Tried ‘everything’ to get paid (sent email reminders, left phone messages, sent statements, “threatening” demands, text messages - you may even have tried ‘snail mail’)? Getting frustrated? Debtor won’t pay or even respond? Try this … curiosity. STEP ONE: Prepare a draft email to your lawyers saying simply … Hi Jon, Please ignore my last [...]
A lot of our work requires us to send many email reminders in one hit. I've just completed a series of workshops and found out that a lot of people aren't clear about how to do this. So, this page explains how to create an email merge using WORD, EXCEL and OUTLOOK in case you [...]
How many influencing techniques can YOU find in this short, yet extremely effective, email? Using only one of any of the influencing techniques mentioned below won't work. BUT ... when used as they have in this email these techniques are extraordinarily powerful and WILL get a response. We use a combination of them in almost all [...]
What would YOU do? The Creditor - An Accounting Firm who provide accounting and taxation advice. The work done can be disputed. Often is - when a debtor can't pay their fees - even when the work done is excellent. The Debtor - They owe $10,000. Want to 'pay it off" at $1,500 a month. [...]
Occasionally, fortunately rarely, when chasing slow payers (it's a very sensitive matter), you'll come across someone who's rude, abusive even. Most times, it's not YOU they're angry at, it's the situation or something totally nothing-to-do with the account OR they're just nasty people! This short story might help you deal with it. Buddha was [...]
I respect the philosophy that, and I quote, "No Catholic child is excluded from Catholic schools on the grounds of genuine financial difficulties." But, from a commercial point of view, this makes collecting unpaid school fees in this environment extremely difficult. Many Islamic schools have the same philosophy. Most people ARE honest. I've worked in [...]
A few years ago we sent a circular with the following wording to selected parents of girls in a private college whose fees were overdue. It didn’t go to all parents with overdue fees, just to those that were approved by the Business Manager. It wasn't personalised, just included with the next terms fees - [...]
When negotiating a payment arrangement with a debtor who WANTS to pay but, quite simply, can't afford the full amount, will a round number (eg: $1,000 per week) or an 'odd' amount (eg: $995 per week) get you a better agreement? According to a Columbia Business School study it may be better to avoid using [...]
The most commonly applied “collection procedure” for many businesses is to wait for payment. Statements get sent out once a month and ... they wait some more. Many go like this:- 1. They do the job. 2. Send the bill. 3. Wait for payment. 4. Send a monthly statement. 5. Wait for [...]
Using a collection hierarchy and following up unpaid accounts very quickly, while being polite but persistent, is much simpler, less confrontational and far more effective than chasing slow payers later and harder. How to set up and work a Collection Hierarchy Start chasing accounts gently with an individual. If they're not effective in getting a [...]