We are starting to see an addition to the credit sheet: a store profile sheet. In the age of competition for lines and turf, this can be a real advantage to you.

Take some time to create a store profile sheet describing your store, your target customer, and what makes your store unique. Include some images of your store, inside and out. Include a listing of your top lines to give the vendor or rep an idea of your store and product mix. This will also help them to best point out some of their strongest collections for your particular customers and know how their line can add to your current product mix.

Keep the profile updated and attach it to your credit sheet. This will help you to convey the important information about your store that will help the rep and designer to know you better. In the word of a recently convicted blond female felon: “A store profile, it’s a good thing.”

A word about credit terms.

A few years ago none of our lines offered credit card payment options. Today, all of them do. It has become a mainstay in the industry. Stores are realizing that using a credit card for payment will expedite the shipment of a first time order, and many of them are getting the extra bonus of air-miles to boot.

The credit card payment option has drastically changed the world of Net 30 terms. Some lines don’t even offer net 30 anymore. As for asking for terms… Many lines are raising the minimum order required for terms. And many will only offer terms on reorders, but not on the first order. We tend to agree. Terms are for the lines you are planning on ordering from repeatedly, not for the one-time small order. Establishing terms takes time and slows down the delivery of your order.

And when you do get terms, be sure to pay on time. Remember that the vendor has to pay their bills as well. If for some reason, payment cannot be made on time, call the vendor or your rep BEFORE the due date and explain the circumstances, usually payment arrangements can be easily made. It is far easier to address the issue before it is late, than later.