It is unfortunate when businesses must send accounts to collections. That usually means that the customer has either no regard for financial responsibility, or they are simply broke. If it were the latter then they should not have obtained your product or service in the first place, or if their financial issues happened recently then they should have made an effort to tell you about it immediately so you can work something out with them.

When collections become necessary then you must partner with a collection agency that has a decent track record. We do not mean a track record of collecting. That should be a given. We are talking about responsible collection that follows ethical standards. Not companies that harass people on weekends, or multiple times a day. Hiring such a company can earn you a bad rep as well.

Collections should be a matter of last resort. After you have had a chance to send multiple email and phone requests, as well as a certified letter or two. This shows that your company has a great deal of patience and care about your customer’s situation. You do not want to ruin someone’s credit more than they want you to. You simply want to be compensated for what they hired you to do.

Sometimes it is good to offer incentives. Yes, offer incentives for them paying their late bill. You can sometimes turn a bad situation into a continued revenue stream by offering the delinquent customer some concessions.