For some reason, the defacto relationship among credit professionals and sales representatives at companies tends to be hostile. Over the year, a rift was caused among these two groups and it has held strong for years and among many, many companies worldwide. Although this has seemed to become “tradition”, it is actually very detrimental to the well-being of the company. Without a good working relationship between the credit and sales department, it doesn’t matter how many new deals are sold because the credit department won’t be able to successfully collect the cash needed to continue operating the business.

Creating or fixing a relationship between the credit and sales department will not be easy. You will have to create processes and stick to them to ensure everyone in the departments are getting along. Below are some great ways to get started to repair the relationship between credit professionals and sales representatives.

  • Whenever a new hire arrives or you are first working to mend the department relationships, send an email out setting your expectations. Decide which department will handle which part of the sales and credit cycles so there is no confusion. Set your expectations on how they will conduct their relationships so there is less drama.
  • Send out a regular email to the sales department about customers with credit holds or order holds. Keeping them in the know will allow them to bring up these issues in their next conversation with the customer and try to come up with a solution. This will also help to create trust with the credit team, since the sales people will be aware of why their customer is not receiving their orders.
  • If a particularly challenging account comes up, call the sales department to discuss the issues. They may be able to give a helpful point of view since they have a different relationship with the customer. They may even be able to settle the issues on their end.
  • Participate in regular sales meetings. Here, you can review together the high-risk accounts. You will be able to be transparent to the sales team on what you have done to try and mitigate those risks, which will help them to create a plan for the both of you to address the issue with the customer.
  • If you are using email and call scripts in your credit department, ask for the sales department’s help. Certain phrases may be taken negatively with the customers that you may be unaware about, such as “credit hold”.
  • If you are using email and call scripts in your credit department, ask for the sales department’s help. Certain phrases may be taken negatively with the customers that you may be unaware about, such as “credit hold”.
  • Encourage the credit department to be proactive. If the sales representative forgot the add important information about the client, they shouldn’t ignore it and say it is “not their job”.
    Encourage them to call the customer and fill in the correct information, as this will only strengthen their relationship with the customer.
  • Finally, visit with the salespeople. IF your company is hosting an outing or holiday party, get to know them and create a personal relationship. Ask them for their opinion on the credit department and areas they can see improved.

There is no reason that the credit and sales department shouldn’t be getting along. When the two work together, the business benefits immensely. As the sales continue to go up, the credit department will be able to keep up and continue to collect on these accounts. Additionally, when these customer relationships are improved they will be more likely to buy more.