Category: Collections
Next steps: When past-due invoices go unanswered
As a small business owner, you can’t afford to let the small things nibble away at your cash flow. Keeping those expenses under control is always important. But on the other side of that, you’ll want to keep an eye on accounts receivable. It is true your A/R column represents a promise from someone to make
How small business credit reporting helps you resolve past-due accounts
Late this summer, Equifax rocked the news headline cycle when it came out that hackers made off with the Social Security numbers of a whopping 145 million consumers, along with their names and dates of birth. That means nearly half the U.S. population is touched by this security breach, making it easier for criminals to
Bring balance to your small business debt collection efforts
In small business debt collection, the golden rule to motivating late customers to get current with their payments is persistence. Phone calls and reminder notices should be a part of every small business’s billing procedures, even if it’s not time yet to turn over the accounts to a collection partner. It’s important to bring balance to the
Three Things to Know Before Publishing an RFP for Debt Collection Services
If you’re in charge of purchasing for your organization, then you’re no stranger to drafting RFPs. You might even have a tried-and-true RFP template that’s been blessed by your legal department and used for purchasing everything from construction projects to food service. But as you know, every industry has its own considerations. And unless your
Choosing a collection agency should be like hiring an employee
When you’re choosing a collection agency to take on your accounts receivable, sometimes the hardest part is finding the right fit. In some ways, it’s kind of like hiring a new employee for your team because they will be working on your behalf. What should this new employee be doing? Send letters Many don’t realize that
Get Ready to Make a Collection Phone Call
It’s okay to admit it: You really hate making those collection phone calls when a customer hasn’t paid. The fact is, few of us are accustomed to talking about money. You know if the conversation isn’t handled right, you could make a bad situation worse and lose that customer forever. At the same time, the
Plan for Collections as a Last Resort
Most customers and clients do the right thing and offer payment for the goods and services they’ve received. Unfortunately, there are always some who put you off or fail to pay altogether. If your accounts receivables are getting too high, perhaps it’s time for a hard look at your financial system, and even plan for collections work on your
Collection Fees: 9 Tips for Dealing with Collection Fees Safely
Collection fees can help offices offset the costs related to delinquent payments, but offices should take great care before applying them. On the one hand, these fees offset the tremendous cost of collecting payment from consumers with outstanding debt. On the other, the fees can run afoul of state regulators, judges, attorneys and others. When
The Importance of Self-Improvement at Any Level
Feedback is information or reactions to a product or a person’s performance of a task. It’s used as a basis for improvement. So why is it so hard to receive it? The sole purpose is to produce improvement. First, I think we need to stop viewing feedback as positive or negative. Feedback is simply feedback.
4 things to know before adopting a virtual assistant
As artificial intelligence improves and makes inroads, it’s not a surprise to see some products enter the accounts receivables market. In fact, some companies are selling virtual assistants. We don’t mean robots or artificial intelligences; we mean a system that offers a highly sophisticated option for consumers to make online payments. Such systems can be