RECESSION COLLECTIONS
By Collections Expert Michelle Dunn
With the economy a mess and many consumers unable to pay their bills, the objective of setting up payment arrangements is just to get paid something instead of nothing. Most consumers look at all their bills and decide which ones will get paid based on what is most important to them. It’s your job to make your invoice important to them and to offer them realistic options so they will pay it each month. You want to effectively outline policies and procedures to help give your customers options when they can’t pay in full.
Setting Up Payment Plans for All Types of Debtors
Payment arrangements will affect your business by providing you with some cash flow where you may not have had any. By offering payment arrangements when the economy and country is in a crisis, you extend a helping hand to your customers and your community while enabling your business to continue to stay in business and become more successful. If you do not offer payment arrangements in these tough economic times, you may have much lower cash flow, you may lose customers and you may become unable to pay your own bills.
In addition to offering payment arrangements in tough economic times, creating clear procedures for delinquent accounts will let your employees know what immediate actions to take that will help your business.
Play the Debtor and Collection Tactics Match Game
{see} Magazine presents an interactive matching game in which the user is tasked with matching debtor cards with the appropriate collections tactic, based on a description of each debtor. This game is intended to teach that some tactics are better suited to certain types of debtors, and that in some cases it might even be better to stop trying to collect altogether.
About Michelle Dunn
Referred to by many as the nation’s authority on collecting money, Michelle Dunn is an award winning author and columnist. She is founder and CEO of the American Credit and Collections Association, one of the top 5 women in collections, and one of the top 50 most influential collections professionals in her industry. Michelle has been quoted and featured in The Wall Street Journal, Smart Money Magazine, CNN and other national publications. Visit michelledunn.com for more information and to read her latest blog post.
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