Trade Credit Insurance: Giving you confidence to enter new markets
At CMR, we understand that growth and profitability are the most important factors when running a business as we ourselves have been running a successful company for 25 years and counting, specialising in credit insurance. We also understand that you need to take risks and adapt to the constantly changing markets to keep growing and stay profitable. An obvious way to grow would be to find more clients, clients that can be found all over the world, it's time to export!
Credit insurance is used to protect your business from a client defaulting on payment or going into administration but credit insurance can offer so much more than just providing protection. The credit insurers' knowledge and insight is so vast and up to date that if they confirm a buyer is creditworthy you have the confidence to trade with a new customer you may know nothing about.
Useful points when entering an export market
- Invest in a credit insurance policy so you are covered against the unforeseen occurrence of not being paid. Your credit insurance policy will also be able to confirm the creditworthiness of your potential client.
- Be methodical when you look to expand into export markets, enter into a specific market one at a time so you can ease your way in and get a true understanding of the way trade is conducted. This will also allow you to get used to local laws and practises./li>
- Consider the market from the customer's point of view, as it's important to understand their needs so you can get repeat business.
- Always agree the cost and credit terms in writing to prevent queries further down the line, which can often end in late payment. Be clear with regard to what you are selling as late payments generally occur when the buyer can make an excuse as to why they haven't paid e.g. poor quality, didn't know the payment terms, haven't received the invoice…etc.
- Act promptly if there are any negative warning signs regarding a payment; do not feel embarrassed to ask for the money owed to you. Not being paid is not good business sense so do not let a friendly buyer shadow over the fact that they should have paid for goods/services you provided.
- If payment is still not forthcoming following your efforts, pass it to an external debt collection company. At CMR, we provide a debt collection service against companies all over the world on a no collection no fee basis. If you have insured your customer through a CMR managed credit insurance policy, the cost of recovery (which can be substantial in export markets) is reclaimable from the credit insurer.
Step into the unknown…credit insurance is a solution
Trading with companies in the UK can be risky enough, but what about a country you have never traded with? How do they go about business? Are they notorious for paying late, for querying invoices? These are all questions that may go through your mind. This is where a managed credit insurance policy comes in. CMR works with Atradius, one of the largest credit insurers in the world, who has a vast network across 50 countries giving them access to credit information on 200 million companies worldwide. This insight will help you feel both protected and confident to deal with a new market. Our large umbrella credit insurance policy gives us the power to get SMEs the best rates and our wealth of experience and friendly staff means running your credit insurance policy couldn't be simpler, giving you the time needed to grow your business.
Interested?
CMR is backed by one of the largest credit insurers in the world and that enables us to support your business' growth meaning credit insurance is the solution to protect your company from bad debt. If you would like to have an informal chat about how credit insurance could help protect your business then please give us a call on 020 8835 2587 or request a call back here.