Customers buy concepts!

We are not simply buying a product or service but a set of expected benefits to meet our needs and expectations.  This set of expected benefits is the service concept which is the overall intention of the service as seen from the customer’s perspective.  The concept is not a statement of the physical bits and pieces that we buy, rather it is the way the customers and the organization, its staff and shareholders, perceive the benefits of the service.

The competitive advantage of good service design

Good service design enhances the competiveness of the organization and can be seen as starting and ending with the customer.  The task of marketing is to gather information from customers, and sometimes non-customers, in order to understand and identify their needs and expectations and create a specification for the service.  This becomes a complex task involving a bringing together of many different aspects of a company’s objectives.  This specification is then used as a input to the operation which creates the service to its customers.

Design means satisfying the needs of customers

The manner in which a process which creates a service is designed will have a significant impact on the ability of the operation to meet its customers’ needs.  A process located in the wrong place, or with insufficient capacity or arranged in a jumbled and confused layout, or given inappropriate technology, or staffed with unskilled people, cannot satisfy customers because it cannot perform efficiently or effectively.

Business process outsourcing increases flexibility

Business process outsourcing enhances the flexibility of an organization in various ways.  These services are provided on a typical fee-for-service basis enabling the company to become more flexible by transforming fixed in variable costs.  A variable cost structure will assist a company to respond to changes in required capacity and does not require any investment in assets allowing more flexibility.  Resource management may experience prominent increases in flexibility.

Advantages of our debt collection service

We assist companies by collecting funds that are due and assist debtors by helping them to make payment plans to get their delinquent account paid in full.  Clients will then benefit by holding down the costs of debt collection to their account receivable departments.  We also offer very competitive rate programmes which are lower than most debt collection agencies.

Our key area of focus is the goodwill of the client naturally and care has been taken in hiring and training of our personnel to assure professionalism throughout the business process.

Collection letters and correspondence

 The first collection letter will be friendly yet firm, advising or informing the debtor that according to the records payment is overdue.  The second letter is firm, informing the debtor that payment is overdue and that he/she has not responded to previous requests for payment.  Any letter demands payment of a certain amount to be received before a certain date.  The final letter is a final demand for payment and is sent by pre-paid registered mail with a warning of legal action to follow if payment is not made as demanded.  It may have a warning that interest will be charged and the rate it will be charged.

Creativity in a company

Creativity is the soul of entrepreneurship and is required in spotting the patterns and trends that define an opportunity.  It subsequently becomes imperative in developing innovative business concepts.  The corporate entrepreneur has to be highly creative in getting a sponsor, building and using a network, obtaining management buy-in for the concept forming a team, gathering resources and overcoming the many obstacles that will be thrown into his/her path.

Much of the work on creativity tends to focus on the ability to relate and connect and to put things together in a novel way.  In a business context, creativity is not mere originality.  It is a pragmatic dimension in that creative approaches or solutions must also be useful and actionable in the context of the company and its competition.

There are three components of successful creativity in organizations: expertise, motivation and creative thinking skills.  Expertise is defined as what you know and can do.  Motivation can be primarily a passion or interest or the desire to achieve company rewards and awards.  The individual is solely driven by the challenge and joy of accomplishment.  Creative thinking can be explained as the ways individuals approach problems differently, seeking insights from other fields of endeavour, challenging assumptions etc

Employees should, however, be provided the freedom and access to resources to practice these components.

The importance of cash flow to business

A cash flow forecast is one of the key aspects of the credit function of a business when corporate marketing and collection forecasts are drawn up.  This will aid the finance department to finance the debtor’s ledger.  If cash flow falls short of forecasts, additional finance may have to be reduced because of a shortage of working capital.  This naturally impacts negatively on the profitability of a business and could lead to the restriction of business activities with the possibility of a reduction in staff.

Reasons for charging interest on overdue accounts

Profit margins will continually be affected by the rising operating costs of a business and all industries and most businesses, credit providers and consumers will be affected.  This allows charging of interest on overdue accounts to become more popular.

Executive management use variances between budgets and actual performances to monitor the  progress of a business towards obtaining its corporate profit objectives.

Hidden costs are also known to exist which are detrimental to the profits of the business, yet they are ignored for fear of competitor reaction and customer relations.  The loss of income on overdue accounts is one of those hidden costs.

Loss of income as a result of slow paying customers could be responsible for the biggest loss of profits.

Where should quality checks take place?

The key tasks for operations managers is to identify the critical points at which the service or process need to be checked to ensure that it will conform to specifications.  These checks may be carried out at the start of the process, during the process and after the process.

At the start of the process the incoming transformed resources could be inspected to ensure that they are to the correct specification.

During the process checks may take place at any stage but there are a number of particularly critical points in the process where inspection might be important:

• Before a particularly costly part of the process
• Before a series of processes during which checking might be difficult
• Immediately after part of the process with a high defective point
• Before a part of a process that might conceal previous defects or problems
• Before a point is reached, after which rectification and recovery might be impossible
• Before potential damage or distress might be caused
• Before a change in functional responsibility

Checks will take place after the process as well to ensure that the service conforms to its specification or that customers are satisfied with service they have received.

Factors that influence successful project management

All projects are prone to different problems and fail for different reasons.  In order to minimize the chances of a project failing to meet its objectives the following factors become particularly important:

• Clearly defined goals: the general project philosophy or general mission of the project and a commitment to these goals on the part of the project team members.
• Competent project manager:  a skilled project manager who has the necessary interpersonal, technical and administrative skills.
• Top-management support: enabling communication to all concerned parties
• Competent project team leaders: the selection of and training of project team members, who between them have the skills necessary to support the project technically.
• Sufficient resource allocation: money, personnel, logistics etc.  which are available for the project in the required quantity.
• Adequate communications channels:  sufficient information is available on project objectives, status, changes, organizational conditions and client’s needs
• Control mechanisms: these monitor actual events and recognize deviations from the plan
• Feedback capabilities:  all parties should be able to review the project’s status and make suggestions and corrections through formal feedback channels or review meetings
• Responsiveness to clients: all potential users of the project are concerned which are kept up to date on the project’s status.
• Trouble-shooting mechanisms: a set of procedures to tackle problems when they arise, can trace them back to their root cause and resolve them.
• Project staff continuity: the continued involvement of key personnel over the project life cycle.

Project planning and control

Project operations are engaged in complex, often large scale, activities with a defined beginning and end.  The methods applied by engineers and planners who worked in complex defence and construction projects have been applied to projects as diverse as new product launches.  Large scale undertakings consume a relatively large amount of resources, take a long time to complete and involve interactions between different parts of an organization.  To plan and control a project, a company needs to formulate a model which describes the project’s complexity and project it forward in time to ensure that the project will achieve this.

The elements of a project

• A definable end result, output, or product, which is defined in terms of the cost, the quality and timing of the output from the project activities.
• Many different tasks are required to be completed to achieve a project’s objectives.  The relationship between all these tasks can be complex, especially when the number of separate tasks in the project is large. 
• A project is usually a ‘one-off”, not a repetitive undertaking.
• All projects are planned before they are executed and carry an element of risk.
• Projects have a defined beginning and end, once the temporary concerntration of resources have contributed to the project objectives, these resources are redeployed.
• The resource needs for a project change during the course of its life cycle.

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What is your operation’s contribution to the organization’s goals?

The ability of any operation to play a strategic role within the organization can be judged by considering the organizational aims or aspirations of the operations functions.

A Four-Stage Model was developed, by Professors Hayes and Wheelwright of Harvard University, with later contributions from Professor Chase of the University of California, to evaluate the competitive role and contributions of the operations function of any company.  Particularly, black owned companies in South Africa that are in dire need to breach the private sector.  This model traces the progression of the operations function, of  from a largely negative role of Stage 1 operations to the dynamic element of competitive strategy in Stage 4 operations.

In a Stage 1 organization the operation is considered as a “necessary evil” as other functions regard it as holding them back from competing effectively.  The operations function becomes reactive and inward looking and contributes minimally towards competitive success.  The rest of the organization would inevitably not look to operations as the source of any originality, flair or competitive drive.  The operation becomes “internally neutral”, a position it attempts to achieve not by any positive aspirations but by avoiding the bigger mistakes.

Breaking out of Stage 1 begins by comparing itself with similar companies or organizations.  During this stage of progression, the organization may not yet be particularly creative in the way it manages its operations but is attempting to be appropriate, by adopting best practice from its competitors.  Using the best ideas and norms of performance from the rest of its industry is trying to be externally neutral.

Stage 3 operations aspire to be clearly the very best in the market.  Organizations try to achieve this by understanding the company’s competitive or strategic goals and then organize and develop the operation’s resources to excel in the sector that the company needs to compete effectively.  Operation managers will now develop appropriate resources and assuming the role of implementers of strategy.  The operation will soon become internally supportive by providing a credible operations strategy.

A Stage 4 company views the operations function as providing the foundation for its competitive success by focusing on all long term goals.  Likely changes in markets and supply will be forecast and operations-based strategies will be developed to provide the company with the performance required to compete in future market conditions.  It becomes central to strategy making.  Stage 4 operations are creative and proactive and are likely to organize their resources in ways which are innovative and capable of adaptation as markets change.  After all, market leaders tend to be one step ahead of competitors in the way they create products and services and organize their operations.

This Four-Stage Model assesses the performance of the operation compared to the function’s latent aspirations.  As companies move from Stage 1 to Stage 4 there is a progressive shift from its contribution being negative  through to a paradigm shift of strategic contributions.

The roles of the operations function

Any part of your organization will have their own role to play in achieving its success.  At the simplest level the role of each of these functions is reflected in its name.  In an era when operations are continually being outsource, the operations function will need to justify its continued existence within the business.

One role of the operation is to support business strategy.  It must develop its resources to provide the capabilities which are needed to allow the organization to achieve its strategic goals.  All important elements of the operation, its technology, staff and its systems and procedures, must be appropriate for the company’s competitive strategy.  The better the operation is at maintaining its infrastructure, the more support it is giving to the company’s strategy.  A different business strategy would require the operations function to adopt different objectives.

Companies continue to formulate some kind of strategy during its existence but it is the operation which puts it into practice.  Strategies are by no means tangible and all you can see is how the operation behaves in practice.  In essence, the most original and brilliant strategy can be rendered totally ineffective by an inept operations function.

Another role of the operations part of the business is to drive strategy by giving it a long-term competitive edge.  Different functions within the business have different effects on a company’s ability to prosper.  For example, if the finance function does not control cash flow accurately, the business could run out of cash and all business activity would soon cease or have a serious short term effect on business.  Poor marketing management will hamper the company in the medium term.  No amount of efficient financial and marketing management can compensate for poor operations performance though.  Sloppy service, slow delivery, broken promises, too little choice of services or an operations cost base which is too high will prove detrimental to company long term goals.  Any business which makes its services better, faster, on time, in greater variety and less expensively than its competition has the best long term advantage any company could desire.  All the things which promote long term success stems directly or indirectly from the operations function.  In effect, this function becomes the custodian of the organizaton’s competitiveness.  It ultimate role is to do things better and deliver services better than similar operations.

In conclusion, operations must support strategy by developing appropriate objectives and policies for the resources its manages, make strategy happen by translating strategic decisions into operational reality and provide the means to achieve competitive advantage.

The responsibilities of operations managers

Operations managers are responsible for all activities in the organization which contribute to the effective production of a service.

The responsibility of operations management also explores the possible consequences of the actions of the other functions and their impact on the operation.  This becomes an indirect responsibility of the operations manager, namely, to inform other functions of opportunities and constraints provided by the operation’s capabilities.  They will need to discuss with other functions how both operations’ plans and their own plans might be modified for the benefit of both functions.  Other functions will subsequently be encouraged to suggest ways in which the operations function can improve its service to the rest of the organization.

This approach of mutual responsibility for other functions’ activities seem somewhat idealistic underlying what should be good practice in any organization.  However, internal customer-internal supplier relations yield huge benefits in breaking down some of the traditional organizational barriers.

Regarding the direct responsibilities of operations management, the exact nature of these responsibilities depend on the way the organization has chosen its operation function.

When the operations management team attempts to understand what it is trying to achieve two sets of  decisions are involved.  The first is to develop a clear vision of what role the operation is to play in the organization illustrating the operation’s contribution to the organization achieving its long-term goals.Then determine whether these goals have any implications for the organization’s performance objectives.  These performance objectives include the quality of the service, the speed with which they are delivered to the customers, the dependability with which the operation keeps its delivery promises, the flexibility of the operation to change what it does and the cost of producing the service.

Operations management involves hundreds of minute-by-minute decisions throughout the day as well as week.  It becomes imperative for operations managers to have a set of general principles which can guide decision making towards the organization’s longer-term goals called an operations strategy.  This involves placing operations strategy in the general strategy hierarchy of the organization, connecting functional and business strategies together.  Operations performance objectives will need to be prioritized to positively affect customer needs and competitor behaviour.

The design of the service is crucial to an area which is always under the direct responsibility of the operations function which is the transformation process itself.  This process design means designing the whole network of operations which provide inputs to the operations function and deliver its output to customers.

In order for design activities to work effectively they need to be planned and controlled.  This involves the deciding of what the operation’s resources should be doing, then ensuring that they are really doing it.

The strategy has been formulated, the services and processes designed and the work is being planned and controlled on an ongoing basis. The continuing responsibility of the operations manager is to improve the performance of this operation.  Failure to improve at least as fast as competitors or at the rate of the customers’ rising expectations is to allow the operations function to fall short of organization expectations.  Or simply making operations better is stopping them from going wrong in the first place.

The elements of job design

Job design defines the way in which people go about their working lives and positions their expectations of what is required of them.  Perceptions will also be influenced as to how they contribute to the organization’s goals and vision.  Interactions with colleagues will be governed and channeled and formalizing the flow of communication between different parts of the operation.  It helps to develop the culture of the organization: its shared values; beliefs and assumptions and should be viewed as the central aspect of the design of any transformation process.

Delivering a service on a continuous basis involves a whole range of different tasks which need to be divided between all role players in the operation.  The different task allocations will depend on your job design approach.  One operation might include a repetitive task to encourage simplicity and efficiency.  Or allocate a wide variety of tasks to each staff member to reduce monotony.

Sometimes the sequence of tasks is dictated by the design of the service or the sequence is determined by the desire to avoid mistakes. A standardized sequence of tasks is designed largely to prevent errors in the process.

Some jobs can be performed effectively in more than one place.  However, different locations could also mean different task allocations.

Instead of allocating a well defined set of tasks to each person in the operation, a larger set of tasks are allocated to a group of people.  This group might choose, or be guided to, a flexible task-sharing, or a task-rotation, pattern of working.  The success of this group depends on its size and its interactions with other groups and individuals.

Very few jobs do not involve interaction with tools, equipment, machines or facilities.  Inappropriate positioning of the hardware elements could result in an ineffective interface even though the task is well defined.

The conditions under which jobs are performed could have a significant impact on personnel’s effectiveness, comfort and safety and not the details of the tasks themselves.  Typical decisions include determining lighting intensity, noise control or air quality.

There is a difference between allocating tasks and encouraging autonomy depending on what the job implies.  Allocating the responsibility for the effectiveness implies that the staff can also modify the way a task is performed.

The decisions in the elements of job design have implications for the skills and capabilities which staff will need to perform their jobs effectively.  The skills necessary might include simple manual skills, monitoring and measurement skills, scheduling skills or even problem-solving skills for improving the job.

Debt collection agencies versus Lawyers

Debt collectors get paid when they collect money for the client and only when they collect.  They will usually work hard in negotiating with the debtor and attempt to reach a settlement before resorting to any legal action.  Agencies work fast and phone at odd hours and will try anything legal to collect the outstanding amount.  A substantial amount of attention will be spent on whether it is possible to collect the debt and in certain cases determine whether the debtor has any available assets, if necessary.  Communication remains as simple as possible in order for the debtor to understand all aspects of the collection process.  If a lawyer is appointed, you will need to pay for the legal service, as well as paying a commission to the debt collection agency hired.  Agencies can be extremely effective against “professional debtors” and missing persons can be traced as well.  Furthermore, there is a keen interest in collecting debt and in all processes related to it.

Lawyers, on the other hand, get paid as they go, usually in advance.  This is a paid service irrespective of the results.  Lawyers get stuck right into the legal process with minimal negotiations, if any, and may work fast, but for some reason rarely give that impression.  The only pressure used on the debtor is to have the matter pursued in the courts and their efforts might appear sluggish.  No attempt will be made to establish whether the debtor has any other assets to settle the debt.  All the processes will also be explained using jargon or not explained at all.  Yet they are not quite effective against “professional debtors” as locating debtors is not their business.  There is generally no interest in the debt collection process at all.

Many organizations would opt for a debt collection service initially depending on how unemotional or selective you want this process to be.  However, lawyers are usually used as a “shock tactic” when they are asked to send the debtor a letter of demand.  The idea would be to startle the debtor into paying.  This sometimes works.

During the initial communication, the lawyer will not insist on knowing what the matter is about and this letter is not free.  Ensure that you know how much it is going to cost and weigh that against the size of the debt.  Also consider the psychology of the debtor.  For example: Is he used to receiving letters like this?  Will he just shrug?

Once this technique is used regularly a bulk rate will probably be introduced.  However, the success rate of these lawyer’s letters are not too high and further legal action would be required incurring more costs.

Your approach to your outstanding debt is hugely dependant on the goals and resources of the organization as well as the size of the debt to be collected.  This ultimately means that there would be incidents when you should initially approach a legal solution but if long term feasibility becomes a primary objective debt collection would yield more benefits.

Selecting the right debt collection agency

To select a service provider you need to define what you want the agency to achieve, be aware of how you are going to assess the response you get to your approach and be clear how you are going to manage the relationship with them.  You need to be sure that there are organizations that are both interested and capable of developing a strategic relationship with your business.

Selection begins once the initial goals are defined and the planning is under way.  It ends when the contract is signed and the transition from the current regime to the supplier begins.

During the selection process the specification of the debt collection service should be developed with a quantified baseline, growth plans and trends.  The contract management structures should be outlined and candidates should be identified to fill contract management roles.  The evaluation process and framework and devising evaluation criteria should be established at this stage as well.  Once the organization decides to get the right service provider you could allow that company to set the baseline.  However, if you don’t have a baseline you will never know whether you are achieving benefits or not.

Once all the objectives have been set, you will have to define how you will work with the service provider.  It is useful to start thinking about this relationship while producing the specification and developing the baseline.  You should not look for characteristics that you like but also whether they have the coverage you need: geographic spread, technical ability and good processes.  Past history with good site references and valid experience could also prove helpful but ensure that you can define what you want.

Why do organizations outsource?

Organizations have carried out a wide range of diverse and frequently non-core activities in-house before the modern era of outsourcing.  There was a perceived benefit to running them in-house, however, these activities were driven by poor supplier management and bargaining or lack of real competition in service provision.  These non-core activities came as baggage after an acquisition or merger and the opportunity was not taken after a thorough viability study.  Pure size of the organization was a goal regardless of the actual nature of the operations.  French and Japanese banks were classic examples of this where the only measure used was asset size and any operation that increased this was brought into the organization.  Traditionally, a vertical integration was pursued as manufacturers sought to control the value chain, for example, to ensure the supply of a rare commodity.  This resulted in divisional heads building empires without due regard to their true corporate goals and vision.

            Changing markets and increasing regulation in many operational areas, such as debt collection, are now forcing a fundamental re-assessment of these activities.  This has led to an increasing shift back to core operations and activities often leading to further shrinkage of the value chain directly under the organization’s control.

            The most important reasons why companies outsource are thus as follows:

• Reduce and control operating costs
• Improve company focus
• Gain access to world-class capabilities
• Free up internal resources for other purposes
• Obtain resources not available internally
• Accelerate re-engineering benefits
• Deal with a function that is difficult to manage or out of control
• Make capital funds available
• Share risks
• Obtain a cash infusion

“Leveraged benefits” will also accompany the implementation of outsourcing that are not usually expected such as:

·        Acting as a catalyst for change by highlighting the need for improvements within the organization

·        Challenging, aiding and supporting internal initiatives such as IT implementations, process modeling and business process re-engineering

·        Initiating cultural change, especially in the South African context, by educating people about creative service delivery options

·        Stimulating critical business analysis as business processes and their costs need to be documented

·        Focusing on the current cost of services when outsourcing becomes a reality

·        Where it works well, introducing outsourcing to other areas of the organization

·        Invigorating everyday business practices by converting sluggish functional areas into dynamic, successful ones and stimulating internal competition and price.

·        Implementing BEE initiatives by outsourcing to the unexplored market

Benefits of outsourcing your debt collection

Most companies do not have the resources or the experience in recovering outstanding debt and internal programmes usually produce unsatisfactory results due to its back office status.  Outsourcing entails low fixed fees and a high success rate allowing the business to concerntrate on their core business operations.  Besides experiencing peace of mind that your debt is being handled and collected effectively and professionally an immediate cash flow injection will occur.

Outsourcing delivers highly visible and fairly dramatic changes such as reduced costs, reduced staffing levels, surplus management time and inflow of cash from asset sales, surplus accommodation disposal or any other means that has a stimulating effect on the business.  Organizations also outsource to maintain competitiveness.

A professional accounts receivable collection company is a team of professionals, trained to be courteous and efficient and organized specifically around a proven collection process.  This results in more calls made courteously and in a timely manner.  The process of outsourcing is usually seamless as your customers will not realize you have hired someone from outside to handle the collection process.  Calls will be made and answered in the client’s name and all communication will carry their brand identity.  A good outsourcing company will collect receivables by using skillful collection processes and techniques.  They will understand a particular receivable and be well equipped to answer customer’s needs.  Regular reports on the status of accounts enables the client to make more strategic decisions.

In essence, the outsourcing company will provide a collection service effectively, efficiently, without disrupting customer satisfaction and without the addition of extra staff, added office space or time to manage them or the collection process.

Executives view outsourcing as a means to reshape their corporation, to move away from the vertically integrated organizations of the past and create more flexible, focused organizations that rely on outsourcing to enhance their core abilities and optimize relationships with their customers.

In fact, outsourcing could have the same kind of importance as mergers and acquisitions in creating the competitive organizations of tomorrow.  A definite trend exist clearly showing outsourcing relationships to be increasingly collaborative.  Many of these relationships evolve into alliances and joint ventures accelerated by new organizational models being developed by the growth of e-business where collaboration with different partners in different ways is a competitive necessity.

An organisation’s ability to create and sustain these relationships will be essential to its success in the twenty-first century.

Why companies should outsource their business processes

Companies that outsource any of their business processes overseas do so because of the competitive rates outsourcing companies can offer in comparison with the cost of retaining permanent staff to fulfill the same needs.  Organisations gain lower operating costs, improved information access and a reduced business risk, as well as an enhanced service for their customers.

The primary motive in outsourcing a business process is to allow the business to invest most of their time, financial and human resources into building effective, growth strategies.  Fixed costs are transformed into variable ones and the burden of managing a large workforce and provisions of company benefits are reduced. The variable cost structure helps companies to respond to changes in required capacity and does not require a company to invest in assets.  Flexibility in resource management is increased and response times to major environmental charges are reduced.  Companies can focus on core competencies without being burdened by the demands of bureaucratic restraints.  Key employees will subsequently be released from performing non-core or administrative processes and can invest more time and energy in building the organisation’s core business to create a competitive edge.  Furthermore, a company can maintain growth goals while avoiding standard business bottlenecks.

The business should thus focus on improving productivity while trimming down unnecessary costs.  Non-core business processes should effectively be outsourced as these tasks consume time, essential resources and energy realizing a more cost-efficient system.  These processes range from production to customer service to support functions.  Outsourcing these business processes should not be viewed as a waste of time and financial resources, but rather a rewarding strategy to be followed.

Business processes that are typically outsourced are: Customer Relationship Management; Tele-servicing and Product Support; Finance/Accounting/Billing; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Back Office Operators; Legal Database Maintenance; Information technology and Web Design/Development/Maintenance.

Business process outsourcing also poses as an opportunity to get a foothold in any new country by making new clients, setting up new business offices understanding the domestic market etc.  In the midst of a pending recession, US companies would do well to outsource their non-core business processes to reduce their fixed running costs and maintain their focus on organizational goals.

Recession Aftermath

Though the worst of the recession may be over and the credit markets have stabilised demand remains for debt collection services amid the inflated need to address aging account receivable delinquencies. Many small businesses are forced to write off bad debts, but what if they didn't have to? Rev Business Solutions, only charge when a debt is received, leaving a company with a percentage of the original outstanding debt.

Why partnerships between banks and debt collecting agencies are created?

Banks deal with internal debt collection challenges because of overdrawn checking accounts and past due loans. These challenges, include overdrawn checking, or demand deposit accounts, where customers have depleted the funds and overdrawn their account. ATM errors and losses, as well as bank teller mistakes add to a bank's losses. Others would be returned items, such as customers depositing bad cheques. Delinquent loans are another major area of concern. These delinquent accounts can be saved with early intervention, however. Debt collection agencies, if introduced early in the process in the crucial 30 - 60 day timeframe, are very successful with diplomatic communications intended to get the customer re-connected with the bank and resolving their delinquencies. This process could also help banks sort out and better isolate the "soft" delinquencies from the more serious accounts to be outsourced. If used early enough, many of these accounts can be restored and prevented from being written off. Debt collection agencies are helpful in acting as a tactful and neutral third party which could motivate past due customers to make the necessary provisions to make their accounts current. Besides, it is more serious to receive communications from a debt collection agency. Agencies charge a small fee and these are much less expensive than the staffing necessities, expenditures and resources vital to recoup these accounts in house.

Presentation of your CV

Take note of the following when presenting a CV to a recruiter:

1. Use good quality paper
2. Be clear and concise
3. Highlight headings
4. Use bullet points for focusing on key points
5. Check your spelling and grammar
6. Be neat and precise
7. Use a confident tone and positive language.

Good Curriculum Vitae Basics

The aim of any CV is to attract the recruiter's attention in the shortest period of time.  The average recruiter only spends 20 to 30 seconds glancing at a CV and you should highlight what you have to offer at the very beginning rather than hiding your main attractions at the end.  CV's and resumes have both similar purposes but there is a difference related to their use, format and length.  CV's tend to be used normally for scientific and teaching posts providing a complete picture of your entire professional career while a resume is a list of transferable skills and accomplishments showing what you can do for the company.
The basic pattern:
CV Summary
You should paint a highly favourable picture of you and indicate your strengths which are relevant to the position you are applying for.  The summary must be short, of no more than four or five lines of text, where you should focus on your key attributes and skills.
Major Achievements
Firstly, analyze what the company is really looking for and make them be sure that you are what you need.  Work experience - describe your previous positions, giving details of your responsibilities, skills attained and achievements in each of them starting with your most recent position.  A list should be made, with all the educational details, dealing from the primary school until the most recent studies.
IT Skills/Training/Other Skills
You should list your up-to-date IT skills, trainign and other skills e.g. languages, typing
Personal Details
This should include your date of birth rather than age, driver's licence if relevant and other relevant personal details.
Hobbies/Interests
They are not considered very important but could prove interesting to the recruiter.

A winning CV could mean taking the necessary time to prepare one or calling for expert help.

The Rent-a-person revolution

Outsourcing, or the prominence of temporary help services, is directly linked to the increased turnover of job changes. Instead of taking months to recruit staff it is possible to assemble a complete staff compliment in a short space of time. Temporary employees are used in political campaigns to man telephones or to perform physical canvassing. They have been deployed in emergency duty in printing plants, hospitals and factories. They have been used in public relations activities. Tens of thousands of them fill routine office-work assignments to help the regular staff of large companies through peak periods. The rental, or the more fashionable term of outsourcing is like the rental of physical objects, spreading all over the business world.