Customers to Past Due Debtors

Sometimes customers are to blame for non-payment, past due accounts and revenue loss. However, many times the problem is not the customer but the business and billing process. Many business owners seem to turn their head while thousands of dollars are lost. After 25 years of business consulting, I have come to recognize that in many cases business owner and executives force policy and procedure upon lower management. They think they are helping but it ends up frustrating employees who know decisions being forced on them will not work. These lower level employees are on the front lines and have their finger on the pulse of the process but upper management does not listen. Let me give you an illustration.

The men and women who teach our children in public schools face difficulties in the classroom that the average person cannot even begin to imagine.

Teachers overcome challenges with real solutions and produce results directly tied to the ever changing variables of the class setting. No one knows better than the teacher what their students respond to. However, year after year bureaucrats impose flawed policy and procedure on the teachers. Trying to force a cookie-cutter approach to teaching is unrealistic and counterproductive.

Bureaucrats lack the knowledge, experience, and common sense needed to effectively enhance our children’s learning experience. The result is poor performance within our educational system.  Simply said, they don’t know what they are doing and they are ramming failure down the throats of teachers who know the policies do not work. Programs like No Child Left Behind and the most recent debacle Common Core Curriculum are great examples of a “disconnect” between politician, teacher, and student. These programs will continue to cause a downward spiral of poor performance and negative return; especially in areas where there are language barriers and cultural challenges. Some proponents of these programs have the audacity to blame the teachers for their failed policies. They just don’t get it. Stop blaming great teachers and blame the failing system. It’s no wonder skilled teachers who want to love their job now feel unappreciated. The policies imposed on them makes them less effective and it has a negative effect on the learning environment. Furthermore, the people who are writing the policy and curriculum have spent little to no time in a real teaching environment.

Aside from politics and budget gain, I believe many bureaucrats would like to see our education system improve. They would like to see our ranking change so we can actually compete with the rest of the world instead of falling behind. America has received scores around 500 on a scale that goes up to 1,000: 487 in math, 500 in reading and 502 in science. The AFP reports

It’s NOT the teacher’s fault that our schools are falling behind in the world ranking. These men and women have overcome incredible challenges most of which are poor programs being force fed to them by our system.

You want to see change? Start allowing teachers to write the curriculum. Create a focus group of 30 or more teachers within their state each with over 15 years current experience in the classroom. Allow them to brainstorm about effective programs that they have used. Do you really want our children and America to excel? Well our schools are failing and our government cannot get out of its own way.  

This same phenomenon happens in business. Upper management cannot get out of its own way. Ego’s are hot and someone wants to take the credit for success. The question that executives must ask is, do you want to make changes and succeed or conduct business as usual? It seems some companies do not understand that their own business model, which includes inception of the customer, billing, collections, accounts receivable process, retention and completion of the business relationship is causing loss. With all the opinions, how do you move forward with a profitable plan?    

Since 1989, CJM Billing Solutions, Inc. has produced millions of dollars for fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses.  Enjoy greater revenue through efficiency and proven methods. Christopher Mangan is the author of Top 10 Billing Secrets and he has been shown to increase earnings as much as 27% annually and companies are amazed. They had no idea such changes could be made. They spent years doing the same thing over and over and never realized their loss. Don’t you think it’s time to enjoy greater success?