Michelle Dunn’s Credit and Collections Blog

Michelle,

Is there a special type of telephone that I need to use to do collections work?  I have worked at several collection agencies and noticed that their phones were always much more complicated that your average land-line phone.  Is there a special land line phone carrier I should use?

Answer:

You can use any type of phone or phone system as well as any carrier that you like and that works for your needs.  If you will be making alot of out of state collection calls, do some research on the different long distance packages available so you get the best deal for the number of calls you will be making. It will help you to have more than one line as your agency grows so that you can manage and handle the incoming calls while also having collectors make outgoing collection calls.

Michelle, We are getting ready to roll out a B2B Collection agency and have some questions:

Do we need any licensing if no consumer collections?

Yes, if the state you are in or the states you are collecting in require it.

Do we need to be bonded if doing B2B collections or only if a client wants it?

You will need to be bonded if the state requires it.

Do you have an example agency agreement we could use?

I have some in my book, The First book of Effective Collection Agency Letters & Forms, there may also be some available online but make sure to have it looked at by an attorney.

One business owner I know has started minimizing her credit risk in this bad  economy by issueing credit to a very small number of customers with established payment histories.

This way, she minimizes the amount of credit issued, and the various processes associated with issueing credit.

You can get credit applications at office supply stores, you can have your own printed at your local printer, the same place you get your business cards and letterhead.  You can also find dunning or collection letters online and in books.

Make sure your credit applications are carbon, you always want to keep the original and give them a copy.

By offering an early pay discount to your customers you bring your invoices to the top of their payable pile.  Companies will pay you before someone that doesn’t offer them this type of discount.

This helps you to collect more of your money faster.

You can also take advantage of early pay discounts with your vendors and pay those bills first saving money on every invoice.

Anyone can check customers credit if they have permissable purposes.  You can do this in three easy steps:

1. By having every new customer fill out and sign a credit application.
2. Check the references.
3. AND/OR sign up with a credit bureau and pull credit reports.

Every business should have a credit policy to protect themselves and their business and to limit their risk.

Not having a credit policy directly impacts your bottom line.  Unless you like working for free, you should be following a credit policy!  You should implement a policy starting today.

I don’t have time to write and implement a credit policy, how can I still have controlled, structured payment terms?

You can use a generic credit policy, I have examples in my books or you can look online.  Credit policies do not have to be long and complicated, it can just be three easy steps.

Check out my free guide that can help you create and implement a credit policy today in less than an hour.

A credit policy is a businesses “plan” for their money.

A credit policy explains how they want to get paid, when they want to get paid and what happens if they don’t get paid when they want.

A credit policy helps you to determine who to extend credit to and for how much.

You cannot provide documentation to support or prove the debt is valid.

You cannot provide a proof of delivery of documentation to disprove a dispute.

You want someone to sue a customer in small claims court for you. The original creditor must file.

You want someone to call you every day with an update on your accounts.