Professionals Need The Right Amounts of Tenacity, Training and Temperament
By Steven Kozack

During a presentation last year, an attendee asked what I considered to be the most important characteristics of a highly effective, successful, and self-motivated credit professional.

I responded: Tenacity, Training and Temperament. Specifically:

• Credit professionals need to have the tenacity to pursue payment tenaciously and assertively [but professionally] from 'reluctant' debtors.

• Credit managers need training to be able to perform their most important job functions [managing delinquencies, and controlling risk] competently and lawfully.

• Each member of the credit department needs to have a type of certain temperament for the job. If anyone in the credit department does not have the temperament, as well as the inter-personal skills to be effective collectors and/or risk managers, those individuals are a liability. If they cannot be cautioned, coached or convinced to do the job right they should be terminated.