Easy, quick and painless. If your Credit policy is flowing smoothly, it is probably all of these.

Become the Squeaky Wheel, a new book written by a leader in the debt collection industry, Michelle Dunn, explains that Credit policies are a must for any business. Her book will give you the tools you need to collect more money and prevent bad debt in the future.

Some steps you can take to make your credit policy, Easy, quick and painless are:

1. Make it easy for the customer to get credit with you. Have packets paper clipped together at the front desk, include the credit application, automatic payment permission forms and anything else you want filled out before opening an account.

2. Make it quick, by having these packets ready and waiting for anyone who comes in. Have pens and clip boards available so they can be filled out immediately.

3. Make it painless, by either having them wait and running the credit application while they are still there or responding to them within a certain time period, say 24 hours.

Consumers today, like everyone else, are expecting convenience and speed, explains Michelle Dunn. If you make opening up a credit account difficult or are unorganized, you might lose the customer.

Customers that are approved for credit, will buy more if they can pay later, so make the process as streamlined as you can, says Dunn.