solute stranger; it should in every case be answered to the best of one’s ability, and if the occasion warrant, a special letter written, giving the experience with and the confi- dence placed in the account.
Following the Accounts.
Watching the various accounts is an important phase of the credit department’s work. It may seem a task al- most impossible, but it can be accomplished without any noticeable effect even in the busy season, if the proper sys- tem has been installed in the office.
After credit has been granted, subsequent orders must be watched closely,—the size of the order, the amount due or the amount past due, the manner of payment, local condi- tions, crops, general business conditions, etc. All of this routine information can be prepared by some clerk and given to the manager, which leaves him free to make the decision. If no proper system is in use in the department, any responsible filing house will welcome the opportunity of advising as to how to secure the maximum of efficiency, by installing an up to date system.
If the account begins to go “wrong,” the time to stop it is at the very outset. It is frequently very difficult to decide just where to draw the line, especially with the new account. One class of debtor, more or less tricky, but not perhaps entirely unprincipled, is apt to make the first two or three payments promptly at maturity and thereafter to fall behind gradually and gradually, until the credit mana- ger, if he be not wide-awake, suddenly finds the account far in arrears. When this does happen he has no one to blame
