Good discussion Rocky. Think ideally best to separate the functions as the skill sets are very different. On the credit side an analytical individual who can be detail oriented in the process can be very successful by seeing the big picture and allowing some risk into the decision process. The successful collector must be effective at negotiating to salvage the bottom line and able to get the best result from their efforts on each account. I have noticed more extraverts handling collections while an introvert can do well in credit. Obviously when making credit decisions you must draw lines and communicate those, but the credit side is not as adversarial as both parties are wanting a shared outcome of a business transaction. A collector will by the nature of the business tend to deal with problem accounts rarely touching better customer accounts. For a collector to work credit they must suspend the reality they see on the day to day and put some faith into the trusting that most will do the right thing and pay.
On the practical side smaller businesses tend to have all things credit & collections handled by the staff they have. Safe to say those in these rolls, likely have more strength on one of the Credit/Collection side of things, many may even have a roll doing more accounting along with credit or collections.
The automation of processes always seems more impactful on the credit side as well as cash applications. While this should allow the credit analyst to handle more volume, I continue to be a strong advocate for a seasoned credit analyst to review the computer generated recommendations before advising the field.
Thank you.
Rocky Thomas
Tim Bastian