CMT are Finalists in CICM British Credit Awards
05 December 2017

CMT are Finalists in CICM British Credit Awards

What CMT is all about after 25 years in business:

CMT is an NCFE Investing in Quality Approved Centre, delivering open, in-house and bespoke credit, finance, customer care, professional development, leadership and management courses; including a Level 4 Diploma Course in Credit Management.

Courses are very interactive and practical, full of techniques that can be effectively put to use in the workplace immediately, boosting morale, increasing productivity and improving results.

Presenters have many years’ experience of designing and delivering high quality, interactive workshops and have the ability to impart their knowledge in a stimulating and effective manner.

We have clients in the UK, Ireland, Europe, India, the Middle East and Asia.

Stephen Savva FCICM has been involved in Credit Management since leaving school, starting as a Credit Controller at Bristol Street Motors, going on to become Credit Manager at Valor Heating and Senior Credit Manager at Tatung UK, before joining CCC Business Studies then Touche Ross, for whom he provided both companies' clients with Credit Management training courses he developed, promoted and presented from his experience in the Credit Profession.

At CCC Business Studies he presented a Diploma Course in Credit Control (one day a week for five weeks, including examination).  At Touche Ross he presented a Credit Management Development Programme (one day a week for five weeks, including examination).

The Diploma Course in Credit Management followed when Steve started CMT in January 1993.  It was developed to make people aware of most aspects relating to commercial credit management over a short period of time; one day a week for five weeks, including a full day examination.

It evolved from a series of one day courses, put together to give people the benefit of developing further in the credit management profession, either within their current organisation or elsewhere.

It is very practical, not based on theory, so it allows people to go back to their company and put things into practice.

In 2005 The Diploma Course in Credit Management was Accredited Level 4 Certificate by NCFE.  CMT went on to become an Approved NCFE Investing In Quality Centre, offering courses at Level 2 to Level 5 with CPD points.

Subjects currently covered on the Diploma Course include:

  • Understanding Credit Management
  • Cash Collection Techniques
  • Improving Emails and Collection Letters
  • Managing Commercial Credit Risk
  • Legal Action and Insolvency
  • Export Credit Overview
  • Developing Management Skills

The first Level 5 Credit Management Masterclass is scheduled to be presented in April 2018.  This is aimed at people who have already completed and passed the Level 4 Credit Management Diploma or are MCICM or FCICM.  For Level 5 they will have to sit an examination and provide a case study containing a minimum of 5,000 words.

It is hoped that one day CICM will recognise these courses.

All courses are very interactive, with delegate exercises to ensure maximum involvement and participation.

Firstly, presenters and delegates introduce themselves, with delegates stating their name, company name, position, what they have achieved to date and what they hope to gain from the course they are on.

There are break out sessions with delegates working in pairs or teams of 3 or 4, depending on the course, and delegate presentations.

Homework is included on the Diploma Course, with a communications exercise that counts towards the exam marks.  The homework proves whether or not the delegates have fully grasped what has been covered on each day of the course.

Delegates also report back on what they have managed to put into practice from one week to the next and the impact it has had.

For in-house training, we spend time with our clients beforehand carrying out pre-course consultancy, with delegates completing pre-course questionnaires.  This helps us gear courses to suit the specific needs of our clients; their industry, their customer base and the different types of industries their customers trade in.  We also deliver European Credit Management Workshops to clients who require them and use specialists to cover subjects we do not have first hand experience of.

A client who gave us £68,000 worth of business over a two year period had courses on The Construction Industry Scheme, VAT, Excel Levels 1 to 4, Time Management, Book Keeping, Influencing and Communication Skills, 2 Diploma Courses, 2 day Credit Management Workshops and Legal Action and Insolvency.  We spent 3 days carrying out pre-course consultancy and got the right presenters, working on our behalf, for the subjects we couldn't cover ourselves.

We only hand out feedback forms if a client specifically requests it and this has resulted in many unsolicited testimonials received by email or letter over the years.  There is also a video testimonial on our website from Thermo Fisher Scientific, relating to a two day European Credit Management Workshop we have been presenting to them over the last 5 years or so.

All our course are reviewed every six to twelve months. 

Generally, the impact results in improved collection techniques, improved days sales outstanding, better and more commercially minded credit decisions, better relationships with sales, other departments and customers.  All resulting in improved productivity, motivation, profitability and career advancement.

To date 1,986 delegates have completed the Diploma Course in Credit Management:

  • 577 Distinctions - 97 got 90% or more – 97.2% is the highest mark
  • 360 Merits – Merit was introduced in 2005
  • 1,005 Passes - 312 passed after re-sit
  • 37 Fails

Of these 484 have completed the course since it became Level 4 Accredited:

  • 139 Distinctions
  • 132 Merits
  • 215 Passes - 37 passed after re-sit
  • 5 Fails

We have seen many delegates develop from Credit Controller to Credit Manager from our training courses and some have even made it to Director of Credit. 

One of our biggest success stories is Gary Steadman, who attended the Diploma Course in 2002, went on to complete our 3 day residential Credit Management Workshop, ended up as Credit Manager at Life Technologies (part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) for whom he became Global Director of Credit and has spent the last two years working in Costa Rica for Thermo Fisher, setting up a Shared Service Centre for North America and Canada.

Gary has been using CMT to train his staff wherever he has worked and puts a lot of his progression down to our training.

Here is an exert from just one of his testimonials:

“We set up a European Shared Service Centre to handle Invoice to Cash work for the whole of Europe and had 32 people with little credit control experience.

They  needed some training and I engaged Steve Savva from Credit Management Training Ltd to hold in-house courses, over 2 days for the whole team. They were taught basic and advanced credit control and all gave very positive feedback on completion.

We saw some very good results. Cash Collections increased to a point where we achieved a European cash collection record.  DSO started to reduce from month one and on looking at our tracking, it has not increased to the old higher levels that it used to be.”

The feedback received from our clients and delegates is the reason I believe we should win this award.

Look at our website www.cmtltd.co.uk, go to the testimonials and see for yourselves the impact we have made.

We go the extra mile and beyond for everyone.  We aim for perfect in order to be good and let no one down.

Our commitment is boundless and we are as passionate, committed and excited about credit management today as I was when I started the business in 1993 and I started in Credit Control on 4 June 1971.

What more can I add?


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