Introducing Bectran Intelligence Lab — AI tools for credit, risk, and collections.
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Bectran Product Team
I
January 20, 2026
7 minutes to read
For many credit managers, the most stressful part of the job is the timing of the request. The concurrent signing creates unnecessary risk. This happens when a sales representative has a customer ready to sign a contract and asks them to fill out a credit application at the exact same moment. The deal is effectively closed in the salesperson's mind, but the credit vetting process has not even started. This creates a pressure cooker environment. The credit team is expected to approve a decision immediately because the customer is waiting with the pen, yet the team has zero data to verify creditworthiness. This friction between speed and safety is a primary source of anxiety for credit departments.
When credit processes are treated as an administrative afterthought rather than a strategic gate, the quality of the decision suffers. Credit managers are forced to choose between stalling a confirmed sale or approving a customer with incomplete information. Typically, sales teams initiate the credit application process simultaneously with contract signing, removing any buffer time for proper analysis. The process turns into a rush. Credit managers are nervous because they are trying to work quickly while ensuring they do not miss critical red flags that could lead to bad debt. The process is designed to catch up to a decision that has already been made. Credit managers fear missing a critical red flag (a bankruptcy filing, a lien, or a history of slow payment) simply because they did not have the time to look for it.
This is rarely the fault of a single salesperson. It is usually a systemic issue involving workflow design, incentive structures, and data visibility.
Sales teams are often trained to view the credit application as a piece of paperwork similar to an address verification form. If the organization treats the credit app as a formality, Sales will introduce it at the end of the conversation. They do not see it as a financial underwriting process that requires lead time.
The sales cycle (CRM) and the credit cycle (ERP/Finance) often run in parallel, not intersecting until the very end. A salesperson might work a lead for three months. During that time, the credit team is unaware that the prospect exists. If the credit team had been notified at the Proposal Sent stage, vetting could have started weeks earlier.
When a customer fills out a form by hand while signing a contract, the data is often messy or incomplete. The credit manager receives a PDF or a photo of a document. They must then manually key that data into a bureau search or ERP. This manual entry eats up the precious few minutes available during a rush request, leaving even less time for actual analysis.
Without clear guidelines on which customers are auto-approved (low risk) and which require deep dives (high risk), every application is treated with the same urgency. This floods the credit manager's desk with low-value work, distracting from the high-risk accounts that actually need scrutiny.
Solving the rush problem requires shifting the credit workflow earlier in the sales cycle. This does not mean slowing down sales. It means running processes in parallel rather than in series.
The traditional model is linear:
Sales Pitch → Proposal → Contract → Credit App → Approval
The corrected model is parallel:
Sales Pitch → Proposal (Credit Check Initiated) → Contract + Approval
Credit managers should work with sales leadership to add a soft check trigger when a deal reaches a specified probability stage in the CRM (e.g., 75%). Even a basic review of the company name and address against a bureau database at this stage can flag major issues (like active bankruptcy) weeks before the contract is signed.
Actionable Step: Ask Sales to provide a list of their Top 10 Hottest Prospects every Monday morning. Run a preliminary background check on them immediately. If one is high-risk, warn the salesperson now, not at the signing table.
Not every rush needs to be stressful. The anxiety comes from the fear of bad debt. This risk is tied to exposure.
Create a tiered approval policy:
By codifying that Tier 3 cannot be rushed, you set expectations. If a salesperson brings a Tier 3 deal at the last minute, the policy (not the credit manager) dictates the timeline.
Handwritten applications filled out during a meeting are prone to errors. Illegible tax IDs, wrong addresses, or missing trade references force the credit manager to stop, email the salesperson, and wait for a correction. This kills momentum.
Moving to a digital credit application allows customers to enter their data directly into a secure portal. This has two benefits:
When the data arrives clean, the rush becomes manageable because the administrative burden is removed.
If the pressure to sign is absolute, Credit can offer a Conditional Approval. This allows the contract to be signed, but shipment or service delivery is paused until the final credit limit is established.
This satisfies the Sales need (getting the signature) while preserving the Credit need (protecting the asset). The contract includes a clause stating that terms are subject to final credit review within 5 business days.
Fixing the rush has tangible business impacts.
A rushed decision is the most common cause of preventable bad debt. When you approve a customer without verifying their legal entity or checking for liens, you are effectively gambling. Slowing down to verify data protects the company's bottom line.
Customers respect a robust onboarding process. It signals that the vendor is organized and financially stable. A chaotic, last-minute scramble for credit references looks unprofessional. A smooth, digital, or pre-planned credit conversation builds trust.
When decisions are rushed, documentation is often poor. An email saying Looks good, go ahead is not an audit trail. Establishing a formal workflow ensures that every decision (even fast ones) has a recorded credit score, limit justification, and approval timestamp.
In industries dealing with heavy equipment or industrial handling, the assets being sold or leased are high-value. Sending a piece of capital equipment out the door is not like selling software. You cannot simply turn off access if they do not pay. Recovering physical assets is expensive and difficult.
For industries that handle physical inventory, credit approval is the last line of defense before inventory shrinkage occurs. This makes the rush even more dangerous. If a machine leaves the dock, the leverage shifts entirely to the customer. This is why waiting until the contract is signed to start the credit check is a fundamental process flaw in distribution and manufacturing.
You cannot eliminate the Sales team's desire for speed. You can, however, build a system that balances speed with safety.
The goal is to ensure that when you say yes, you are confident the company will actually get paid.
Sales asking for credit approvals while customers sign contracts? Bectran's digital credit application portal allows customers to submit data before signing, validates tax IDs and addresses in real-time, auto-routes to ERP for instant low-risk approvals, and provides tiered approval workflows based on deal size—eliminating last-minute rushes while maintaining sales velocity. See how credit automation works.
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