W EEKLY EDITION OCT 25, 2017
Getting Paid Part II: How to Make Collections Calls … continued
By PSAI Executive Director Karleen Kos
Customer Excuse #5:
"You didn't get our paym ent? I don't know what happened. I'm going to have to look into this and get back to you."
Your Response:
"Okay, when do you think you can get back to me? If it's easier, I can be sure to call you again tomorrow. Let me know
when would be a good time for us to talk." "Let me get back to you," is a common dodge that late - paying debtors
employ. How you respond to this excuse is critical. Do not settle for a promise to call you back. Make sure that the
customer understands that if you do not receive an answer , you will call again tomorrow. In fact, you will be calling the
customer every day until the payment issue is resolved .
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you cannot reach your customer by phone, you can try email, visiting them in person, or – after enough other attempts -
having a collection letter delivered by certified mail. You may have to be persistent to get their attention.
As long as you are doing the collections yourself, you are not a "debt collector" as defined in the Fair Debt Collections
Practices Act , but it is still a good idea to be aware of what that law allows because some states extend these protections
more broadly . We'll cover that more fully in Part III of this series.
Next week: Getting Paid Part II I – Ho w to Choose a Collection Partner
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