Page:Roy Ralph Hottman - Practical Collection Procedure (1923).pdf/11



The heavy period of depression which followed the prosperous years of the World-War, plunging as it did, numberless business enterprises into bankruptcy and insolvency, necessitating the refinancing and reorganization of others which escaped, emphasized with telling force the need of sound credits and prompt collections in our present business structure. The deluge of cancellations of orders which, to a casual observer, and it would seem that most business men were guilty of assuming that rôle, came from a clear sky in the year 1920, forced business to abruptly center a large measure of its attention upon quick collections, and these past few years have perhaps contributed more largely to the placing of the credit and collection man in his proper sphere, than has the preceding decade.

Heretofore, in altogether too vast a number of instances, too much effort has been expended in the selling of merchandise in proportion to the attention given to the collection of accounts, it being somehow held that the sale having been made, collection would follow as a matter of course. While it is true that the great majority of people are honest (if it were not true, our credit system could not survive nor could we transact the volume of paper-business that we do) yet it must not be overlooked that a heavy percentage of the debtors, while honest, are more or less