Hi Thea,
We have supplied trade references to competitors on credit applicants at the trade creditor’s request over the years with no issues. The response may not always be as quick a turnaround as they would like, but we get them done. Recently one of those requesters (our competitor), shared the information we gave with the customer. To say the customer didn’t like the information we gave is an understatement and let everyone at our company know it. Now I don’t want to share with other companies. Isn’t this against some credit manager code? What would you do?
— No solidarity
Dear Solidarity,
Well rude! Completely bad form! While there is no written Hippocratic oath that one signs and promises to uphold and do no harm to the credit community when you become a credit manager, everyone should be pretty clear on the, “Thou shall not shaft another credit manager” code.
I’ve had this experience as well. After marinating on it for a day or two, getting my hind end chewed out by my sales manager, and tangling with the customer, who ironically had the swagger to be offended, I pointed out to said customer in the crosshairs, as politely as I could, that I did not report anything untrue nor did I smear his company. I shared our experience. Perhaps if the pay history was, well, how can I put this delicately, better? As in “pay within the agreed upon terms,” the painfully accurate historical payment data for his company would have been more to his liking.
After getting the dust settled at my camp, I called the traitor (credit manager) in our ranks, introduced myself and told her about my recent “learning opportunity,” the joy of being blasted by multiple sources and my disbelief that this was an accurate portrayal of what happened. I shared the customer indicated the information came from her exactly what my trade reference said. “Well I couldn’t believe it, even though it was an accurate account, verbatim actually, I could not believe what he was saying was true,” said I—said in my best “butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth” voice—anger and accusing gets met with defensiveness and derails the message. Then I sat back and waited for the response. Unwillingly patiently, I don’t mind adding.
If using this method, override your (justifiably so) inclination to knee-jerk react. Wait. Let the quiet sink in. Give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe someone else shared the information without the CM’s knowledge. If that’s the case, a conversation about how we can keep that from happening again or you will not be able to give a “peek under the tent” on customers any longer is in order.
If the denials come faster than misquotes at a pool party, that is a completely different and utterly uncool. Or worse, ownership. As in, “yeah, I told them, if it’s true, what’s the big deal?” Now you know exactly who you are dealing with. That will be the last time that CM or their company get anything from me.
There is nothing you can do or say at this point. You can’t control others. You can control how you respond. With deadass silence. If you really wanna have fun, write NOPE on the request and email it back. Petty? Sure, I never said I was up for sainthood.
There are so many ways to respond to a customer who asks why you are denying a credit account or an increase. “Your credit history doesn’t meet our criteria at this time” being the top. Rolling a fellow CM is not one of them. Guess whose holding the “trust denied” sign now?
