Yoko, my Seeing Eye dog, isn’t sophisticated. She learns because of what works and she wants to make me happy. Sometimes, however, I learn something from her that is very important for anybody trying to run a successful business, like her tendency to sniff everything.
She doesn’t sniff occasionally or just some things, everything. Then, if she finds something particularly interesting, she digs and it gets checked out. So what does this have to do with you, who probably try to avoid sniffing most of the things in your vicinity?
She is a dog and dogs live and die by their sense of smell. If the focus on all those odors we cannot hope to grasp, it tells them things. We, as humans, aren’t very interested in what she is learning, but it means a lot to her.
The reverse is often true in the mundane, yet important, business of qualifying a prospective client. Sometimes we get nervous about chasing away a prospect and don’t want to get nosey. Sometimes we take the prospect on the way they look or what they say about themselves.
Yoko wouldn’t like that, and you shouldn’t either. The prospect is only as good as what the qualified information says about the prospect. A friendly prospect isn’t necessarily a good one.
You need to follow Yoko’s advice and dig a little. Does the co-signer make enough money to actually guarantee a bill? Is the prospect living off credit cards? Has the prospect volunteered information about tax liens or court ordered payments?
Yoko suggests you find this out to stay out of the dog house. Here are a few things you should do:
Dig into employment, not with the person’s boss, if possible. The boss has been warned. Get written permission from your contact to check things and make sure one of them is work. Ask for annual salary and length of employment.
Sniff out bad credit. Again, you need written permission, but you can find out if the prospect pays bills on time and how many addresses they have had in the past few years. Yoko would ignore evictions if they were explained since most of those are due to loss of employment or sickness.
And don’t forget to copy a photo ID and make sure the signature on the ID matches the signature on your contract.
Yoko sniffs out everything. When it comes to success in business, you should follow her lead.
ABOUT EXECUTIVE CREDIT MANAGEMENT, INC.
Executive Credit Management is a full-service Debt Collection and Applicant Screening agency with over 20 years’ experience located in Central New Jersey. We provide excellent service in the following areas: Employment Screening, Business Screening, and Tenant Screening. Executive Credit Management belongs to a number of Skip Tracing databases and offers services to help locate and confirm the current address of missing debtors. Other services provided are: litigation evaluation on all lawsuit decisions, improvement of the quality of the applicant data, Lawsuit Monitoring, Handling of Debtor Disputes. Executive Credit Management features the best Call Monitoring System in the Debt Collection industry. [Photo courtesy of Seeing Eye Association]