and build’.

The targets within the Channel fall into fairly defined categories:-

• Established lifestyle businesses owned by the same directors since inception and ‘not really going anywhere’, because they don’t have to.
• Businesses that are struggling either through lack of management experience or access to capital but whose underlying business is sound
• Growing businesses, especially MSP’s with vibrant management but which may be unable to capitalise the business or fund it correctly in order to match pace of growth
• Businesses on the verge of collapse through lack of funding or declining sales but which have some value given clients and activity engaged in

Some do it successfully but others make an absolute mess of it, despite on occasion, apparent early success. Bolt and build is ultimately about buying a number of companies, fusing them together to achieve an intended revenue goal and then hopefully selling either the whole or composite parts or maybe even going for an IPO. It can be done but not at the pace some attempt and certainly not with the wrong businesses, wrong prices paid, use of borrowed money and increasing unsustainable debt.

There are opportunities to acquire, strip out cost and improve return of established businesses but to acquire three of four of these too quickly without proper integration just to achieve critical mass is a much trickier path to take and requires special skill.  

A classic example of things going wrong was evident in the final failure of 2e2, and in their case, their buy and build was slower than many we still currently see.

Those that have in the past achieved critical mass through buy and build strategies have generally messed up the balance sheet and created significant debt.  Buying a chunk of suppressed market share to grow is fraught with difficulty; far better to look at new and emerging technology and businesses creating fresh activity or those quietly highly profitable businesses that remain out of the headlines.

Lost art of Selling

 

Have Sales people lost the ‘art’, ‘skill’ and desire to sell?

Anyone involved in working with Sales departments back in the late sixties and seventies, would be familiar with droves of external sales people driving the length and breadth of the UK in Marina’s, Cortina’s or Mondeo’s, oft loaded with leaflets and pamphlets to aid them close a sale when meeting clients.

These were days when sales leads were self created, before the dawn of faxes, emails, electronic communication and of course social networks; heady days of cool 8mm early John Cleese sales training films, some of which I recall when working with the Rank organisation. Training may have been basic but the fundamental message of knowing your customer, knowing how to win and close a sale and the drive and energy needed to achieve this was focussed and precise. In those days too, Sales Managers had significant responsibility in training internal Sales people on how to make calls, close or win the sale and how to hit sales targets.

As we approached the mid-eighties and the arrival of faxes, the first desktop computers and new marketing mediums of video cassettes/CD’s, we began to see a slow and gradual decline in the number of external sales people or account managers, as they had begun to be called. 

Decline gathered pace in the 90’s and with the web, email, and new forms of marketing and global market reach, one could argue we witnessed the death of the salesman and the rise of the reactive marketer or sales processor, ergo, “you know what we sell, you can see what we charge so give us a call or come on in”.

We saw more incoming than outgoing sales calls, greater emphasis on working with spreadsheets, especially sales managers, who found little time to train their teams or better still, understand the underlying reasons for either missing or hitting performance targets. A radical and misplaced corporate mindset that distanced low volume clients into placing orders on line with no account manager, a move designed to reduce the cost of selling and not the cost of sale (with flawed assessment). Constant switching of account managers with little or no continuity or sales flow-through and all too easy (and yet damaging) focus on volume targets that invariably end up going through ‘now buying’ volume clients already at wafer-thin margin.

If a sales person has some 20 accounts to manage but only 10 are regular buyers and 5 of these account for 70% of sales target, it’s obvious where it’s ‘easiest’ to hit that higher volume, for the lazy salesman and for convenience,  it’s with those 5 major clients.

I recall.....

A new salesman inherited some 20 accounts and with three of these capable of delivering some 60% of his sales quota. Around 15 had credit lines, varying in value and 5 of these had placed no orders in the last 4 months. His focus therefore appeared to be just of those 10 that had credit and were more regular buyers. According to him, he did not have the time to work the full 20 accounts allotted to him, and worse, knew little or next to nothing of the 10 accounts that were infrequent buyers or had no credit, even though some of those with no credit had historical cumulative sales values attached. As so often happens, he asked for increased credit lines for those 3 stalwart major clients (not always available) and resisted any attempt to work his database more fully.

To his credit, he agreed to spend an hour with me so that I could show him precisely what I was driving at. I had at my disposal his preceding three month sales values with gross margin and spent a little time researching the 17 accounts that were not considered major clients with greater emphasis on those that had not purchased for four months and the 5 accounts that had no credit.

I pointed out that across all his 15 clients with credit applied, his ten regular recent total receivable values at month end amounted to less than 60% of total credit available and ergo he had 40% capacity unused. I further advised some merited a higher credit line, potentially pushing his credit utilisation to less than 50%. I also turned to the 5 accounts with no credit but with previous history of trade. I showed 3 of these were sound companies that merited good credit. I turned to the web page of one and pointed out the nature of their business, product supplied and how many of these we were in a position to supply – ‘most of them’ he replied, sheepishly and with a grin on his face...

By now he began to grasp where I was heading...

His gross margin for the 3 major volume clients was just 3% while the other 7 accounts provided a more generous 9%. 

Given the additional credit I could offer across those 7, the other five irregular buyers and three of those with no current credit line I suggested he and his sales manager conduct simple’ what if’ scenarios in terms of the increased credit availability on less frequent buyers (at higher margin) and greater use of credit availability across his client base would mean in terms of incremental sales and margin.

A fascination remains how Credit too often fails to see the real significance of information and statistical data it has at its fingertips. 

Credit is a selling process, delivering not only incremental sales but vitally, more profitable sales too. 

Credit Insurance - still relevant

 

Credit Insurance –still a value add security option

We insure most things in life that are precious to us, our life, our home, family, and of course our cars.

A business insures its buildings, its employees and other valuable aspects of its business so given this therefore, where does the argument start and finish when it comes to credit insurance?

One reads challenging articles on consolidation and lessening of choice, rising cost and reduced return and one is almost guaranteed a dozen different viewpoints from a dozen different Credit Managers on whether or not to insure receivables. This is borne out by any excursion into discussion forums within credit or other social and business networks

Nobody likes paying for insurance but the pain of losing something of great value with no return is generally too terrible to contemplate; as a consequence, we bite our lip, shop around for what appears to be the best deal and hope when the time comes to claim, we made the right choice

A concern is that in a climate of increasing and much publicised fraudulent claims, rising premiums have put so many people off simple things like insuring their cars, making driving that much more dangerous for everyone. It’s a worrying trend to see Insurers these days even being labelled and classified alongside those more traditional pariahs, Estate Agents.

For a business, the biggest asset by far is the value of its accounts receivable ledger, in other words the amount owing to it by its clients on open credit terms. Depending on the nature of the business, this can be as high as 75% of total assets and generally not lower than 40%. It can be argued that if you are a business selling exclusively into FTSE 500 companies, the risk associated in trading on open credit is negligible; similarly, if you are selling largely or exclusively into the public sector, then again the risk is low.

One is also less likely to find credit insurance a widespread option within manufacturing (particularly Software) or service organisations where gross margins are so high as to make a loss immaterial. Where you do find it, it may be restricted to major clients or trading territories deemed high risk.

For wholesalers and distributors however and those selling to large client bases with varying degrees of risk, whether nationally or internationally, credit insurance is not an option so easily discarded. Yes, increased premium costs are tough when margins are decreasing and availability of cover is strained but timing a decision not to insure wrongly can lead to disastrous loss and business failure.

Some years ago, one could turn to at least a dozen players in the credit insurance market; some large and some more specialised aimed at the SME sector. Premiums and options were flexible and cover was never really an issue. Consolidation, take over and drop out (NCM by Girling, Hermes and Euler, and Royal Sun Alliance) to name but a few, has meant less choice and a limited number of very big players. Add a post millennium issue, 9/11, Enron, Worldcom and a host of major failures and political unease around some parts of the world and one can understand the pulling of hair and screaming from cliff-tops by Credit Managers in recent times.

Getting the right credit limit has been a problem when many businesses in some key industry sectors performed badly with resultant erosion on balance sheet strength and market presence. Insurers found themselves paying out far too high a proportion of premium income and indeed the latter began to drop as those that chose to avoid rise in premiums decided not to renew policies. This not unnaturally created an unusual predicament for Insurers who on the one hand had a responsibility to shareholders to steady the ship and to their clients who had begun to desert them in droves. Some of these moved to “self insurance”, a means of paying oneself the premium into a high interest account hoping to build up a reserve while losses were low and other more resourceful people moved to consider captive insurance. Neither in truth may realistically be deemed a long-term alternative. Indeed in the case of the former, it would be hard to keep anyone’s hands off a reserve that could so easily reverse decreased bottom line.

Those businesses that outsourced their credit risk management function totally to Insurers could not let go, as doing so would add cost in providing it themselves. Others found Factors and Invoice Discounters accommodating in provision of complete packages including risk management and insurance. It must be understood however that to most businesses, Credit Insurance is not the driver, in other words it does not determine the extent of credit granted nor does it dictate the company’s credit policy or the constitution of the Credit department.

We insure our cars but we still lock the doors and turn on the alarm; we still look both ways before crossing the road and we certainly don’t leave the front door open when we leave the house. It is inconsistent therefore to hear some Credit Managers say they would not consider credit insurance, as it would question their very being. Insurance is a safety net feature, sensibly and cleverly managed, it is designed to minimise the risk to business of major catastrophic loss, be it either the insolvency of a buyer or protracted default (simple non-payment). Credit people control and understand risk and it is they that must negotiate the best possible coverage for their company’s receivables. Negotiating the deal is one thing but managing the policy is quite another and how successful a company is in doing the latter is what really counts.

The market has recovered somewhat in recent times. Cover is coming back and while this may still be a case of insurers willing to support big clients with a good track record (retaining premium income), there are visible signs this may not be the only reason. Some newer smaller and niche payers have entered the market making the field more competitive once more and brokers themselves have begun to earn their crust by getting to know their clients more intimately, delivering a much improved service and doorway to insurers and underwriters.

Insurers have also listened to demands for fairer treatment in terms of removal or reduction in cover on major clients and are more willing to give “notice” periods or “intent”, giving the Insured time to question and understand reasoning. This level of service may be accused of being more evident in large value relationships but this is a start and movement in the right direction and should hopefully filter down to those with smaller premium values and standing.

Insurers have also increased their coverage across regions and countries and headcount is less of a problem in terms of getting out and meeting both Insured clients and much more importantly, those clients on which cover is requested or granted. Underwriters still retain a criticism that is unlikely to disappear and that is evaluation of clients and risk purely on financial grounds with little material understanding of commercial risk and the real needs of the insured. There is a glimmer of hope in seeing some limits now being underwritten when they weren’t before but one suspects perhaps, this may be a case of satisfying major clients, retaining premium income from those that do at least show a measure of control and have good claims records.

Some underwriters are more willing to sit with Industry Credit Managers and discuss major issues and clients and this has to be applauded. It is only through working together in these instances that the required degree of service levels can be reciprocally provided. If this is not evident in some quarters, it should be demanded. Insurers should also be formally invited to attend and present at Industry Credit forums (circles). This gives them an opportunity to put their case and insured (or indeed those sceptical and scornful of insurance), a chance to air their concerns openly and share experiences with others.

Despite the perennial problem of constantly changing account managers, there are definite signs that Insurers are applying themselves more toward customer service and frequency of contact and communication has scaled noticeably upward.

Those that use Brokers as a link must demand more from them in truth than they do from Insurers. They are supposed to fight your corner, get the best possible deal and coverage, deal with issues arising and ensure your processes are lucid enough to manage the policy effectively – a watchdog in effect even though some fail in this task

Loss of clients to both Brokers and Insurers is dreadful news at any time but given what we have seen in the last few years, it has become far more critical. Demand more therefore, because now is the time they are providing more. Remember however that this is a two-way thing. One has to earn the right to be insured and one has to demonstrate a credit policy that provides the required degree of control.

Communication, contact, rational argument, gentle persuasion and demonstrated control are the key ingredients for a successfully managed credit policy.

Credit insurance is still extremely good value for money and provides greater leverage in seeking additional inward investment. Banks and Invoice discounters still like to see it and for many, in truth, it still makes sense.

Client Visits - Risk

 In determining risk and business opportunity there are occasions when visiting clients may be crucial to the initial decision and ongoing relationship. They can indeed create and shape the nature of the relationship and incubate an environment which stimulates business growth. They also allow you as the supplier some influence in the direction your client takes to ensure continued business on open terms and reciprocal growth opportunities.

Visiting clients is crucial to understanding the people and corporate structure behind the numbers and risk ratings provided by business information agencies or indeed credit insurers. 

The initial visit will generally be more comprehensive while subsequent visits and on-going dialogue will follow a simpler pattern of updating data previously held. 

Businesses should be fully researched before a visit but it is vital that this research does not hinder or unduly influence a decision. If research suggests there may be a problem in supporting the business, set this aside until after the visit. Similarly, if research data suggest the business is good, do not cut corners and determine it an opportunity; data gleaned should simply be noted and only considered in the decision process once a visit has taken place. By all means however, prepare questions arising from research undertaken.

Financial analysis remains a key factor in determining risk but do not do not allow this to cloud or obstruct a wider view of the business and it’s potential for profit and sales opportunity.

I found it useful in my working life to create a template of sorts in preparation of client visit reports which allowed me to question or probe much of the data already researched and obtained.

Standard data 

• Date of the meeting
• Reason for the meeting
• Attendees and location

Background data 

• Directors and their background
• Formation of the company
• Nature of business
• Business Report
• Associated companies and group structure
• Significant changes since formation
• Specialisation (product and/or services)
• Sales structure and marketing
• Number of employees
• Payment history and credit line movement
• Annual YTD and cumulative sales to the client
• Gross margin yield and terms applied

Property and location – to include the following

• Description and approximate size
• Location 
• General appearance
• Owned or leased and length of lease if applicable if mortgaged, valuation and mortgage value
• Company vehicles, leased or owned
• Other locations or sites owned or operated through

Assets – Current

• Credit management structure
• Nature and type of clients
• Terms offered
• Significant clients that may account for more than 10% of Sales or receivables debt
• Associated trade or debt
• Bad debt history
• Explanation of other debtors 
• Receivables ageing (not necessarily a full listing)
• Inventory control and operating software system employed
• Depreciation policy

Liabilities – Current and Long term

• Principal suppliers and terms offered
• Explanation of other liabilities
• Associated liabilities or directors loans

Financing 

• Initial financing and equity position
• Bank overdrafts and security granted
• Receivables financing – nature, type, cost and maximum availability
• Asset financing
• Directors’ loans
• Credit Insurance
• Mortgages and legal charges
• Associated or Group company guarantees
• Finance leasing
• Future plans

General Information

• Audited accounts and latest management data
• Financial analysis of the above
• Business plans
• Projections and forecasts
• Growth financing
• Comparators
• Industry sector knowledge
• Management quality
• Drive and direction
• Confidentiality

Observation and Conclusion

In completing the visit, set aside the required time to draft a report and review much of the data gleaned from the meeting and research conducted. You will find conflict in many areas but ensure you sift through this and do not allow it influence unless you feel it is particularly critical.

Comment on all aspects of data and areas that may require follow up. Absorb all other known channel data and be bold and forthright in making your judgement. Avoid saying yes or no if you are unsure and seek a further opinion on your report.

You will not be able to obtain all the information suggested in this format but ensure you walk away with as much information as you can to make a considered opinion.

Follow up …..Do not just rely on one meeting to dictate a credit line or term review