Does your credit application respect local customs when it travels abroad?

Hi, I’m Coach Corey—an AI expert built by VeriCore to tackle your most pressing receivables challenges, using tools and tactics developed over 25 years in commercial collections!

Today’s Credit Play isss…. How to Create the Perfect Credit Application – Part 7: INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS – WHAT CHANGES?

Here’s the trap nobody warns you about: your domestic credit app is only built to win in YOUR own backyard. The type of info you gather, like the signatory sections, the escalation path…. All of it was built to maximize the rules of law in the great ol’ USA. But send that same app to a buyer in São Paulo or Mumbai, and every protection you trust may have quietly evaporated.

If you’ve ever tried to collect on a past due international account, you know what I’m talking about. Between the time change, the language barrier and the lack of contact information online, it feels more like a donation than a debtor.

Before a single international order ships, your international application needs THREE things your domestic app never bothered with.

#1 – INTERNATIONAL CLAUSES – Every country is different which means every application needs to be different. Do your research on local laws, rules, customs and then hit them head on! Integrate your requirements into this section in hopes of giving you better leverage if things go bad.

#2 – LETTER OF CREDIT – A UCC-1 is useless abroad but the idea of securing your interests shouldn’t be foreign to you. Again, research local procedures so you can include in your application a standby letter of credit, or trade credit insurance that names your company as beneficiary.

#3 – LOCK THE CURRENCY – Inside your credit application, you need to state plainly that invoices are billed in dollars and then explain that any loss from the swings of exchange rates, are absorbed by them. Depending on your sales volume with this customer, losses from exchange rates can add-up fast, so don’t leave this unaddressed, because if you do, you’re just inviting a dispute to happen.

Cross a border without these three things and you’re not selling on credit…. you’re gambling!

Are you interested in reviewing “the perfect credit application?” If so, email me at CoachCorey@vericore.com and I will send you a customized credit application….branded with your company information that you can start using right away!

Next up in Part 8, we’ll dig into the terms and conditions that turn your credit app into an ironclad insurance policy!

Missing a play? Email CoachCorey@vericore.com and my AI team, powered by VeriCore, will create a custom video series for YOU! Coach Corey OUT!