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News & Politics
1
Feature
Skip Tracing Through
the Internet
With the competitive nature of
today's business market, it is
essential to utilize the internet in
order to assist in the credit ap-
proval and collection process. Not
only is the internet a wealth of
information, it can also provide the
power to confirm information given
on credit applications, free of
charge with lightening efficiency.
Occasionally, we receive checks
from the bank marked insufficient
funds, with an illegible signature,
no name, and no phone number.
Unless you are adept at decipher-
ing poor handwriting, this may
become a problem. You could send
a letter or call the bank. However,
sending a letter can take too long
and due to privacy laws, a phone
call may be completely ineffective.
A far more effective approach is to
utilize the power of the internet.
You may be able to locate the
name of the individual at the
address on the check in order to
obtain his/her phone number. A
good start would be to visit:
www.statelocalgov.net. This web
site offers an opportunity to click
on any state in the country, and
then offers all local government
offices for every city and county in
the United States. You can input
any address by clicking on 'Home
Assessments' then 'Property
Address.' By inputting the address
from the check, you can find out
who wrote the bad check to you.
Once you know the name of the
party, you can go to another web
site: www.anywho.com or
www.switchboard.com and look up
the phone number for the indi-
vidual.
Another situation that may come
up is a bad phone number for a
company, especially a small com-
pany. Review the credit application
and start searching for the indi-
viduals associated with the com-
pany via www.anywho.com. Plug in
the name, city, and state to obtain
a listing of all individuals with a
particular name. If there is an
unusual name involved, simply plug
in the last name, city, and state in
order to obtain results.
When screening a credit applica-
tion, it is very helpful to go to
www.anywho.com and input a
'reverse look-up' under the phone
number in order to confirm the
name and address of the company.
The 'reverse look-up' function
accepts the area code and phone
number, and then gives back the
name and address of the party
associated with that phone num-
ber. Often times, a small builder will
use his home address as his work
address. Make a print of the
address information and put it in
the file along with the credit
application. The tax assessment
office is another useful resource in
obtaining confirmation of the
owner at a given address.
The collection process can be very
difficult, especially when dealing
with companies that do not answer
the phone. This is a good time to
use corporate records and busi-
nesses nearby in order to locate a
company or individual. Search
www.statelocalgov.net, under the
corporate records division within
the state government. This office
will provide, free of charge, a listing
of all officers of a corporation
including their home address. In
addition, you can obtain the
resident agent for the corporation
or the attorney that set up the
corporation.
Once you have obtained the
names of the officers, you may
want to revisit some of the web
sites previously discussed to
obtain home phone numbers for
the officers of the corporation (Yes,
I have called officers at their
homes and this is a highly effective
collection tool).
If the process above fails, there is
always the option of calling near-
by businesses to find out more
about the customer you are
attempting to contact. The web
site www.switchboard.com offers
an option to find, "What's Near-
by." Input the address to obtain a
list of companies near the location
of your customer. In many cases,
this search will even provide
different suite numbers within an
This is a printer-friendly version of the Business Credit Journal,
an online newsletter from NACM Business Credit Services.
Remember, printing front-to-back saves paper.
2
office building. Simply call some of
these companies and ask if the
company in question is near them
and attempt to glean any other
information they are willing to give.
Once you have these people on
the phone it is worth asking for the
name of the management company
for the office building. The manage-
ment company can be invaluable in
obtaining information as to
whether the business is still
located in the building. Sometimes,
the management company will
provide alternative phone numbers
for individuals that work for the
company.
There are many more web sites
available to help credit managers
in their day-to-day process.
Here are a few others:
www.pac-info.com,
www.globalcomputing.com,
www.thinkdirectmarketing.com,
www.altavista.com, www.dnb.com
and www.bbb.com.
Valerie Henderson is the Regional
Credit Manager in Virginia for a
major distributor in the home
building industry. She has a pub-
lished book on skip tracing and
possesses 24 years collection
experience, commencing her
tenure in the collection field back in
1979.
Net Nerd
Useful Web Sites
for the Credit
Professional
We recently requested a list of
useful web sites from assorted
members to see what they were
using to keep up with the plethora
of information bobbing around the
world of the internet. John Peel
was kind enough to pass along a
quick list of sites that he visits.
If there are sites that you use that
are not on this list, send them
along. We will compile the list and
create a collective of sites to be
redistributed to the membership.
BANKRUPTCY
www.bankruptcy-expert.com/
creditor.htm provides information
about your rights - as the creditor
of a bankrupt business. It also
provides advice on actions to take
to maximize you possibilities in
getting at least some of the money
you are owed.
www.abiworld.org/stats/
newstatsfront.html will show you
bankruptcy statistics including data
on filings, businesses and consum-
ers, by chapter type, by state, or
by judicial district. This site also
reviews current and historical data.
www.lawdog.com/
bankruptcy.htm will provide you
some state-specific information.
This site has a great amount of
information: bankruptcy laws,
specific exemptions and contact
information for various bankruptcy
courts.
BUSINESS & FINANCIAL
Better Business Bureau -
www.bbb.org
The Motley Fool - www.fool.com
NASDAQ - www.nasdaq.com
New York Stock Exchange -
www.nyse.com
Wall Street Journal -
www.wsj.com
DIRECTORIES & PEOPLE FINDER
Yellow & White Pages Directory -
www.switchboard.com
Zip Codes - www.usps.com
MEDICAL
www.webmd.com
REFERENCE
Farmers Almanac -
www.farmersalmanac.com
General - www.infoplease.com
General - www.howstuffworks.com
Government - www.firstgov.com
Language - www.webster.com
TRAVEL
City Search - www.sidewalk.com
Fodor's - www.fodors.com
Mapquest - www.mapquest.com
Currency Converter -
www.xe.net/ucc
INTERNET SEARCH TIPS
A "Meta" Search Engine
will search for word(s) or phrase(s)
across a variety of the main search
engines. Results are displayed in a
number of different ways including
by relevance or by search engine.
The advantage is the breadth of
search and the helpful way in
which results are grouped. *Be
careful with your search strategy
as some methods such as using "
"to define phrases are not sup-
ported by all engines.
Meta-Search Web Sites
www.dogpile.com
www.Metafind.com
www.oneseek.com
All-in-One Search pages
Provide direct searching to a large
number of search tools from one
page. This cuts out the front page
of the engine, which is faster, but
means you often miss help and
other information. Also, they do not
search over a number of search
engines at once.
Mail Lists/New Groups
A good way to find Lists and
Newsgroups that interest you.
Lists can be a good source of
valuable information often from
peers and/or subject experts.
There are a number of newsletters
that search the net for new and
interesting sites such as
www.tourbus.com
Yellow and White Pages
There are a number of email
address and business address
search tools. Some include:
www.yellowpages.com or
www.whitepages.com.
3
Director Spotlight
Rick Weisman
Rick Weisman has been the finan-
cial manager for Graybar Electric for
22 years. Rick's vision for the board
is to be forward thinking, i.e.
continually turning to the member-
ship for feedback on how best to
meet their needs as their business
environment changes. "My goal is
for NACM membership to be consid-
ered essential, a prerequisite, for
any business who expects
success...that for anyone to have
not heard of NACM to be the gross
exception."
bcj What event do you do you
look forward to as a member of
the NACM board?
rw Any event that exposes mem-
bers face-to-face with other
members would be an event that I
would encourage. For me person-
ally, the annual Board Retreat
serves as an excellent opportunity
to brainstorm and examine our
association and how it is or isn't
working. The exposure to the
managers of NACM BCS and the
other board members has always
been a highlight for me.
bcj In the last ten years, what
event, tool, or service has most
affected the way credit profes-
sionals do business?
rw The vast array of technological
advances has drastically affected
the way credit professionals do
business, not only in the way we
can monitor our customer accounts
but how we communicate with
each other as well. I like having
another way of contacting our
accounts, i.e. email. Of course it's
important that one is able to
express oneself clearly and safely
when using a tool like email.
bcj What advice would you have
for a rookie credit professional?
rw Trust in your company's credit
policy and don't take it personally if
your customer or sales people get
upset because you are holding an
order. It's not your fault that the
customer is past due on his ac-
count. You have done your part in
providing the product or service.
Now it's your customer's turn to do
their part, pay the bill!
bcj How do you see your
profession changing?
rw The 5 "C's" of credit:
Capacity
Capital
Character
Collateral
Condition
These terms are timeless when it
comes to the fundamentals of
extending credit. A fellow credit
professional, Dave Erickon CCE,
suggests a sixth "C" be added;
Computer. Does the customer have
a computer? I would say that most
of the changes that will effect our
profession would be on account of
new state and federal legislation.
Many of the changes are not to our
advantage, so it is important to be
aware and get involved whenever
necessary.
bcj How do you
measure success?
rw I measure success two ways,
professionally and personally.
Professional success, for me, is
meeting Graybar's established
credit department goals while also
contributing to the sales effort.
Personal success is a much bigger
issue. My picture of success is that
of an elderly person; peacefully
rocking on a porch somewhere,
smile wrinkles permanently etched
on their face. They have navigated
life's storms, given and experi-
enced love, and are at peace with
themselves and with God. I've still
got a long way to go before I feel
personally successful.
bcj If you had a million dollars to
give away, who would you give it
to?
rw If I had a million dollars to give
away I would give it to a charitable
organization rather than to any
one individual. We see it everyday
in the news, some person has
come across a bunch of money too
quickly and their overall quality of
life does not generally benefit. It
would sure be nice to be in that
position, wouldn't it?
bcj What makes you laugh?
rw I appreciate dry humor but
what really gets me going is when
my wife and children are having fun
with each other, telling stories,
dancing around the house, and
imitating people in the movies.
Those are the best of times.
bcj Who would you like your kids
to look to as a role model?
rw I have 4 kids: Shane 21, Greta
18 (both at the U of W…"Go Hus-
kies!"), Heidi 17, and Paul 12.
I would like the boys to look to
their grandpa and uncles as role
models. These men are strong men
of character and humble in nature.
I would like the girls to be like their
mother who is passionate about
life and, to quote Jack Nicholson in
the movie As Good As it Gets,
"…makes me want to be a better
man."
bcj Describe yourself
in one sentence.
rw You know, I was born a sinner
but am thankful that God has me
on the right road. Other then that,
I have been told that I am a good
listener. The problem I have with
that, however, is that if I do too
much listening, I usually doze
off…oh well.
bcj If you could go back to any
point in your life to give the
younger you some advice, when
would that be? What advice
would you give?
rw Back in 1978 I graduated from
college and was very self-assured,
self-confidant, self-righteous, a real
jerk to be truthful. My parents
suggested that I go see a counse-
lor but I was quick to reject that
idea, much to my regret. If I were
to give a younger person some
advice it would be this: Do not
believe the lie that says, "You
should only watch out for number
one." Instead, try to help and
serve others and never be too
proud to ask for help.
4
Employee Spotlight
Lisa Rogstad
Lisa Rogstad began working at
NACM in 1993. During her ten
years here she has spent time as a
credit reporter, industry group
coordinator, education coordinator,
and most recently, executive
assistant to Rod Wheeland. Lisa is
responsible for many aspects of
the day-to-day operation of the
NACM community that are often
taken for granted.
Lisa took a moment out of her day
to share this with us:
bcj On any given day, how do you
spend most of your time?
lr Considering that the majority of
day I spend at the office, I would
say, "working!" Seriously, I wear
lots of different "hats" at NACM. As
Rod's [Wheeland] assistant, I get
the opportunity to provide adminis-
trative support for the Board and
various committees, make corpo-
rate travel arrangements, serve as
HR representative, process payroll,
perform building management
duties, and various odds 'n ends.
I'm a multi-tasker, it makes my day
more interesting, never boring.
bcj What do you find most re-
warding about your job?
lr Being able to help someone out
to make their job a little easier.
bcj Is there an aspect of your job
that you had not expected?
lr Being told that I must be in the
"Employee Spotlight." Ha-Ha! No, I
would have never thought I would
be managing the building.
bcj What is the most frustrating
aspect of building management?
lr Not being able to please every-
one at the drop of a hat is very
frustrating!
bcj What is the most relaxing part
of your day?
lr When I can sit at my desk and
actually get some work done!
That's usually when there is not
much happening in building man-
agement!
bcj What is your favorite child-
hood memory?
lr I don't have any memories. I
have a case of amnesia!
bcj If you could be any animal,
what would it be?
lr A dog, 'cause they are so cute! I
often wonder what dogs are
thinking. If I were one, I would
know.
bcj List your top five favorite
movies.
lr I don't have a favorite movie, but
I enjoy comedies and dramas.
bcj What would people be sur-
prised to know about you?
lr Have a collection of "Cherished
Teddies" figurines.
Welcome
New Members
Driveline Service of Portland
A manufacturer of driveshafts.
Natalie Panzer
503.289.2264
9041 NE Vancouver Way
Portland OR 97211
Western Freezer, Inc.
A food service equipment distribu-
tor.
Laurel Jensen
503.624.0722
PO Box 23249
Tigard OR 97281
Index Participation
Earn CCE
Recertification Points
For those CCEs who consistently
participate in the survey, NACM is
acknowledging your contribution by
assessing CCE recertification
points. You earn one recertification
point for completing at least ten of
twelve surveys (ten of twelve
months) within a year with a
maximum of one point per year.
Over your three-year recertification
period you may earn up to three
points. These points must be
divided, 1.5 points in Education
and 1.5 points in the Participation
Section. Please list these points
under the Special Consideration
Categories of the Education and
Participation Sections of the CCE
Recertification Report, respectively.
Thank you in advance for partici-
pating in NACM's monthly Credit
Manager's Index (CMI), tracking
and predicting trends in the busi-
ness credit industry.
We hope that you will continue to
participate each month between
the 20th and 25th so the results
can be compiled and ready for
release to the business press on
the first working day of the follow-
ing month.
You can participate with confi-
dence: your data will be held in the
strictest confidence and will not be
individually identified or released.
Access the survey or go to
www.nacm.org and select the
survey button in the lower right
area of the page.
5
Foundation News
Scholarships
The NACM-Oregon Foundation
frequently offers scholarships for
conferences, classes, and testing
fees. Many scholarships go un-
claimed. If you have an event or
class you would like to attend, or
testing fees you would like assis-
tance with, take the time to apply
for a scholarship. It could save you
hundreds of dollars.
The Foundation recently awarded
these scholarships:
Steve Porter, CCE
TRM Corporation
$500 for NACM National Credit
Congress June 2003.
Gabriel Smithson
Pacific Detroit
Diesel Allison Co.
$195 for BA 9.235 -
Financial Statement Analysis 1
through PCC.
Membership
At the NACM-Oregon Foundation
Annual Membership Meeting held
May 22, 2003, the membership
voted to extend the Charter
Membership period to the next
Annual Meeting to be held in May
2004.
The NACM-Oregon Foundation is an
independent non-profit foundation
that is dedicated to increasing
credit management professional-
ism. The Foundation is managed by
an elected group of current and
retired credit professionals who
have donated their time and
energy to make the Foundation a
source of funding to support
education of people involved in
credit management.
Contact the Foundation
Lourdes (LOU) A. Rice
NOF Scholarship Chair
phone: 503.227.0691
lrice@pacificmetal.com
CFDD Meetings
Salem & Albany
Date
June 10
Location
Lum Yuen
3190 Portland Rd. NE
503.581.2903
Topic
"Letters of Credit"
Speaker
Judy Chan
Coordinator
Lori Kimball
503.769.2101 x249
Eugene & Springfield
Date
June 11
Location
Valley River Inn
Topic
"Bankruptcy Trustee Panel"
Speakers
Tom Huntsberger
Ronald R. Sticka
Coordinator
Tony Ceniga
541.485.1503
Portland
Date
June 12
Location
DoubleTree, Downtown
Topic
“Emerging Role of the Credit
Manager as Treasury Manager”
Speaker
David Erickson, CCE
International Trade Consultant and
Director of F & A, ALLPORTS in
Portland, Oregon.
Coordinator
Jeff O'Banion
503.287.9159
Seminar: Credit A-Z
(advanced)
Sponsored by
CFDD Salem-Albany
This course is designed to provide
up-to-date techniques, manage-
ment and professional require-
ments for individuals involved in
commercial collections. It is de-
signed to take you from basic to
advanced levels.
• Technology
• Credit Investigations
• Financial Analysis
• Financial Ratios
• Cash Flow
• Spread Sheets
• International Credit
• Practical Exercises
Date
June 17, 2003, 9-3pm
Lunch Included
Location
Roth's IGA Conference Center
1130 Wallace Rd NW
West Salem
Cost
NACM/CFDD members: $80
Non-NACM members: $95
Credit
.5 CEU
Registration
Contact Jennifer Johnson at NACM:
phone: 1-800-622-6985
fax: 503-257-0247
email: register@nacm-bcs.org