The problem with disputes

A dispute can cause a lot of problems. When there is a dispute it becomes very diffult to collect the money. Disputes will often result in legal action of some sort. Even after a judgment people will not always pay. Accounts that are clear cut with the person not paying the bill are often the most collectible.

The trouble with accounts

People culture and develop their accounts. So when an account becomes bad they often times are very unwilling to let it go. Creating an emotional response in your client can be the quickest way to close deals. Talk about how ridiculous it is that they have not been paid yet.

Id Debt or Number of Accounts going to collections

You ideal prospect will have debt they need to send to collections as well as have a history of sending an account to collections. Often times one or the other will happen and the two do not always occur together. You want to develop continued business with all of your clients but some may only have one account and the other may send a ton to collections but having nothing immediate right now.

Collecting and Timing

Sometimes timing is everything. When people are feeling fired up about someone that owes them money they get tenaciously vindictive. I called up a guy that was so pissed off he was willing to split whatever we recover.

Collecting using an investigative approach

Many collection agencies claim that they use private investigators to employ an investigative collection process for your company. An investigative approach allows the agency to put more pressure on the company than the standard approach of just letter and phone calls.

Keep them from dragging their feet

It is such a pain for the average AR person to send an account to collections. Even though there is no upfront fees the majority of times to begin the collection process people do not like to give up and send the accounts over. This is an important fact to keep in mind as you are identifying debt from your prospective client. Just because you have identified debt does not mean that they will hand the account over in a timely manner.

Collections is a mind game

When we collect money there is a huge psychological element to it. The collectors do their best to create a picture of horrible consequences if the bill is not paid. As a sales rep in collections I am acutely aware of the fact that my commission is dependent upon the competency of the collector.