At Flathmann & Stern, LLC. the collection call is central in the advancement of our client’s agenda. Getting your money is the ultimate goal. Letters are in support of direct contact and not relied on as the only form of communication.
These days, debtors are sophisticated. They may sound and appear crude or ignorant but they have made not paying an art form and are very good at keeping you at bay.
In most cases you are not the only person or organization that your customer/debtor owes. The focus at Flathmann & Stern is to make your invoice go from the bottom of the stack to the top. So how do we accomplish this?
Urgency and Leverage is what’s needed to induce your customer/debtor into action.
Merriam Webster’s dictionary describes the word urgency as follows - Urgency: calling for immediate attention; Pressing; A force or impulse that impels.
Urgency is not, in most cases, something to be achieved by way of hollow threats or routine form letters. It is achieved by combining economic incentive along with the expediency of legal and procedural implementation. What this means is that your customer/debtor may have money to pay but are choosing to pay another creditor rather than you. They are usually keen in knowing which creditor’s demands have teeth and which ones don’t. The assessment of legal fees, finance charges, court costs , as well as a credit report is part of the creative approach to the urgency we seek…. now your customer/debtor has a reason to pay. Here we see how urgency and leverage come together.
“Deadlining” is a powerful tool in the collection process, it is also necessary. When and how to deadline is a skill of timing and finesse. Remember once you shoot your deadline bullet, you can’t take it back. And deadlining is not just for money, but for communication or any other directive you may issue.
Closing the deal and follow-up tie everything together. How you close and how you follow-up will be the final piece of the puzzle. Follow too early and appear too anxious.
Follow too late and you will essentially be giving an equally poor message.
Positioning yourself psychologically in the minds of those you are dealing with, combined with urgency, leverage, deadlining, closing the deal and follow-up are, in essence “The anatomy of a collection call”.
