In Focus Commercial Credit


Telephone chasing in debt collection – it is good to talk


Despite a natural tendency amongst younger people to gravitate towards electronic communications, the telephone still has a key collections role


Tom Muir Senior credit controller, Kone doorscc@kone.com


Is it me, or are the younger credit controllers of today scared of talking to people on the telephone? We all see people on the tube, bus, and


walking around, clicking away on their telephones, tablets, and other communication devices, sending messages to each other. I remember a scene, described by Peter Kay, where a text conversation is ongoing about Coronation Street or Eastenders – I cannot remember which – when both parties were sat next to each other on a sofa.


Looking back, looking forward We all remember when such items were still new and we all used to have to wait till we would meet people or get home and call from a land-line. Today, it seems to me that people have


forgotten how to talk to each other. I am a firm believer in picking up a telephone, mobile phone, or land-line, and calling regarding a debt. Today, it seems that debt collection is


done via e-mails, which, as we know, are either deleted before opening, or looked at with the reaction ‘chasing me for payment? They can wait another week or two’, and then deleted. Thus follows another e-mail, then another,


and so on. I appreciate that, in a large organisation


with hundreds, or even thousands, of debtors, a dunning run, via e-mail or post, is the only way to ensure that a debt letter is sent. These usually do result in payments being


made, but will still leave those who do not respond or pay.


June 2017


I try to instil the important attitude in


our collectors that the telephone is your asset in collections.


I try to instil the important attitude in our collectors that the telephone is your asset in collections


Beneficial to call The new generation seem to be scared of making a call after the dunning process has been completed. I find it greatly beneficial to actually talk


to the debtor and get an agreement to settle the debt, which can then be followed by an e-mail confirming the agreement.


www.CCRMagazine.co.uk


Be prepared You need to have all the relevant data you may require on your computer screen or near you – the invoice, purchase order, signed work sheet and so on – and you need to look at the past history of what payments have been like. Who have you spoken to in the past? Have they been helpful? Have you established a good understanding with them? You can use previous conversations to


ensure that you use the right manner, voice and so on. The key is to make the agreement and then confirm back to them the details of what has been agreed. The art of conversation is dead? Not in


debt collections, this is our greatest tool and, used correctly, will achieve results. CCR


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