Letter: Advanta Closing All Business Credit Cards


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This is the letter received today from Advanta announcing the closing of all business credit cards at the end of the Month. According to the Consumer Affairs blog, Advanta was having horrible losses.

You can actually read the letter text in the LARGE size photo.

The main problem of course is all the bills that are set to auto pay. I don’t have another business credit card to pay them. Therefore, I am forced to intermingle business and personal expenses which is a VERY BAD thing from a liability perspective since is it a method used to pierce the corporate veil. I’ll have to see if bills can be paid via check until we can sort this out.

And what is up with the auto white balance? That letter is supposed to be white! Proof once again why you should always shoot in raw.

Some Credit Score Basics

Do you know how your credit score is calculated?

I am amazed at the number of people I talk to that do not understand that the calculation of your credit score is more than just paying your bills on time.

While that is certainly a major part of your score, there are 4 other factors that you need to keep in mind in order to maintain the best credit score possible.

There are several scoring calculators out there but the one that is the most utilized is the FICO score. The Fair Isaac Company, FICO for short, has only in the past few years released the parameters that they use when calculating the ‘FICO’ score. This number is used to decide your credit worthiness when you are applying for loans of any kind, so use this acronym to remember the five parts of your credit score:

L -  Late payments – ALWAYS PAY ON TIME

O – Owed vs. Credit Limits – KEEP THIS AT 35% OR LESS

A – Average age of all your credit cards – DON’T CLOSE

      OLD CARDS

N – New applications for credit – NO MORE THAN ONE

      EVERY 4-6 MONTHS

S – Spread – KEEP A GOOD SPREAD OF TYPES OF CREDIT

Okay, so I was reaching for that last one, but the idea there is to have both revolving (credit cards) and installment (mortgage or car loans). I don’t mean that you should go out and buy a house or car just to get an installment loan, only that the FICO algorithm does take that into account. The stability implied by these types of loans makes you look more reliable.

The first two categories above (L & O) account for 65% of your score.

Building credit takes a long time but you can ruin it quite quickly so keep the above factors in mind the next time you are tempted to pay late or run up that credit card to its limit.

This is hkbecky’s video, Imagine what it would be if you could hear cats talking…. ps this is not my video…just my voice over. I give all video and cat credit to hkbecky at www.youtube.com

Most debt consolidation companies do nothing better than simply ruin your fico score in order to settle your debt. If you really want to work with an agency that will help you reduce your debt, contact a company member of “CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING SERVICES” (CCCS) More info at: sccrealestateuncensored.com/2008/repair-credit-legally-remove-negative-accounts/ micasamidinero.com/2008/reparo-credito-eliminando-legalmente-cuentas-negativas/
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Debt Management and why it matters

Debt management isn’t just a fancy way of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul or taking out an even larger loan to settle money owed. Debt management and debt management programs play a vital role in helping individuals and companies get to grips with the state of their finances and cope with their financial obligations. It’s a way of cutting through the fear and concern surrounding debt and getting to the very heart of how best to organise it so that it can be repaid as cost effectively and as efficiently as possible.

It’s worth remembering too that when it comes to debt it isn’t just the creditors who suffer through not being paid what they are due. Debt management services are there as much to help alleviate the stress and the pain of a situation from the debtor’s perspective. Problems that if left unmanaged and allowed to continue to run their natural course might easily spiral out of control and make the situation worse for all parties. If you owe money that you are finding difficult to repay or have been in that situation in the past then you will know how unpleasant it can be. It’s in no-one’s interests for debt to remain unpaid and unmanaged.

One more thing to bear in mind is that if you do find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to seek debt management, UK agencies that are impartial and independent are on hand to help you avoid the less scrupulous organisations that thrive on people’s financial weakness. These less scrupulous organisations may, if you are not careful, leave you in a significantly worse state than the one you started in. In other words, if you are in the difficult position of owing money that you are struggling to repay and find yourself with limited options, then you are potentially vulnerable to exploitation. Going to debt management services that have no vested interest in partisan support for one side or the other can help you avoid that situation.

Fortunately when it comes to debt management. UK consumers are lucky enough to have a wide range of free, independent and experienced debt management programs offering experienced and helpful debt management advice and guidance to help you turn your situation around.

Sales Management Strategies

Abstract

The paper discusses three sales management strategies that are currently used. Each of the strategy is analyzed in details. The entity advantages, disadvantages and practical application are discussed for each of the strategies.

Introduction

Nowadays the world economy becomes more and more complicated because it becomes more and more global. As a result this leads to the development of an unparalleled competitiveness. Naturally in such a situation it is extremely important for survival in the market to remain competitive that demands to use the most advanced technologies, including not only technical aspect but managerial as well. It means that a company that uses the most advanced and most effective management strategies can be more competitive and has more chances for success. It is especially important when the company deals with the sales management.
The sales management is one of the most significant part of any company’s work since it is due to sales management the company can finally sell its products or services to customers and the general success of the company greatly depends on the effectiveness of the sales management. Consequently, it is absolutely necessary to know well recent trends and strategies that are used nowadays by the most successful companies that would permit to realize what strategies are the most perspective what are their advantages and disadvantages and finally it would be possible to define what strategies may be used in the future or in what way the current strategies should be modified in order to be the most effective. In terms of this paper three sales management strategies would be basically analyzed and discussed. These strategies are: Establish a Never-Before Sales Quota, Establish and Build a Team Selling Program, Employ Advanced Prospecting Technologies.

Establish a Never-Before Sales Quota

This sales management strategy deals with the market visibility problem since very often companies have problems at this respect and consequently they cannot afford competitiveness and their sales rates would gradually decrease, as the company is not well known or recognizable among the consumers. Traditionally it is said that if the company’s percentage rate of new equipment sales to customers who have never done business with this particular company and with its dealership is 20-23% or even lower than the company obviously has market visibility problems. As a result, in such a situation the circle of the company influence is not expanded as well as the rate of sales does and probably will not increase if certain measures are not undertaken. Basically such companies can work about three years than they have to retire.

However, if a company is planning to work in a long-term perspective than the company should set 30-35% rate as a ‘never-before’ goal for each of its equipment and product support sales reps. For instance, 30-35% should be with accounts that have never before done business with the company’s dealership and may even not know it exists. As a result such an increase of the company’s visibility in the market would proportionally increase its sales rate.

By the way it should be pointed out that if the company just starts some business in a new area the rate should be even higher. Basically specialists indicate that it should be about 45-50% (George 2002) only on such conditions the company sales and influence would gradually expand.

Nonetheless, it is only theory and the advantages of this strategy are obvious since the growing visibility is vitally important for increase of company sales but in real life the company that use this strategy may face certain problems that may be treated as disadvantages of the strategy. It should be mentioned that the Establish a Never-Before Sales Quota strategy is based on the never-before customer’s motivation and practically always the customers feel fear. They are fearful of the company’s reliability, its equipment, which, as they afraid, would not work as promised, and the list may be continued.

Naturally the question arises: how the company can best overcome the fear of customers in the never-before account? Basically specialists (Reilly 2000 and Goerge 2002) single out two main ways in overcoming this problem. So, the problem may be solved through short-term rentals and product support.

Obviously the two ways mentioned above are not the only one but they are probably the easiest ones. Using short-term rentals and product support it is relatively easy to penetrate never-before accounts for “by demonstrating strong dealer customer care capabilities with an aggressive, short-term rentals program and highly responsive parts and service programs, a company can quickly build a positive relationship in the new account” (Reilly 2001, p.184).

Furthermore, a very effective parts and service support tool is the planned maintenance contract. For instance, nowadays planned maintenance and full-maintenance leases are quickly gaining acceptance in North America in the construction equipment and heavy-duty truck industries.

Finally, among other advantages of this strategy may be named the fact that short-term rentals and product support capabilities eventually can eliminate fear and sales reluctance in the never before account. Thus, summarizing the Establish a Never-Before Sales Quota strategy it is possible to say that on the one hand, it may be quite effective and increasing the company’s visibility, on the other hand, there is still the risk that the customers’ fear won’t be overcome.

Establish and Build a Team Selling Program

This is another strategy that may enhance the company sales rate and its general position in the market. Traditionally dealers have three or four different employees working in the same territory. Traditionally they are: a capital equipment sales rep, a full-time customer parts and service sales rep, one or more field service technicians and, as a rule, a rental and used equipment sales rep.

However, the problem is that in some cases team selling does not work. But the root of the problems lies in the fact that the equipment sales rep is at odds with these other dealer representatives and does not consider them allies or partners in development activities. Nowadays such a situation is not affordable anymore and such type of reps should be eliminated, or, it would be better to say, changed.

Establish and Build a Team Selling Program strategy implies quite the contrary role of all representatives of the company. Nowadays this strategy becomes more and more widely used. This is why in some very successful dealer organizations prefer the thoughtful formation of territory sales teams but it should be pointed out that this is not just the assembly of field employees to grovel and provide the equipment sales rep with leads (McBride 2001, p.311). Team selling requires enlightened leadership. Consequently in order to unite all the reps as a team it is necessary to organize team activity.

Practically it means that sales team activity is a frequent meeting of specialists to share insights, establish strategies, set information gathering goals, etc that would eventually complement one another’s strengths and work together to foster the overall business development of the dealership in that given market area.

Also it should be said that this strategy demands to provide team selling recognition awards that would stimulate the work of the whole team but not its separate participants. It is also especially effective in account management and penetrating, new account development, problem solving success, market share gain.

A very important positive feature of team selling is the fact that it offers the possibility of utilizing of all of the resources. Team selling captures the mind and spirit of the company’s business and can present total solutions to customers (McBride 2001, p.349). An effective sales team is generating the highest possible revenue and profit for the business.

Summarizing the strategy, it is only should be pointed out that its main disadvantages are the problems of organizing all the reps in an effective sales team with a strong leader.

Employ Advanced Prospecting Technologies

This strategy implies the usage of the advanced and prospecting technologies as tools in achieving better results in sales rates. The most effective technology that can be used nowadays is teleprospecting. It is quite effective and inexpensive. The objective of teleprospecting program is to contact, profile and identify short-term needs, problems and opportunities of a large number of inactive and prospective customers.

To achieve such a goal it is necessary to train a teleprospector by having him/her update the company’s current customer mailing list for correct contacts for promo mailings. It is also important to train a teleprospector for ‘cold calling’ by having him/her first test a survey questionnaire or interview guide on five very friendly customers for constructive feedback. Furthermore, proper facilities and resources should be set up.

However, this strategy also has its own disadvantages. To be effective the prospecting program will require intensive administrative support to avoid wasted, non-productive time. Otherwise, the effectiveness of the program would be low.

Finally, it is necessary to provide challenging incentives. For instance, it is possible to set three completion level goals for the week and to offer a 20% base hourly rate increase for entire week if the goal is reached. It may be done as follows:

Debt Management And Why It Matters

Debt management isn’t just a fancy way of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul or taking out an even larger loan to settle money owed. Debt management and debt management programs play a vital role in helping individuals and companies get to grips with the state of their finances and cope with their financial obligations. It’s a way of cutting through the fear and concern surrounding debt and getting to the very heart of how best to organise it so that it can be repaid as cost effectively and as efficiently as possible.

It’s worth remembering too that when it comes to debt it isn’t just the creditors who suffer through not being paid what they are due. Debt management services are there as much to help alleviate the stress and the pain of a situation from the debtor’s perspective. Problems that if left unmanaged and allowed to continue to run their natural course might easily spiral out of control and make the situation worse for all parties. If you owe money that you are finding difficult to repay or have been in that situation in the past then you will know how unpleasant it can be. It’s in no-one’s interests for debt to remain unpaid and unmanaged.

One more thing to bear in mind is that if you do find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to seek debt management, UK agencies that are impartial and independent are on hand to help you avoid the less scrupulous organisations that thrive on people’s financial weakness. These less scrupulous organisations may, if you are not careful, leave you in a significantly worse state than the one you started in. In other words, if you are in the difficult position of owing money that you are struggling to repay and find yourself with limited options, then you are potentially vulnerable to exploitation. Going to debt management services that have no vested interest in partisan support for one side or the other can help you avoid that situation.

Fortunately when it comes to debt management. UK consumers are lucky enough to have a wide range of free, independent and experienced debt management programs offering experienced and helpful debt management advice and guidance to help you turn your situation around.

Increasing the tax threshold will help the economy and help people pay off their debts. That’s the view of Matthew Elliot, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance following proposals by the coalition Government that it should be increased to £10000 from April 2011. He believes low and middle earners will benefit from more money in their pockets. The extra money could help debt management plans. Debt Relief Orders (DRO) can help vulnerable borrowers owing less than £15000, pay a more manageable monthly amount. An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) could see those with unsecured debts over £15000 avoid bankruptcy.
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