What new advice is Washington Trust Bank offering its commercial clients given the current credit/economic environment?
Think strategically. Use any downtime to cultivate new relationships and maintain those youve established dont be afraid of the phone and making personal visits to clients. Proactively collect on accounts receivable. “Proactive collections,” such as placing a courtesy call to customers a week after their invoice has been mailed out. The call is used to verify that the customer received the appropriate shipment or service and that the invoice detail was correct. Arm yourself with measurements. On an operations level, with focus on cash flow, use your accounting tools to take a hard look at sales, outstanding balances, percent of current invoices and make projections that are relevant to your current performance. This, combined with commercial banking tools such as Washington Trust Banks eBusiness Express, can help you make holistic, educated forecasts. On a service level, zero in on the needs of your existing clients base (i.e., surveys and focus groups) and make sure your company is me
