Rudy deLeon


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UK Debt Management Company – How To Find The Best UK Debt Management Plans

Debt Management is one of the most commonly used ways to tackle serious debt problems in the UK, so there are many debt management companies available to offer their services.  However, having such a vast choice can make the job of selecting one that you can depend on quite a difficult task.  It is very important to approach more than one company, so that you can compare what they offer you, but this safeguard alone is not enough.

There are many debt companies operating whose proposals to you will be based purely on providing large fees for them, rather than offering you the most appropriate solution for your circumstances.  For this reason, you need to be armed with some basic information before you launch out and start asking a debt management company to help you.  Your starting point should be to have a good understanding of what you can expect a good UK debt management company to do for you, and an understanding of how to avoid the less reputable companies.  You can achieve both of these aims by reading the rest of this article.

A UK debt management company can help you out of debt by providing an informal payment scheme known as a debt management plan.  These will only be available to you if you have a substantial amount of debt to more than one creditor and you are struggling to keep up with payments.  Also, the type of debt that these plans can deal with is restricted to what are known as unsecured debts.  These will include all credit and store cards, personal loans, and normal household bills, but not a mortgage or hire purchase agreement, as these are legally tied to assets, and therefore not unsecured.

When you approach a UK debt management company, they should first of all go through your finances with you, so they can get a good understanding of your situation.  If they feel they are able to help you, they will then make a proposal for the best way forward.  This will normally involve an advisor dealing with all your creditors for you, and negotiating with them to come to new arrangements for paying back the money you owe.  The idea is that they can significantly bring down the total amount you have to pay out each month by getting agreement to change the repayment terms, which will normally mean reducing interest charges and any penalty fees too.

The result of the negotiations will be that you just have one monthly payment to make to the UK debt management company, and your creditors will stop bothering you because they have to deal with the debt advisor instead.  The best companies will also help you by providing debt counselling and help with budgeting and money saving advice.  This type of plan is a tried and tested way to become debt free within a fixed period.  For a debt management plan to work, you will need to have a regular income, which leaves you with enough money to make a monthly payment into the plan.

If you find that your situation is so serious that you do not have enough spare income to manage the payments required on a debt management plan, all is not lost.  Many people think that bankruptcy is the only alternative in such circumstances, but there is a much better option called an IVA.  An Individual Voluntary Arrangement is something that is only available to UK residents, and unlike debt management plan, it is a formal agreement.  One of the advantages of this is that if the creditors for 75% or more of your debt agree to the IVA, then the others are legally bound to it as well.  The process involves making fixed monthly payments for a set period, usually up to five years, after which your remaining debts are written off.

Many UK debt management companies will provide IVAs too, so as long as you choose good companies, they will advise you on which option is the most appropriate for your needs.  If you wish to look into this further, the most important thing is to limit your discussions to those companies that you know are safe.  You should only talk to the most reputable and well established companies, who can demonstrate a good record of having successfully helped many other people to get rid of debt.  The safest way to start is to follow recommendations for reputable companies and then apply to two or three of them to compare what you are offered.

Visit www.FreedomDebtRelief.com for more information. In this interview with KRON4 TV, Brad Stroh (Co-CEO & Founder of Freedom Debt Relief) discusses the differences between various debt solution options. Topics covered in this interview include •How to reduce minimum monthly payments •How credit card principles can be reduced through negotiated settlements •The differences between credit counseling and debt settlement •A case study of showing how Freedom Debt Relief’s program works. KRON4-TVs Homepage: www.kron.com To see the Freedom Debt Relief client case study discussed in the interview visit: www.freedomdebtrelief.com For Freedom Debt Relief reviews visit: www.freedomdebtrelief.com

Interim Sales Managers: When Can Hiring an Interim Sales Manager be the Best Option?

At first glance, an interim sales manager may seem like a strange concept. After all, “sales” is a constant, “business as usual” function within any organisation.

However, over recent years, the concept of an interim sales manager has emerged. Specifically interim sales managers are increasingly seen as a flexible and appropriate solution in the following three business situations:

1) Stop Gaps

2) Start-ups

3) Special Projects

This article looks at each of these three situations and explores how an interim sales manager can add immediate value.

Stop Gaps

Many companies can find themselves in positions where they have a short-term requirement to plug a gap in their sales function. Typical scenarios include long-term illness, maternity leave and any type of sudden unplanned crisis.

Whether it’s because the situation does not allow for a permanent resource, or that the time to recruit leaves sales exposed, an interim sales manager can bring immediate resource to bear on the problem.

Almost exclusively, temporary sales people are not catered for in the general recruitment market; this is the domain of professional interim sales managers who specialise in filling immediate interim assignments.

Start-ups

Another common situation where an interim sales manager is a good solution is with start-ups and early stage companies. Typically, these companies have limited resources and find attracting top sales talent a real problem.

Interim sales managers are usually over-qualified, experienced individuals with broad experience across different business stages. As well as bringing additional “hands on” sales resource, an interim sales manager will add value through supporting the start-up management team with strategy and market development.

Interim sales managers are also “heavy hitters” with strong networks, capable of opening doors and bringing in major deals that younger sales hires would struggle with.

Special Projects

Finally, every business has times when they need to focus resource on new areas to drive revenue. Often, these special projects emerge from board-level strategies to sustain profitable growth and retain a competitive edge.

These could include exploring new markets, evaluating current sales channels, or merging sales teams and divisions.

An interim sales manager is an excellent solution for this situation. Crucially, interim sales managers bring a fresh perspective, unencumbered by internal politics and structures.

In addition, while it could be argued that existing sales people could be utilised for these special projects, rather than bringing in an interim sales manager, this seldom works in reality.

Why? Unlike an Interim Sales Manager, existing sales people (if they are good) are best left focused on execution. Indeed, most of their remuneration will come from successfully selling established products to existing markets.

Many a new product launch has been halted by sales teams that are not interested in selling the new product; once they experience resistance, they go back to selling what they know.

In contrast, interim sales managers measure success by their last assignment. Once you have an interim sales manager focused on delivering a successful outcome they have no option but to make it work.

In summary, there are many situations where hiring an interim sales manager is the best option.

From start-ups to multi-national organisations, interim sales managers represent a flexible and results-focused solution short-term sales and business development resourcing.