鈥溌槎勾� Talks鈥� hosts top professionals from different sectors of the lumber and building material industry to share their expertise, with a heavy emphasis on practical, tactical strategies to help you serve your markets and grow your business.
This episode of 麻豆传媒 Talks Credit features Amy Wallace and Alex Petrin from Wallace Building Center. After outsourcing their Credit Management for several years, Alex and Amy took this department in-house two years ago.
In this episode, they share why they made the change; how they did it; and how it鈥檚 going two years later. Tune in and hear their story.
Watch this conversation and more great content from 麻豆传媒 journal via our YouTube channel
And be sure to subscribe from your favorite podcast platform below:
Please send all podcast inquiries to听thea@creditoverlord.com.
Reach out to Amy at amy@wallacebuildingcenter.com
678-386-3608
Reach out to Alex at alex@wallacebuildingcenter.com
770-598-6894
Prefer to read about it instead? Take a peek at the transcript below.
(Editor鈥檚 note: Transcript is AI-generated and may include some errors.)听
Thea Dudley听听
Well, my friends, welcome back to 麻豆传媒 talks credit. I鈥檓 Thea Dudley, also known as the credit Overlord, and here鈥檚 where we tackle the wide world of credit management and why it matters way more than people think. Now. Today I鈥檝e got an amazing couple of guests I鈥檓 so excited about I could not wait to get them on here and talking about their experience. These are people who traded their outsourced credit management for in house credit department. So Amy Wallace of Wallace building fearless lbmr, who decided to take control of their credit lending, along with Alexis Petron, who she drug along for the ride and agreed to go with it. Ladies, welcome. Thank you so much for having us. Oh gosh, I鈥檝e been so excited about this one, and before we get rolling, congrats. Amy, 40 under 40. Go girl.
听
Amy听听
Thank you. I鈥檓 so excited. It鈥檚 such an honor.
听
Thea Dudley听听
Let鈥檚 talk about your experience, because when you guys first looked at the credit department. I kind of want you to take us back a little bit. Start at the beginning. You know? Why? Why did you decide to stop outsourcing your credit department, yet that credit function? And then, I guess, tell everyone a little bit about Wallace building, so they kind of get what you are dealing with, all right?
听
Amy听听
So a little bit about Wallace building. Wallace building. It is. It started out as my husband and his dad, they actually branched off from another family company that had been going since the 1930s it鈥檚 still there. But my husband, Cody, who鈥檚 also 麻豆传媒 40, under 40, him and his dad, they wanted to branch off and do their own thing, so they started this store, and it鈥檚 been going now since 2013 I believe, and so it鈥檚 going really good. But, you know, we had always just kind of went with the somebody comes in wants credit, and you know, we will ask, you know somebody that knows them, are they good for it?
听
Thea Dudley听听
Friend of a friend?
听
Amy听听
Yeah, yeah. And we鈥檙e like, Okay, well, we鈥檒l extend you some credit then. And it just it wasn鈥檛 working because we had gotten beat by somebody that we didn鈥檛 think that we would ever get beat from, and so that kind of prompted us to do the outsourcing.
听
Thea Dudley听听
So before you, before we jump into that, that鈥檚 always the way, and I know that鈥檚 our mantra. And credit is everybody pays you till they don鈥檛. And, you know, it surprises you sometimes who鈥檚 not, who didn鈥檛 pay you, and it鈥檚 not because they鈥檙e not, you know, they could be great people, but they find themselves in positions they never expected.
听
Amy听听
Yeah, with them, yeah, this guy was somebody that, you know, we had considered a friend, and he had just way over extended himself, and we were the ones that got stuck holding it. So it just, it scared us, because it was a good, good amount of money. It was about $80,000 yeah, so it, we ended up being able to recover about half of it, but it was, it hurt, so that it scared us. So that鈥檚 when we started looking for the outsourcing. But the reason we decided to stop the outsourcing was, how long did you outsource for? We outsourced for about four years. Okay? We had signed a year contract with them initially, and then went on to sign a three year contract with them, okay, so we did it for about four years, and for a while it worked. Um,
听
Alex听听
They were bought out. Yeah, they were bought out. That鈥檚 the that was kind of the biggest it. One of the bigger issues was the first company we liked when they were bought out by a bigger company. That鈥檚 when it kind of went downhill,
听
Thea Dudley听听
Yeah, kind of kind of changed any specifics that you want to, you know, without getting into the nitty gritty, it鈥檚 like, hey, these were the changes that you know. This is what was a major factor for us?
听
Amy听听
Probably the main the biggest factor was that we all know that in the construction world, you get, you haven鈥檛 a signature on the credit account, but as far as the signature on each individual invoice, it just does not happen. It the contractor calls in and the order gets dropped, they鈥檙e not there when it鈥檚 dropped. And the company, before you know, understood that, and was okay, but the company that bought it out was not. And so we got charged back for a lot of money, um, because they wouldn鈥檛 it. It was in their fine print that they wouldn鈥檛 do that if there wasn鈥檛 a signature on the invoice itself, not just on the credit application, but on the invoice itself.
听
Thea Dudley听听
Okay, so that was, like a major change of how, yes, going to market. It鈥檚 like, look, this wasn鈥檛 our original agreement, yeah, I you know, I鈥檓 sorry you don鈥檛 understand our industry better, but that鈥檚 that鈥檚 rarely going to happen when you get a signature, when you鈥檙e dropping in a job site, yes, yeah. And
听
Alex听听
That was, I think, the only time that we had tried to get money back from a customer. Customer hadn鈥檛 paid us, and we said, hey, this customer is not paying. We need to, you know, take steps. And they鈥檙e like, Well, too bad we鈥檙e not going to.
听
Amy听听
Yeah, and charge back the full amount to us.
听
Alex听听
That鈥檚 your responsibility. Yeah.
听
Thea Dudley听听
So we okay. So now we know that you used to like it, and now you鈥檙e frustrated with it, and you鈥檙e like, I think we鈥檙e going to make some changes. So how did it come about, where you鈥檙e like, why I, you know what? I think we got this.
听
Amy听听
It was, it was a process.
听
Thea Dudley听听
What was that process like for the two of you?
听
Amy听听
It was a lot of searching to begin with. It. It was really even, are we going to do this? Are we going to be able to do this? Because, to begin with, taking control of the credit seemed like this big monster, and we were, we were scared of that. I mean, we didn鈥檛 know that we could do that.
听
Alex听听
Well, the whole point of the third party was, it was protection for us. Yeah, it was safety. It was they had lawyers. They had the the they could do it all. They could handle the bad debt, and if we鈥檙e paying all that money for that one reason, and then they say, Oh, too bad. Every time you file a claim, what鈥檚 the purpose of paying all that money? So wait
听
Amy听听
and it was expensive, by the way. There it was very great
听
Thea Dudley听听
insurance always is outsourcing comes with some risks, and, you know, there鈥檚, there鈥檚 pros and cons to both. I mean, like you said, it鈥檚 scary when it鈥檚 your name going, Yes, I am approving this account and for this amount of money. And you鈥檙e like, this dude, better look as good on paper, or, you know, in person, as he does on paper, he better be paying these bills. That is a tough one. It鈥檚, it鈥檚 your butt on the line, and those are really hard decisions. So it鈥檚 nice to have a backstop where, hey, we鈥檝e got this, this big machine behind us that鈥檚 helping execute all of this.
听
Amy听听
Oh yeah, that was something definitely that we loved. I mean, it was, you know, when a customer would come in complaining about the credit limit that they got or complaining that they couldn鈥檛 get more credit, you know, it, we could blame it on the outsourcing companies, because they were the ones that were handling it, you know, they they were the ones that decided whether or not they got credit and how much credit they got. So we could be like, Oh, I鈥檓 sorry. You know, they just, they won鈥檛 let us give you any more credit. I鈥檓 so sorry about that. You know, we could be the good guys. They could be the bad guys.
听
Thea Dudley听听
To have someone to blame. It鈥檚 like, Yeah, our bank restrictions won鈥檛 let us do me. You know, you鈥檙e, you鈥檙e good as gold here. But those guys, oh, they don鈥檛 know that. So, I mean, yeah, it is nice. So you decided, all right, I鈥檓 we鈥檙e we鈥檙e, we gotta move on from this, because it鈥檚 a lot of money and they鈥檙e not performing like they used to. We鈥檙e not this relationship. I think we鈥檝e outgrown each other. Yeah, so now, so now you started looking around, and then what happened?
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Amy听听
Um, so the first thing we thought we did was, I stalked you.
听
Thea Dudley听听
Yeah, okay.
听
Amy听听
And then we just kind of started looking into what we would need to do. A big driving factor actually was something that our customers liked, was the online payment system that the outsourcing company had, and we knew that if we, you know, went away from that, we didn鈥檛 have an option for an online payment system. So around the same time, as taking on our own credit, we also completely changed systems.
听
Alex听听
yeah, it was a big undertaking.
听
Thea Dudley听听
You guys really did go. When you decided to go, you went all out.
听
Amy听听
Yeah, yes, I kind of, she just handles on my my hair brain ideas.
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Thea Dudley听听
What鈥檚 so cool is that you guys have each other to bounce stuff off of, because, you know, you got Cody, who鈥檚 running the overall business. And you, know, you鈥檝e got to have someone to backstop with and be able to have those conversations and say, Yeah, this is what we鈥檝e done so that you can continue to move forward as a company, because you can鈥檛 have a bottleneck where you鈥檙e waiting for just one person to be able to do everything. Oh yeah.
听
Amy听听
definitely helped having someone to bounce stuff off of. I mean, we talked about it constantly figured out all of the. Uh, the options that we had. So we looked at our, you know, getting a new system, we started figuring out, you know, what, we鈥檙e going to need a credit application. Because the credit application that we had been using was for the outsourcing company. We had to figure out different types of credit. Are we just extending commercial credit, or we can extending consumer credit? You know, are we doing credit card on files? What? What all types of things are we doing?
听
Alex听听
It was, it was a lot of pieces of paper with notes scribbled and, yeah, and moved them around. And, do we want to do this? Do you want to do that? And, and
听
Amy听听
it was a long process. I mean this, I would say, from us first thinking about taking back our credit to it being full blown, us doing it was, you know, nine months to a year. I mean, it was, well,
听
Alex听听
that was a good process, but that didn鈥檛 include the creating of policies and all that. A lot of that came after that, yeah, after we had the credit. And we鈥檙e like, Okay, we got this. And then we鈥檙e like, No, we don鈥檛 come Monday. What? What do we do and try to say, Hey, pay me that money. You know, we had nothing. So I think that was another, another six, seven months at
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Amy听听
least, I would say, of once we got in there, figuring out what we still needed to figure out what questions to even ask. Yeah,
听
Alex听听
like, what are we missing? I handle the day to day, the everybody coming in, and now Amy gets to be that little cloud in the sky. Amy just won鈥檛 let you have that credit. I鈥檓 sorry.
听
Thea Dudley听听
Amy鈥檚 working from home now.
听
Amy听听
I鈥檓 just upstairs. Yeah, I have an upstairs office so, like, they don鈥檛. Most of the customers don鈥檛 even see me anymore. They just talk to me on the phone or something, and they鈥檙e like, That darn Amy, like that,
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Thea Dudley听听
that big floating head, oh, Amy. She鈥檚 Yeah, she鈥檚 the devil, yeah. She鈥檚 just really bad. She鈥檚 just Yeah,
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Amy听听
yeah. She gets to blame it all on me. Now, I鈥檓 sorry. My boss just won鈥檛 let me do it
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Alex听听
Yeah, I just can鈥檛, can鈥檛 do anything for you.
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Thea Dudley听听
Okay, so it took, let鈥檚 say, about a year. Yeah, you know. So you鈥檙e, you鈥檙e going through and you鈥檙e starting to put pieces together, you鈥檙e starting to do your research, you鈥檙e, you鈥檙e pulling in different facts, and you鈥檙e coming up to the end of your time with, you know, with mom and dad, and you鈥檙e getting ready to move out, yeah, and when you took that over, that Monday, when it we鈥檙e gonna say it鈥檚 a Monday that rolled around, what was the first thing when you took control? Where did, what was the first piece that you鈥檙e like, Okay, this is what鈥檚 happening now we鈥檙e ready to roll completely, or you were just gonna Band Aid it and figure it out as we go.
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Amy听听
It was more Band Aid it okay.
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Alex听听
It was everything was leaking at one time, and we were just, we were just trying to just fix it and one piece at a time, like, okay, let鈥檚 figure out online payments. That was, that was a really big issue Monday morning, yeah, and
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Amy听听
I think the thing is that we were trying to tackle a lot all at once. We were trying to tackle the credit side, and then we were also, you know, moving to our new system. So we did have the online so it was kind of all going on at once. And we also, I mean, we had, we had, you know, already established our credit application. We had figured out some of that, that stuff, but like she said, the policies, we didn鈥檛 figure that out until months later. I mean, we were, you know, doing our statements, and we were collecting the money, but if they weren鈥檛 paying or something there. There just wasn鈥檛 a whole lot of communication, I guess, to begin with, because we didn鈥檛 know to So figuring out our policies about, okay, you know, before that next statement comes out, we鈥檝e already communicated with them this many times, and just having some of that stuff written out of this is what we need to do
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Alex听听
when just having a collections agency, that was a big thing, yeah, setting that up and when do we want to send them to collections? When do we threaten to send them to collections? There鈥檚 always that threat email you鈥檙e bound to be sent to collections. Let鈥檚 try to figure this out.
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Thea Dudley听听
This is going to go badly, yeah, but you brought up a really good point. But I and I do want to point out that most there, there are a lot of companies that, even though they they鈥檝e had their own credit department for a while, they don鈥檛 have their policies written out. I think about half of the companies that I end up talking to, they鈥檙e like, Yeah, we don鈥檛 have a policy manual. We kind of just, you know, we we do stuff. I鈥檓 like, No, you absolutely have policies. You just haven鈥檛 formalized them. They鈥檙e just not written down. So you had somebody that you had, here鈥檚 our rules of the road. Now you have to decide, do I want to keep those rules? Do I want to just implement the same thing, or do I want to adjust them to see what鈥檚 going on with. Our economy and our customers and how we want to go to market a little bit more, yeah,
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Amy听听
and I think that鈥檚 kind of what happened for us. We rolled out doing the credit ourselves. And, I mean, it wasn鈥檛 going badly. It was going okay, but we just started noticing that there was things that were, you know, falling off, that we just needed to take care of. And so I think that鈥檚 where it came in, that we really just sat down together and we鈥檙e like, okay, we need to figure out our policies on this. Because we need, we need a plan. We need a game plan that we can follow. And
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Alex听听
it needs to be like, it needs to be exact, like, okay, statements are due, you know, on the 26th there the bills do the 10th. I make emails on the 14th. I start calling on the 17th. You know, we have, like, set this is what we鈥檙e going to do. And keeping that line of communication is super important and very, very difficult now. Now they get used to it. They鈥檙e like, Oh, it鈥檚, it鈥檚 the 17th, yeah, I鈥檓 gonna, I鈥檒l be up there tomorrow. You know,
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Thea Dudley听听
if they don鈥檛 have any any money here. I鈥檓 still kind of but it is very cool that you guys figured it out in a relatively short period of time where your AR didn鈥檛 get out of control. So I do want to ask you, what was the biggest challenge looking back on what you did, because you鈥檝e been doing it now for how long?
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Alex听听
Two years March of 23 Yes, when that was that last statement? So two years?
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Thea Dudley听听
Just over two years? Yeah, looking back over those two years, what do you think the biggest challenge was in that, that process, your big, biggest challenge, biggest surprise, I mean, what things came out of that that you鈥檙e like, didn鈥檛 see that comment, or who that was better than I expected, or, Oh, okay, well, something
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Amy听听
that I didn鈥檛 expect is some of the excuses that people will give that鈥檚 always interesting to hear their excuse.
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Thea Dudley听听
its actually my favorite part of the job. Oh my gosh, how creative can you? No, we don鈥檛 take Bitcoin. What are they thinking?
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Amy听听
Yeah, they come up with some crazy stuff. So that鈥檚 been some that鈥檚 been interesting. Because before you know what the outsourcing we really weren鈥檛 hearing that the outsource company was the one that was hearing all of the excuses. So that was that was fun.
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Alex听听
What surprised me is they know, they charge the money. You know they know, yeah, I charged 50,000 this month. But do I really have to pay that? Like, is that? Is that a thing I have to do right now? And it surprised me. It surprises me how often customers are just like, is that really important right now? You know, I鈥檝e got, I鈥檝e got houses to build. I鈥檝e got things to do. Do I need to worry about this? And I鈥檓 like, Yeah, you kind of do I need you to worry about if you want to build the next house with us. Next house with us.
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Thea Dudley听听
That is really funny, where it鈥檚, well, you know, I鈥檝e been really busy. I didn鈥檛 have time to look at your bill. It鈥檚 like, you know, can I try that with my mortgage company? It鈥檚 like, you know, listen, I鈥檝e been super busy. I鈥檓 going to get to you because I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 really important. You鈥檙e, you鈥檙e cool with that, right? They never are, by the way. You鈥檙e like, well, you can pay late, but let me tell you about the back charges we鈥檙e gonna let me tell the interest rates you鈥檙e gonna pay and and then let me tell you how that鈥檚 not going to go fly for very long there, you know, there鈥檚 no forgiveness or love there, so I agree with you.
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Alex听听
Yeah, and the finance charges themselves. People think they鈥檙e the craziest thing. Oh, they鈥檙e totally optional. They feel like they鈥檙e totally option. You don鈥檛 have to pay that, like, it鈥檚 just, it鈥檚 just, there鈥檚 a suggestion, you know, if you just skip it, don鈥檛 worry about it.
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Thea Dudley听听
They鈥檙e gonna throw down on it. It鈥檚 like, look, I鈥檓 paying this bill, but I鈥檓 not paying the finance charges. It鈥檚 like, Dude, you paid late, you know? I I鈥檓 okay for giving you for paying late, but there鈥檚 a penalty to that. You think I鈥檓 getting free money. I gotta borrow against our line of credit.
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Alex听听
Yeah, a day late, I can waive that if you haven鈥檛 paid your bill for six months. There鈥檚 some, there鈥檚 some fines there.
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Thea Dudley听听
Yeah, I love that. It鈥檚 like, Nope, we are not doing that. Oh, so those are, those are some, some big challenges that come up that, you know, most people, unless you鈥檝e done this job for a little bit, you don鈥檛 get to hear some of those things. And you just think that people can鈥檛 possibly say things like that. And and they
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Amy听听
do, yeah, and something too, that I felt like was, it was kind of a personal challenge for me was that I did become the big guy in the sky, you know, the one that, the one that had to say no and all of that. So that was something that I had to learn how to do, and I鈥檓 still learning. I mean, okay,
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Thea Dudley听听
so I鈥檇 like to dive into that a little bit more. That鈥檚 a hard thing even, you know, and that鈥檚 one of the biggest challenges for people going into that, that credit and collections arena, it goes against your natural human nature. Human nature is, hey, I want people to like me. I鈥檇 like to get along with everybody, and confrontation is not something everybody鈥檚 okay with. And so when you. When you do confront, it鈥檚 like, Oh, my God, you鈥檙e so confrontational. Like, it鈥檚 not that I鈥檓 confrontational. I just know that if I don鈥檛 deal with it, one, there鈥檚 nobody else that鈥檚 going to do it, and I鈥檓 just going to kick this can down the road. I might as well just do it now and get it over with.
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Amy听听
Yeah, it鈥檚, it鈥檚 something that I had to learn. And, like I said, I鈥檓 still learning it. There鈥檚 still instances where I鈥檓, like, having to psych myself up for it. You know that phone call that phone call that I know is going to be no fun. I definitely think it helps too that I鈥檓 upstairs and can kind of be a little bit removed.
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Alex听听
I live for the conference. Let me tell you, customer come in yelling at one of my guys. I will, I will go out there. Love it so much.
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Thea Dudley听听
Alexis, I love that about you. It鈥檚 like, No, I just, I just, Hey, bring it down about two notches. We鈥檙e not going to have a screaming thing. I understand you鈥檙e upset. I鈥檓 upset too. I don鈥檛 have any money. I know you鈥檙e upset because you鈥檙e on hold. But there鈥檚, it鈥檚 not just because I, I, you know, spin the big roulette wheel in the sky, and it鈥檚 like, this guy came up his number today. We鈥檙e going, that鈥檚 not how this works. I mean, you had full control over this relationship, so I love that. You鈥檙e like, yeah, I don鈥檛 got a problem with it. I鈥檓 going to deal with it, because somebody鈥檚 got to do it.
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Alex听听
We got into both of us actually got into a big battle with one customer, who he was so upset because his credit limit was not high enough. And after both of us got a hold of him, he did a catered lunch for the entire store. His apology. Because we were like, That鈥檚 not happening, yeah, like, because he pitched a fit with everybody, every employee on this, this campus, I guess, on a campus. But I
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Thea Dudley听听
after all, could be a campus. You guys are learning every day.
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Amy听听
Yeah, the after all of this, it was, I mean, he just got so ugly on the phone. And I was like, this is just, this is not happening. You don鈥檛 have a credit line with us anymore. I鈥檓 so sorry. And that was that, was that, because it too much, too much.
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Alex听听
It was probably our worst one, probably as far as confrontation wise, like he he was bad, yeah, well,
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Thea Dudley听听
and I think that happens to everybody in business at one point or another, and one of the biggest challenges is, look, I can work with anyone, and I want to work with you. I want to keep your business, but you coming in here yelling and screaming. That鈥檚 not us finding a resolution, that鈥檚 just you being a bully. Yeah, but if you want to sit down and talk about your credit line, and hey, I need a larger credit line, let鈥檚 talk about how to make that happen. I will bend over backwards to help you, because I want your business to that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e in business. It鈥檚 not just because I needed somewhere to go all day. We鈥檙e here to sell materials. But let鈥檚 be adults about it. Yeah, absolutely. Once you get through that first one, you鈥檙e like, Okay, I鈥檝e survived that
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Amy听听
Yeah, yeah, get into that first.
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Thea Dudley听听
Make it you have that point of reference now. So, you know, we talk about hope is not a credit tool, and credit management, and using that analogy where it鈥檚 like, oh, we鈥檙e just gonna, you know, hope for the best. It鈥檚 like saying, Hey, I鈥檓 hoping termites, you know, we鈥檒l just get bored and leave our lumber alone. You know, it鈥檚 just, you know, it鈥檚 not going to happen. Once you have something going downhill, it continues to go downhill. So if you could look at this entire process, do you have a biggest regret or a biggest Hey, I would have done this differently.
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Amy听听
I feel like probably one of our biggest regrets is that we did some stuff the hard way, instead of just asking more questions, I feel like maybe if we had asked more questions in the beginning, even though we did ask a lot of questions, I feel like I bugged you quite a lot.
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Thea Dudley听听
I loved it. It was really, actually really fun, because it reminds you of stuff that like when you鈥檝e been doing it for a really long time, you take things for granted, and so hearing someone go, Okay, let鈥檚 take it back down to, you know, ground level here, and start building up. You鈥檙e like, oh my gosh, yeah, I forgot about that. So it was just as educational for me.
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Amy听听
Oh, well, good. I don鈥檛 know. I feel like we might have gotten through some stuff a little bit easier if we鈥檇 have asked more questions in the beginning.
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Alex听听
I think I also thought that we had to handle everything. Yeah, we it was, it was Us two against everybody out there. We, we didn鈥檛 want to, it鈥檚 almost like the collections agency. That was the one that I thought of the we did not want to have a collection agency. We didn鈥檛 want to do it. We don鈥檛 want to send nobody to collections. Because it was, it was like we failed, yeah, it was almost like a failure. Almost like a failure, that we failed ourselves, you know, we couldn鈥檛 get that money. We had to get somebody else to do it. And realizing that having a collections agency is not, it鈥檚 not a bad thing, it鈥檚 not a big deal. Sending out, doing the lien is not a bit you know, it鈥檚 not a bad thing, it鈥檚 not a big deal. It鈥檚 just you. Are things that have to be done because we can鈥檛, we can鈥檛 get every customer to pay every bill, you know, it鈥檚 just not going to happen. Yeah,
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Thea Dudley听听
we were very challenges that I know lots of credit people. I struggled with it early on where, by God, no one鈥檚 going to take that. I am going to go after every dime. You know, if I can鈥檛 collect it, it鈥檚 not collectible. And then at some point you realize you need to put your cape away. This is it鈥檚 not a judgment against you, and there鈥檚 only so much time in the day, so I can鈥檛 track everybody down. I can鈥檛 force somebody to pay me. Here are the the levers I have, I can small claims court it. And as much as I love a good small claims court rodeo, because those things are just amazing. If you haven鈥檛 had the opportunity totally do it the but it takes time, because you鈥檙e the de facto attorney you鈥檙e building, you know, you鈥檙e having to put everything together, you鈥檙e having to take the time to go to the court, you鈥檙e having to do all those things, and sometimes you鈥檙e like, okay, the money鈥檚 small enough, or, you know, it, it鈥檚 too big for small claims court, but not big enough for us to hire an outside attorney. This is what we鈥檙e going to do. You know, we鈥檙e going to we鈥檙e going to go ahead and send it to the collection agency, and then it鈥檚 a whole process of finding who you want to work with, because there鈥檚 so many out there, and everybody says, Oh, I鈥檓 the best. And it鈥檚 like, are ya, you know, it鈥檚 got to be somebody that you click with,
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Amy听听
Yeah, most definitely. I think finding that was, it was really good for us. And there鈥檚 been so many times where I haven鈥檛 even needed to send them to collections. It鈥檚 just having that collections there that I can threaten. I鈥檓 like, Look, if you don鈥檛 pay me by this date, we are sending you collections, and I鈥檓 not even gonna think twice about it. And like, I鈥檓 so sorry, here鈥檚 your money. I mean, it does
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Alex听听
one you send an email seven minutes that payment was online.
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Thea Dudley听听
Oh wow, that鈥檚 a record seven minute
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Amy听听
she went online and paid the bill, and I was like, why couldn鈥檛 you have just done that before I had to get ugly and threaten collections?
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Thea Dudley听听
That鈥檚 another one of those questions that just kind of hang out there where it鈥檚 like, Did we really have to take our relationship to this level? Because now I know who you are, I have to be ready to just like, smack you before you you do what you鈥檙e supposed to do.
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Amy听听
Yeah, I will say, though I am pretty proud of that particular account, because we, when we came off of our outsourcing company shortly after they they were one that was building with us a lot. They had a really big credit limit and but it was shortly after we got out of the outsourcing company, they stopped paying. So they stopped paying on $100,000 I mean
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Thea Dudley听听
you know, your heart is now down, like, where it鈥檚 just going, oh my gosh, did we screw up. I hate this.
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Amy听听
Yeah, I mean, we had just started, and they just stopped paying, and I鈥檓 like, Oh my gosh, but we鈥檝e been very persistent with them. We鈥檝e stayed in contact with them, and we鈥檝e got it down to now they only owe us $8,000 which I know is,
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Thea Dudley听听
congratulations, don鈥檛, don鈥檛 put it, I know behind that, because anybody who collects money for a living, understands what a win that is, and how hard that is to do, and to keep it in house and to work with the customer that that鈥檚 tough. I mean, that鈥檚 a that鈥檚 a very tough thing to do, especially when it鈥檚 a long term thing. It鈥檚 like, okay, we鈥檙e financing basically a car for these people.
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Alex听听
Yeah, yeah. And they鈥檝e paid every finance charge.
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Thea Dudley听听
So you didn鈥檛 do it for free, which is another thing where it鈥檚 like, sometimes you get a payment plan, like, I鈥檓 just happy to get the original output. I don鈥檛 even want to think about the other parts. Yeah? So I think that鈥檚 a huge win for you guys. That is, that鈥檚 definitely like, we鈥檙e putting this up on our wall. Yeah,
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Amy听听
we were very happy about it. Very, very happy.
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Alex听听
If we just have eight I鈥檓 like, you have paid over 100,000 there鈥檚 $8,000 left. Just
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Thea Dudley听听
party when that comes in. But we really are celebrating gig.
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Alex听听
I鈥檓 going to cry. I think I鈥檓 just gonna and what do you do when you don鈥檛 see
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Thea Dudley听听
that hanging out there anymore? Well, so if you guys had, if someone鈥檚 listening, and they鈥檙e they鈥檙e thinking of taking, you know, they鈥檙e in the same situation you guys were a few years ago, and they鈥檙e looking at it going, Hey, I think I would like to, you know, follow that same path. What is, what is your number one piece of advice?
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Amy听听
We kind of have two. I鈥檒l let I鈥檒l let you say one mine is that trust your gut. There鈥檚 been so many times that I would second guess and be unsure, but if I had just trusted my gut to begin with, it would have been okay. I鈥檓 not saying I鈥檓 always right by any means, but I feel like you get those stirrings in the pit of your stomach, you know, for a reason.
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Thea Dudley听听
That gut check factor is real. So, yeah, I can鈥檛 show it to you on paper, but I鈥檓 telling you, my spidey senses are all over this. Yeah,
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Amy听听
there鈥檚 been times or something has just felt hinky to me. And I鈥檓 like, I don鈥檛, I don鈥檛. I don鈥檛 want to do this. I don鈥檛 know why I don鈥檛 want to do this, but I don鈥檛 want to do this.
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Thea Dudley听听
I like the hinky factor. I鈥檓 sorry. We鈥檙e just calling it the hinky factor. We鈥檙e putting that on the credit, on the file. We鈥檙e out,
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Alex听听
um, mine is still going to be not to take it personal. Um, I feel like we took a lot of things personal. Someone didn鈥檛 pay it was, like, a personal hit, yeah, um, or if we didn鈥檛 get something right, like we are, like, the only thing that鈥檚 holding this business up, you know, like, if we fail, the whole business fails. And we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, that if it wasn鈥檛 perfect, it like we鈥檙e gonna go bankrupt. We were gonna be homeless. Like it was just, it was, like, the spiral of everything is going to go wrong if we mess up. And you know what? We鈥檝e messed up, and we went, Oh, that鈥檚 fine. We learn from it, we move on. We鈥檝e lost money. We learn from it, we move on to me, that was the biggest thing.
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Thea Dudley听听
Yeah, I think that鈥檚 those are both really good pieces of advice, whether you鈥檙e going to make changes to make changes to your credit department, or not just as a credit professional, that鈥檚 really tough. I mean, though that is those are some tough lessons. All right, ladies, anything else you want to share
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Amy听听
if you have questions, call Thea.
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Thea Dudley听听
Okay, that was the aiming method, which is actually really fun. It was a great relearning opportunity for me, because you know when you, when you when you do something for a really long time, you forget what you you just forget what you take for granted as knowledge. And so when someone asks you, you鈥檙e like, well, you鈥檙e looking at them like, well, this is kind of common sense. You鈥檙e like, no, it鈥檚 common sense to you, because this is the world you鈥檝e been living in for a long time. So it gave me an opportunity to step back and kind of relearn and get reacquainted with some things that I hadn鈥檛 looked at in a long time. So it was just as fun for me Watching you guys grow, and watching you guys go through this and then some of the stuff you called with. I鈥檓 like, Well, that鈥檚 the challenge of the week.
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Amy听听
That was really fun.
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Thea Dudley听听
Well, if you want any more of Amy鈥檚 wisdom, I don鈥檛 think Alexis is going but I could be wrong. If you鈥檙e looking for any more of Amy鈥檚 wisdom, you can find her at the 麻豆传媒 strategies conference this year. Yes, and she鈥檒l be up there doing her her Princess wave. Or they can certainly reach out to either one of you at Wallace building. Yes, we鈥檒l connect your your information down in the episode description below. But definitely wanted to be able to make you guys available, because you guys are so amazing. I love everything you did and your approach and you just, you just got in there, and that was, I love that entrepreneurial spirit of we鈥檙e just going to we鈥檙e just going to make this happen.
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Amy听听
Well, thank you. Yeah, we鈥檙e pretty proud of it. We鈥檙e glad that we did it.
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Thea Dudley听听
Well, you guys. I appreciate you coming on this week. I鈥檝e been looking forward to this episode, and poor Sally鈥檚 had to hear about it over and over. Everyone out there, thank you for joining us this week at 麻豆传媒 talks. Credit, you can find a new episode every other Tuesday if you want a little something in between. Sally, does the 麻豆传媒 talk social media on the weeks we鈥檙e not on, if you鈥檙e missing us, there鈥檚 back episodes you can listen to. We鈥檙e on Apple Spotify and YouTube. 麻豆传媒 talks credit. I鈥檓 Thea Dudley credit Overlord, and this is the place for practical strategies for trade credit in the 麻豆传媒 industry.
