always ask for “the lot” first

When you’re chasing overdue accounts, always ask for full payment first even if you think they can’t afford it.

Then you can use the Reciprocal Concession Rule as a subtle persuasion technique to get a better payment arrangement than you would otherwise have got.

Doctor Robert Cialdini in his book, “INFLUENCE”, explains it well, essentially saying … Reciprocal concession is another aspect of the reciprocal principle. A requester makes a request that is extreme and most likely will be rejected. The requester then makes a request that is more likely to be accepted by the receiver of the request.

Cialdini cites an example of a Boy Scout who approaches people to buy a ticket to the Annual Boy Scouts Circus.

Most people do not have any desire to go to the Boy Scouts Circus so they reject his offer of the $5 ticket.

The Boy Scout then asks the person if they would like to buy candy bars at $1 each.

Most people believe $1 is a fair price for the candy bar so they purchase several of the bars the Boy Scout is holding in his hand.

The Boy Scout accomplished his aim for the fund raiser. This example supports the general rule that a person who acts in a certain way towards us is entitled to a similar return action.

and then, if you have to offer to offer to accept slightly less later, the debtor is far more likely to agree to your second request, as they’ve already turned down the first one.