Welcome back to our AuSAE Member Chat Series – Half an Hour of Power. This week we are delighted to have sat down with AuSAE member, Nick Pilavidis, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Institute of Credit Management. In a short 30 minute interview we discussed four key questions with Nick to reflect on the last four months and look forward to the future post this crisis.

What do the next 6 months look like for your association and your members

For our members the next 6 months will be more challenging than what we faced at the onset of this crisis. What started as a flood of customers seeking extensions of credit, will now turn to more in depth conversations to renegotiate credit and the high-risk factors involved during this time.

As an association we will need to keep our finger on the pulse and ensure we are supporting members with new needs that may arise. We are monitoring the situation and keeping conversations open with members to fill any gaps in knowledge, information or resources that they will need during this time of transition.

Areas of concern

A key area of concern for our association is the inability to host face to face events and the impact on our connection with members while we can’t meet in our usual event setting. This level of interaction is our key tool to connect with members and provides that natural check point with the community, as well as the ability for our members to connect with each other. We have moved to providing online communication tools for our members such as forums, chat groups, social media and website updates, but I think there is still a need for that face to face interaction. The sooner we can get this back, the better for everyone.

Like most associations, a concern for us is the risk surrounding our annual conference which is set to take place in Brisbane in October. We are about to launch our new look conference, aiming to mitigate this risk by moving to one day seminars in 5 cities and adding a virtual conference component in.

Areas of opportunity

This crisis has allowed us to re-focus, identify, adapt and communicate our value proposition to members. We have found new ways of connecting, delivering member services and lobbying for our sector. With the changes in the way we work, learn and operate we have been given the opportunity to showcase the broader value our association can provide members including connection with thought leaders and industry to guide them through this time.

As the saying goes, never waste a good crisis, and although we are operating in challenging times this crisis has highlighted the value that credit management can bring to businesses. As an association our focus will be to harness this crisis, and ensure the credit management profession is properly recognised for what they do and the value they can provide.

Celebrated moments in the last four months

The speed and agility in decision making from our entire team is something to celebrate. It has been great to see the team step up and respond quickly to members and their needs over the last few months. We have moved our face to face training to virtual classrooms, and the team have really taken this in their stride. We are now able to offer our education more frequently with greater reach and access to the membership base.

Overall, we have experienced a stronger team culture and collaborative approach while working from home. As an organisation we are committed to providing members with the tools and training they need to navigate the remainder of this year and that common goal has anchored the AICM team to a key outcome.