When you * State The Facts, * Use Bullet Points and * Keep Your "Threat" Vague it makes your email or letter easier to read and is generally more successful in eliciting payments from or at least some sort of response from a debtor. We frequently use similar wording as in the email below as [...]
When push comes to shove and your account customer still hasn't paid or responded, it's time to get "heavier" - more assertive. Here are a few suggestions of wording and approaches you can use.
Small unpaid account. Long overdue. You've emailed, written snail-mail letters, phoned and left messages to chase up payment. All to no avail. Complete silence and lack of response. What now? The two main options people normally take are ... 1: Give it to a Debt Collector or Lawyer. But, if the debt IS a small [...]
THIS is the wording from one of the most powerful emails that we send. It's the VERY LAST one we send for our clients to show that they really mean business. If debtors are going to respond, they WILL respond to this one. IMPORTANT: It only works as long as the debtor has been 'softened' [...]
* The debt was $197,000. * It was for three invoices. * The creditor is an accounting firm. * The debtor was a national, very large legal practice. * Trading terms are that payment becomes due fourteen (14) days from date of issue. * The Partner was initially reluctant to release the account for follow [...]
What can you do when you want a debtor to pay but you DON’T want to threaten legal action? Ever been there? If so, try this. Send a “no real threat” threat email. Threaten the “non-specific”. Things like * consider other alternatives * have to submit a report to the Board * have to revert [...]
BACKGROUNDOrthodontic Practice. 8 branches. Most parents chose to pay monthly. They were sent a monthly coupon book. Of course, many parents forgot or overlooked their payments so Fiona (Receptionist at Head Office) had to chase up any late payers. There were many - every month. An onerous and unpleasant task. Many hours were spent each [...]
This is NOT one of our normal posts (it’s got NOTHING to do with account collections!) but there’s a little used function on the iPhone that lets you listen to anything displayed on your screen. An email, a website, a pdf document even an entire book (iBook, Kindle, etc) - ANYTHING on your screen. Enjoy. [...]
The purpose of this case study (outcome not known at the time of writing) is to show the reasoning behind the steps taken to recover an old account payment. To see the background and what we did first, go to (Part 1). PRINCIPLES USED THIS WEEK 1: All arrangements made were confirmed in writing. 2: [...]
The purpose of this case study (outcome not known at the time of writing) is to show the reasoning behind the steps taken to recover an old account payment. BACKGROUND The account was well overdue. The debtor had been telling the Accounting Firm Partner that he would pay but he hadn’t paid anything. Zilch. It [...]