I was checking out some competitive websites this weekend and noticed the headline “No Time to Call Past Due Customers?” Naturally we are always looking for companies that have no time to call past due customers so I stopped to read it. Nothing new there, essentially the same pitch we give, if you don’t […]
2014-06-29 I’ve maintained for years that in-house collections, done properly is a very Pavlovian process. (I’m not sure Pavlovian is really a word, but it ought to be) What I mean is, if you follow up on unpaid invoices, on time and consistently, you will train your customers to pay faster. Have you ever […]
While most small business owners and managers get the “Cash is King” maxim and understand the need to collect accounts receivable quickly and without aggravating their customers, collections work tends to resemble the neglected step child of the back office environment and is frequently neglected in favor of more urgent or more agreeable tasks. […]
There are several good reasons… the first that comes to mind, small balances add up. One customer of ours was racking up close to $30,000 a month in unpaid small balances when we came on board. Your situation may not be that bad, but whatever the amount, if the number of unpaid small balances is […]
I noted last month that third-party collection letters, in other words collection letters written and mailed from a collection agency, are more effective than In-House collection letters. While this is true later in the collection process, In-House collection letters have their place. In-house collection letters can and should be a component of any complete accounts receivable […]
So, your customer went out of business owing you a pile of money and you’re wondering what to do next. If you’re reading this I imagine you’re hoping for some kind of collection agency magic trick to get your money back, and there are a few things you can do to try to track your customer, now debtor, down to […]
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” Benjamin Franklin – Sayings like this stick around for for 300 or 400 years for a reason. Losing weight is harder than not gaining weight, having heart surgery is harder than exercising for 20 minutes a day, and proactively preventing collection issues is easier than collecting bad […]
“What can I legally say in my collection letters?” is without a doubt the question we’re asked most often, so I want to take a moment to answer it. The FDCPA or Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was written for 3rd party debt collectors, not for you as a small business owner or credit manager. Quite frankly […]
Collection agency letters outperform in-house collection letters by a factor of 3 to 1. If you’re skeptical like my little buddy in the picture above, I get it. My company sells collection letters, why wouldn’t I say they work better? There’s a good reason, you won’t want to work with me if I lie – and I want […]
You’ve heard it before. You get what you pay for. My opinion, you might and you might not. Have you ever had the experience of giving someone a raise and instead of getting the improved performance you were hoping for they were resentful or even angry. I’ve read and I believe that compensation accounts for only […]