Effective Debt Collection Strategies

By: Ryan Attelle

One of the key problems facing all businesses is collections. It is of all importance for a businesses to keep there overdue accounts to a reasonable low and manageable levels. Getting paid can be especially problematic for small businesses that depend on consistent cash flow.
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If a business has a high volume of outstanding debts it reduces the availability of needed fund thus diminishing the ability for a business to grow at its full potential, sometimes even preventing any growth at all. This is why it is so important for businesses to adopt effective debt collection strategies. Many successful business owners would agree that cash flow will improve only when outstanding payments have been reduced to a minimum. Here are some to the techniques they use.

A common mistake business owners make is thinking that they can take care of debt collections them self's, but they usually fail to realize the amount of time this will actually take them. The time they spend on attempting to collect debts is time away from focusing on the core of there business. And most business owners are not trained experts in debt collection. There are however debt collection professionals that a business can outsource there collection services to. They have years of experience in using proven debt collection strategies.

Lets take a look at some of the basic strategies these professionals are known to use. Many professionals start by deploying reminders. Sending regular reminders to customers who owe money can be far more affective than anticipated. Many times customers have simply forgotten that they actually have an outstanding debt or have just misplaced a previous statement. Taking a step further debt collectors make phone calls to remind customers of there bills. These phone call can often be awkward and uncomfortable. Debt collection agencies know how to handle irate customers and convey the point. They are especially trained to deal with people who may want to avoid making payments or even acknowledging that one exists.

The next step is issuing a demand letter. A stern demand letter from a debt collection agency will let the customer know that the business is determined to recover the money owed. In doing so there in a better chance they will respond and take action. Furthermore a legitimate fear of effected credit is often a great motivator.

Another strategy used is called tracing the debtor, the debtor being the customer that owes the money. Many customers may go to great lengths to dodge there creditors. They do so by moving there office, moving to another city, or by changing there contact information. For an average business owner it would be difficult to follow these kinds of changes, but debt collection agencies have access to necessary contacts, databases and other resources that aid them in tracing these kinds of changes.

Lastly there is the legal route. In this instance the debt collection agency has all the appropriate papers and documentations to send out legal notices. For an average business owner the courts often prove to be slow, inefficient and expensive, but once again a debt collection agency has the resources to make the process as efficient as possible.

Sometimes it is necessary to renegotiate the amount of a debt. This often happens when a customer is not in a place where they are going to be able to make a full payment. A debt collector is trained to negotiate the new terms in a manner which will give the business the most advantage.

Debt collection is a necessary evil that has to be carried in all walks of the business world. This task often proves more difficult than one might think. Fortunately a business owner can always pass the task on to a professional debt collection agency. This is usually the best options offing the greatest returns and results in the end.
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