How Squeaky are Your Wheels?
“The Squeaky Wheels Gets The Oil” is a phrase we’ve all heard. The original use and meaning may have escaped some people.
The phrase has its origin in the early days of the railroad trains as they made their way down the tracks. A person was assigned to each train to perform the job of oiling the wheels. The train never stopped long enough for the oilman to oil all of the wheels. So, as the train rolled down the tracks, the oilman would run along the tops of the railroad cars listening for wheels that were squeaking.
When the train came to a stop he would quickly get to those wheels and oil them. Thus the phrase, ‘the squeaky wheel gets the oil.” There is a positive way and negative way the squeaky wheel can impact your business office. A squeaky wheel, in one sense, is an indication of things not running smoothly—as in a business office that is not up to speed in managing their receivables, way behind in the billing process and without adequate follow-up work being done.
In some instances this is brought on by employees who are not properly trained. Another cause could be a lack of proper staffing. Still another reason might be that the policies and procedures are inadequate and fail to direct the employees in the proper ways to perform their daily work.
There are dozens of barriers that can work against you in your effort to manage a business office with no squeak in the wheels. On the other hand, there is a time when the squeak can work to your advantage. How is that applicable to your business office?
When you file your insurance claims, in many cases, insurance carriers wait until you start your follow-up work to really get serious about processing your claims.
When you start your follow-up work with the carriers early-on, at about 25 days after the claim was filed, and then stay after them until the claim gets paid, then you become the squeaky wheel, and you will get oil.
We have been able to assist quite a few of our clients in reducing the squeak in their business office operations, and we have helped turn them into a squeaky wheel with the slow-paying insurance carriers.
Our business office assessment may be just what you need to bring your office up to speed, smoothly running and quiet, with better cash flow and reduced number of days in receivables.
E-mail us to help get your business office back on track.
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