As credit and collection professionals, we spend a significant amount of time focusing on accounts receivable collections. We utilize collection policies, practices, workflows, tactics, strategies and we have collection goals. In this session, we will explore how to use proactive steps, techniques and strategies that may influence our customers to pay faster while enhancing customer service. We will look at opportunities that could accelerate customer payments, help us minimize A/R risk, reduce deductions and maximize company profits, all before the first collection contact is made with that customer.
8:30 AM
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With profit margins under pressure due to shortages, transportation and inflation, most companies have had no choice but to increase prices. Our panel of experts will outline a clear plan to communicate price increases to your customers, and how to overcome the common biases that could influence a customer’s perception of an increase.
8:30 AM
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Currency controls implemented by either central banks or government regimes and their level of FX reserves impact the ability of our customers to timely pay us. Combined with foreign exchange risk, they impact the portfolio performance with past dues, cash collections, cash forecasting, cash flow and potentially shipping. Examples can be seen in Pakistan, Argentina, Egypt, Turkey, among others. A panel of experts will discuss how to forecast when a country is at high risk for adopting currency controls or suffering from currency devaluations, along with strategies for workarounds to ensure timely payment.
8:30 AM
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While it’s somewhat hidden among Microsoft applications, OneNote is part of the Office suite, just begging to be used.Ê We’ll examine how this note-taking and organization application allows you to create notebooks, sections, pages and containers as you link to your documents and websites quickly and easily. Add Outlook emails and Calendar items to your notebooks for more control over your correspondence and meetings.
8:30 AM
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This session is a tell-all. Through the years, credit professionals likely have seen—and will continue to see—crazy situations that often involve bizarre, unethical or even criminal actors. As seasoned bankruptcy lawyers and credit professionals, our presenters have seen and dealt with many of these situations and have some practical tips to share as a result. This session will feature stories and anecdotes from various bankruptcy cases and other legal proceedings and situations in which the speakers have been involved. The stories are countless: Ponzi schemes, contracts negotiated in the nick of time that meant the difference between a full recovery and a total loss, the infiltration of fringe anti-government groups into otherwise honest companies and minor omissions that resulted in major losses. Our panel of seasoned lawyers and credit professionals will share helpful practical advice and solutions to dealing with many of these situations that have occurred over the years, both from the legal and the credit perspective.ÊSo, grab your best cozy blanket, a warm glass of milk and settle in for story time!
8:30 AM
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The fiscal buffer is growing thin for consumer and small businesses that have maintained capital and cashflow through the pandemic with the help of stimulus and payment accommodations. This public sector pandemic focused support has ended and your customers are reassuming debt and struggling with higher-than-normal inflation and a slowing economy. Consumers and small businesses are making choices on their priority of debt repayment, considering discretionary spending reduction on premium services and tight on cash that will create opportunities for innovation. Ê Ê
8:30 AM
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If you have ever struggled with that “I really do not want to do that” feeling, or you just feel like you are spinning your wheels and getting nowhere, you are not alone. ÊTo procrastinate or lose motivation is human, and getting over that hump is not easy. ÊEven the most successful people lose inspiration from time to time. Fortunately, there are science backed techniques that can help you get back on track to accomplish your goals and become your best self. ÊCome learn: techniques to overcome mental blocks and procrastination, brain hacks to boost your focus; habit change process, small steps that lead to big changes; behavioral changes backed by science that may sound crazy, but work.
8:30 AM
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Family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, customers and strangers: we are created to build relationships. It is literally built in our DNA! Building connections in all areas of life is vital to our overall mental health, happiness and sense of belonging. Research has shown positive relationships are associated with decreased stress, illness and depression. Business relationships with both new and potential customers are equally important to enhance customer experience and expectations, as well as balance the growth and risk associated with our customers. In this presentation we will dive deeper into business relationships from a credit management standpoint: communication, expectations and customer retention.
10:30 AM
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Federal, state and local funds are being dispersed to fund projects based on the passage of the infrastructure bill. When the legislation was written, the authors of the bill mentioned numerous times that private funds would and should be used to fund the projects. When private investment money is used to fund a public project, there are no mechanic's lien rights and construction credit professionals must determine whether the general contractor has posted a payment bond. Our panel of experts will share instances when the general contractor is required to post a payment bond, when the job is classified as a public-private-partnership and tips to facilitate payment.
10:30 AM
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Making the right hiring choice goes beyond the need to find a good fit—it’s all about ensuring that your customer-facing staff will represent your company in a manner that is consistent with your culture. To hire effectively across borders, you must understand the culture of potential employees and how they view their responsibility to their employer, team, business relationships and their ability to communicate. Given these challenges, how do you identify the traits that will translate into hiring and onboarding a compatible, long-term team member? A panel of international credit professionals will share their experiences and best practices to effectively hire, manage and motivate a cross-cultural team.
10:30 AM
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Speakers: George Angelich and Justin Kesselman, Esqs., ArentFox Schiff LLP[Text Wrapping Break]The U.S. Bankruptcy Code enables debtors to fundamentally alter the rights of contract counterparties. If your company has a contract with a business in chapter 11, it is essential to vigilantly monitor the bankruptcy case and quickly identify steps a debtor a may take to change your contract rights. ÊWe will provide best practices and strategies for credit managers to avoid traps for the unwary. Understanding the nature of your contract and its value to the debtor’s reorganization will have important ramifications for a trade creditor and may be the difference between a 0% recovery and a 100% recovery. We will discuss recent decisions on “executory contract” issues; the differences in contracts for goods versus services; hybrid contracts for software licenses with support components; and multi-party contracts. Recognizing these differences and their ramifications in bankruptcy is critical to maximizing distributions but also to ensure that your company’s key contractual protections are preserved after the bankruptcy case concludes.
10:30 AM
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There are a variety of reasons credit managers are unsuccessful in collecting 100% of their AR, many of which beyond the credit department control. There are, however, several steps a credit manager can take to realize a larger percentage. Here are five steps: have an executed credit app on file; ensure personal guarantees are signed in an individual not corporate capacity; incorporate an attorney's fees clause into the terms and conditions of the credit application; hold a debtor to their credit terms; and, ensure that purchase orders are complete. Viewed on paper, they appear quite simple; however, the difficulty arises in the consistent implementation of these steps. A credit manager should strive to incorporate these steps into their day-to-day credit practices. Come learn how to be more successful and increase the recovery of your receivables!
10:30 AM
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Finance teams are constantly facing new threats from a complex and varied landscape of B2B fraud that has been propelled by several converging trends. However, understanding the types of commercial digital fraud out there is the first step to preventing and protecting your company against fraud risk. The second is leveraging the right analytical solutions to thwart fraudsters. Join us for a lively discussion to understand the ever-evolving threat of B2B fraud and learn some best practices to help bolster your company’s B2B fraud mitigation efforts.
10:30 AM
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VLOOKUP is a widely used and versatile function, but it can be tough to narrow down exactly the data you want.Ê We'll provide a brief overview of the VLOOKUP function, and then we'll add some versatility by using the INDEX and MATCH functions.Ê When combined, these functions can make quick work ofÊlocating specific data in a list.Ê We will also explore how to gracefully display a message when the data you are looking for isn't in the list.
10:30 AM
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Join this open peer exchange as your most difficult challenges are brought forth so that solutions and best practices can be shared. Participants are encouraged to participate by posing questions, adding insights, sharing experiences and proposing solutions. A moderator will help keep the conversation flowing and productive to maximize on the time available.
2:00 PM
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Contractors are often talented tradespeople who may or may not have the skills to run a business. Join our panel of expert credit professionals as they share tips about how to spot red flags of a contractor in financial trouble and provide some useful tools should your company decide to help.
2:00 PM
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Join our panel of experts to learn how international risk mitigation tools can help you agree to make a sale to a high-risk customer or to a good customer in a high-risk country. We’ll discuss the effective use of a variety of tools such as:
Letters of credit
Standby letters
Bank guarantees
Forfaiting
Trade credit insurance
Factoring
Documentary collections
Avalized drafts
2:00 PM
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When your customer asks you to use Ariba, asking the right questions is key to unlocking your payment. Understanding how your customer is utilizing the Ariba portal is the first step to customer satisfaction and timely payments. We will walk through the best practices and key questions that you should be asking during integration, onboarding, ordering and invoicing and what to do when things go wrong.
2:00 PM
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This presentation addresses the information needed in a credit application and shares recommended contractual terms. It will also present additional forms suggested for inclusion, such as personal guarantees, authorization for a credit report investigation and bank information.
2:00 PM
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It’s an unfortunate reality of the times we live in, but employers need to prepare for the possibility of an active shooter in the workplace • and consider how to respond should a tragedy occur at your facilities. Join two of the nation’s foremost experts for a sobering but critical session designed to teach employers the key practical lessons you’ll need to incorporate into your safety and security protocols. You will leave this 60-minute session with This session is repeated in #32096.
a solid blueprint you can immediately put into effect to safeguard your most valuable assets • your employees. It goes without saying that this could be the most important training you attend all year.
2:00 PM
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Networking is a critical component of your professional success. Knowing how and why to make those connections can make a long-term impact on your professional career. In this session we will review common obstacles to effective networking, share tips, tricks and tools to help you make the most of the networking opportunities.
2:00 PM
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Mindfulness has become commonplace in today’s fast-paced world. Mindfulness training is a broad set of practices and techniques designed to help individuals have better focus and have more awareness of the here and now. Mindfulness practices include meditation and breathing exercises which can be applied to anything from reducing stress and anxiety to quitting smoking, losing weight, resolving conflict and improving work performance. Join this session as we learn about mindfulness and explore how mindfulness can become an important tool to improve your day-to-day performance and perhaps your credit team’s performance.Ê
3:30 PM
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Obtaining a consensual security interest from your customer can be a powerful risk mitigation tool.ÊIt can help your company recover more from distressed customers.ÊJoin our panel of experts as they share how to effectively and efficiently obtain a security interest in your customer’s business assets to not only mitigate risk, but to extend larger lines of credit.ÊOne member of our panel will share how she worked to build a UCC filing program that put her company in a better financial position with its customers.
3:30 PM
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Relationships are easily built or destroyed based upon how we conduct ourselves. Join our panel of experts to learn how the smallest detail can impact your ability to collect: everything from how you dress for a customer visit to when you take your seat at a meeting, how and when you hand a customer a business card (and accept theirs) and how you address your customers can impact your business relationship—and therefore your ability to timely collect payments. Learn why your company must acknowledge your customer’s customs, including the expectation of gift exchanges, and respect country holidays, including bank holidays.
3:30 PM
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Unsecured Creditors in complex Chapter 11 cases can advance their common interests through the Unsecured Creditors Committee or "Ad Hoc" Committee recognized by the Bankruptcy Court under Bankruptcy Rule 2019. Prior to joining any such group or committee, creditors should understand whether the benefits of such joint representation outweigh the harms of Bankruptcy Rule 2019 disclosure. This presentation will inform the credit manager of the benefits of joining a committee. These benefits include: having a voice to contribute to drafting the plan of reorganization; providing a voting bloc for approving the Chapter 11 Plan to avoiding the Debtor's mistreatment of your claim; and payment of attorneys' fees from the estate if the committee is recognized under Rule 2019. Finally, the presentation will also cover the detriments of joining a committee which the credit manager should be aware of. The presentation will cover how committees are formed, when to form a committee during the bankruptcy process and choosing the right committee for your claim if multiple committees are formed.
3:30 PM
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There’s a big difference between a working group and a team. Team dynamics are incredibly important.Ê How a team communicates, interacts and works together has a dramatic impact on how successful a team is in meeting its goals. Join this session to learn more about the four pillars of unifying the dynamics of a successful TEAM.Ê After all, we’re all in this together!
3:30 PM
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This is an encore of session 32086.
It’s an unfortunate reality of the times we live in, but employers need to prepare for the possibility of an active shooter in the workplace • and consider how to respond should a tragedy occur at your facilities. Join two of the nation’s foremost experts for a sobering but critical session designed to teach employers the key practical lessons you’ll need to incorporate into your safety and security protocols. You will leave this 60-minute session with
a solid blueprint you can immediately put into effect to safeguard your most valuable assets • your employees. It goes without saying that this could be the most important training you attend all year.
3:30 PM
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