From Mr. Nice Guy to Mean Gene: The Art of Winning in Credit, Collections, and Cash Flow

When I first got into credit and collections, I honestly thought being reasonable would solve most problems. I thought if I was polite, professional, and understanding, customers would naturally want to pay on time. I believed in the whole catch more flies with honey than vinegar mindset. If I built good relationships and stayed flexible, everything would work itself out.

And for a while, I tried to be that guy. The nice guy. The accommodating guy. The “no worries, just pay when you can” guy.

What I didn’t realize was that chaos had already been baked into the system long before I arrived.

Mr. Nice Guy and the Chaos He Inherited

Invoices were constantly late. Customers made vague promises. “Next week” was the most common phrase in my inbox. There were no real follow-up standards. No consistent escalation. No teeth behind policies.

And it wasn’t just payments.

Customers sent orders without purchase orders. They skipped required paperwork. Certificates of insurance? “We’ll get it to you later.” Sales tax exemption certificates? “We’ve always done it this way.”

Everyone just did what they wanted, and the company adjusted around them. And Mr. Nice Guy? He just tried to manage all of it with flexibility.

Spoiler alert: it didn’t work.

The nicer I was, the later people paid. The more exceptions we made, the more customers expected them. The more we bent, the more the system broke. Cash flow was unpredictable. Disputes were constant. A/R felt like firefighting every single day.

That’s when it hit me. This wasn’t a collections problem. It was a systems problem.

The Turning Point: Systems Before Sympathy

I realized something uncomfortable…Being liked wasn’t helping the business. It was quietly hurting it.

So we started building structure. Real credit standards. Clear onboarding requirements. Defined payment terms and escalation paths. Actual consequences for broken commitments.

No more open accounts without complete applications. No more shipping without required documentation. No more “we’ll get the PO later.” No more endless grace periods.

We created systems that made expectations clear from day one. More importantly, we enforced them.

Drawing the Line in the Sand

This is where things really changed.

“Next week” stopped being an answer. Payment promises had dates attached. Missed commitments triggered action. Credit limits were reduced. Accounts were placed on hold. Terms were revoked. Collections were sent when needed.

Sometimes it wasn’t pretty. Customers pushed back. Sales teams questioned it. Management worried about relationships.

In spite of all of the fear, something amazing happened. Cash flow improved…fast.

We moved to the top of customers’ payment lists. Disputes dropped. Late payments shrank. Customers adjusted their behavior to match our standards. Not because we were mean, but because we were consistent. We outlined the terms, and then we enforced them. If they didn’t abide by those terms, there were consequences, and we enforced those too.

It Was Never Just About Getting Paid

What surprised me most was how far this mindset extended. It wasn’t only collections.

It was:

✔ Credit applications done right

✔ Required documents up front

✔ Purchase orders sent properly

✔ Clear billing expectations

✔ Consistent follow-up

✔ Enforced policies

Once the system tightened, everything improved. Risk went down. Cash flow stabilized. Operations smoothed out. Sales closed cleaner deals. The entire A/R machine started running like it should have all along.

The Birth of Mean Gene

That’s when Mr. Nice Guy officially retired. Not because I became rude. Not because I became aggressive. Not because I stopped caring about relationships. It was because I started focusing on what really mattered…our standards.

Mean Gene wasn’t born out of anger. Mean Gene was born out of necessity.

He is the creator and enforcer of systems. Good systems that protect cash flow, and allow everyone to hold customers accountable.

Mr. Nice Guy was likable, but he was never going to change things. How does the saying go? Where do nice guys finish? Not on top.

Mean Gene is professional. He is consistent and firm. He holds everyone accountable. The one who holds the line when exceptions try to creep in. He has high standards for everyone, and he expects everyone to rise to that level.

Why? Because Mean Gene is a winner.

The Real Lesson

Businesses don’t fail because customers are liars and cheats. They fail because their standards are weak.

Chaos lives in flexibility without structure. Cash flow lives in clarity and consistency.

When you build strong systems and actually enforce them:

• Customers pay faster

• Risk drops

• Relationships improve

• A/R stops feeling like a disaster

No one loves the enforcer in the moment, but everyone loves the results. And what happens when your cash flow is strong, your processes are clean, and your expectations are clear? You don’t just survive. You win.

That’s the art of winning in accounts receivable. That’s why Mean Gene exists.