Imagine if you will...
August, 2011:
Shut down the Collection Department?
‘Imagine, if you will…’ began a narrator of a popular television series of a few years ago. He would then ‘submit for our approval’ an entertaining scenario.
No collection department?
Imagine if you will, the effect on your organization if there was no collection department. Everything else stays the same, the sales departments, shipping, customer service and we’ll even keep credit. But, no notices, letters faxes or e-mail. No telephone calls.
Who would pay? How long would your organization survive?
One financial executive I asked figured her firm could almost make it two years. They have built up a good reputation and rapport with the banks but in that second year they would fast be approaching a point of no return.
Another seasoned financial executive estimated that the results would be 60/40/10. He figured that as long as billing was taking place and the invoices were ‘clean’, not much in the way of adjustments needed, then 60% of his customers would pay anyway, 40% would take longer than usual and 1 out of ten would not pay at all without contact.
Imagine your firm without collections. Scary, eh?
All right, let’s toss aside that image and bring back the letters, faxes, e-mail and of course – the collectors. But not as they were. Imagine if you will…your team has access to the best written and most effective letters and email. They are fully trained before they talk to one of your hard-earned customers and re-trained and supported several times each year to help them collect more and keep (almost) all of your customers.
- good letters, aren’t good enough for your customers
- training and re-training
- start with asking them ‘what tools do you need to help you collect more’
It’s a great world when we don’t have to wait a minute, not one…to start making improvements! PAULSEN
Pithy quote of the month:
“I came to the conclusion a long time ago that life is six to five against.”
Daymon Runyon
