WEEKLY EDITION AUGUST 28, 2019
G et ti ng Pa i d: Part II
H ow t o Ma ke Col l ect ions Ca ll s
By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director
You should always structure your collection
calls with specific goals in mind. This doesn't
have to be about just one thing, and in all
probability you'll have better results if you
cover more than one thing in the
conversation. Here are some goals that make
sense for most collection calls:
• Catch up with the customer – Before
anything, you need to acknowledge
the person on the other end of the
line. Show the customer you care by
remembering details of their personal
life if you know them, make a
comment about the weather or the
performance of your local sports team - things you know they will enjoy talking about. It's
important to never forget the relationship.
• Talk about any current business – Not only should you care about what's going on in their
personal life, but get an update on their business. Their business is a huge part of their life and it's
also immensely beneficial for you to know what's going on professionally for them.
• Establish the payment is late – You need to acknowledge the reason you are calling. Let them
know their payment is past due.
• Discover why the payment is late – Instead of simply listing off the facts to your customer, ask
them why the payment is late. Listening will help you better solve the problem at hand.
• Get a payment promise from the customer before you hang up – The call is useless if you
cannot get that promise from your customer. Do everything in your power to make this happen.
DEALING WITH EXCUSES
When you finally reach the person, you may get lucky and they will immediately apologize, take out a
credit card, and pay you. Most of the time that doesn't happen and you have to deal with excuses.
Customers might be confused, they might pass the buck, or they might be angry. Keep in mind that the
purpose of your call is to get the bill paid. You can listen, let them know that you understand, and --
based on their situation -- offer a solution such as a payment plan or another option that will benefit both
of you. Let's look at some common scenarios which are adapted from an article published in 2014 by RTS
Financial.
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