Credit Management, The Game: A challenge

The event started with a refreshment at the door as the attendees entered the penthouse Buckingham Suite. The attendees were divided over the four tables and listened to Kerry Walsh who introduced the event. After that Ben Davies of OnGuard, who sponsored the day, gave a brief presentation highlighting OnGuard and their responsibilities to the development of the Credit Management industry best practices. Ben Sutton and Gordon Cook (EDF Credit Managers and developers of The Game) then introduced the task ahead.

At the beginning of ‘The Game’ each team was given a pack of information, which contained a fictitious ledger with various company details. Each team was then assigned the task of looking at the ledger and deciding which debts to collect, provision or write off. There were numerous changes throughout the game which lead to different possible outcomes. ‘The Game’ lasted an hour and a quarter which was just enough time to pressure each team to fill in their fictitious balance sheets and hand them in.

Congratulations to Avril Hurwitz, Ben Davies, Michaela Adams and Denise Barnett as their team (combined of sales and credit skills) went on to win the event collecting the highest fictitious money within the set rules.

After The Game was over each team filled in feedback forms and suggested ideas on how/if to change the game. The general consensus was that not much needed changing. The benefits of the game were obvious: The Game brings credit management into the centre of an organisation and makes each element understand the daily decisions that need to be made by the credit management team and how important their role is. Each attendee said that they would recommend ‘The Game’ especially when you can involve a mix of Sales, Service Centre and Credit Management staff.

EDF, OnGuard & ICM are now looking to run the event at other occasions, so keep an eye on our website to make sure you are informed.