Dear Dr. Collection,

I've been a credit assistant for the past two years. Yesterday, the credit manager said that she was really impressed with my work, especially with my communication skills-the primary reason that she was soon going to move me into collections. I think of myself as a nice person, and I don't know anything about collections! What am I going to do? I don't want to pass up an opportunity, so I really can't say no.

- Not Ready in Kansas City

Dear Not Ready in Kansas City,

First off, let me fill you in on a little secret: Very few people are fully qualified for a new job.

How do they manage? They learn on the job. They grow into it.

Your manager obviously has confidence in your abilities, and she's probably fully justified in her opinion of you. As an experienced credit pro, she surely knows that the ability to communicate is the prime requirement of an effective collector.

Likewise, she's probably aware that being "a nice person" is no impediment to getting results. After all, a squeeze is nothing more than a hug - with a little more pressure applied! Be assured that she's not going to throw you to the wolves. No doubt, she has a plan in place for giving you the requisite information and developing your nascent skills. To assure yourself, meet with her to discuss the training program that she has in mind.

In the meantime, let the Doctor give you a little reassurance that your communication skills bode well for your success in collections, and let me give you a little advice on how to use them to your advantage.

Use those skills to get to know your customers and to build long-term relationships with them. Remember, you are dealing with a person, not a company, and very often that person is not exactly at the top of the corporate structure. When the time comes to make a decision about who to pay, to whom is she going to send a check? To that distant, gruff voice from one of your competitors, or to you, who have taken the time and expended the effort to get to know something about her as a person?

As you know, communication is a two-way process. Someone has got to be talking and somebody has got to be listening. You'll rarely be in the wrong by doing most of the listening. You'll be surprised how much useful business information you'll get by just keeping your mouth shut.

On the personal side, if your customer does 90 percent of the talking, she will leave the conversation thinking, "Hey, we really had a good conversation!" and she won't feel as pressured when it's your turn to do the talking.

You will find that your communications skills will serve you well in explaining the economic advantages of paying on time and in working out payment plans that will be to everyone's benefit.

Those skills will also allow you to summarize the important features of your agreement, to get a firm confirmation to put your agreement into immediate action, and to convey the positive advantages of complying with your agreed upon payment schedules and the inevitable, dismal consequences of not doing so.

Lastly, you can keep on being a nice person while making your new career in collections a positive endeavor in which you make life better for your customers, your company, and yourself.