Within any business, solid customer relations are the crucial elements to success. Without solid business practices, your money will not be received in a timely fashion, your invoices will go unpaid, and your merchandise and goods will cease being delivered to you. How can you remedy these soiled business relationships? Collecting past due debts is the very first step to bringing your money straight to where it is needed – in your accounts.

The key to remember when beginning debt recovery is to start collection efforts as soon as possible. One of the biggest mistakes business owners tend to make are letting the accounts go past due for too long. 30-60 days past due is still early enough for favorable results, however once the account goes past 60+ days, your chances of debt recovery grow slim.

One of the first things you can do when you are ready to begin collecting on past due accounts is sending out a collection notice. This notice can be sent out when the debt is approximately 30 days past due, and gives your debtor a chance to make good on the money owed. This letter also gives a kind reminder for the debtor to review their records, as sometimes a missed payment truly is just an oversight on their part.

If there is no response from the letter after 5-10 days, a follow up call is always a good step to take. A phone call is an important step to take whenever attempting to collect on a debt, as it gives a personal note to the collection efforts. While it is true that many debtors simply avoid phone calls from their creditors, some will be straightforward and speak with you regarding their debt. During this phone call, you can find out if there are any issues which will keep them from repaying the debt, such as recently losing a job or another form of economic hardship. Many individuals owing money are more likely to set up repayment terms once they feel their creditor will work with them.

As a professional courtesy, another collection call can be made after 5 days should the payment not be received in your office. During this debt recovery call, you can offer your debtors a chance to set up a repayment plan. Unfortunately, many debtors will be more than willing to set up a repayment plan while on the telephone, without actually intending to make good on the payment plan. Should a payment not be received after the initial 30 days, sending written correspondence, a 5 day call and a 10 day call, there is the need to escalate the past due debt to the next level.

When you are having a hard time collecting past due debts for your debtors, hiring a collections agency may be your best bet into getting that money back to your accounts. Collection agencies are skilled professionals with a solid background in the research and collection of past-due accounts. These professionals will have the knowledge and the ability to track down your debtors, contact them, and give them an opportunity to repay their debt with favorable terms. Hiring a debt collection agency, which can also handle global international collections allows your staff to focus on their core work assignments instead of spending hours each day tracking down missed payments.

While nobody truly enjoys collection calls and the task of hounding their debtors over missed payments, leaving the task in the hands of professional collection agents is the best step to help ensure your company survives these hard economic times.

Running a business is tough. Not only do you have to worry about managing staff, inventory, regulatory procedures, accounts receivable and accounts payable, you also have to worry about ensuring your customers are paying their past due accounts in a timely fashion. When your customers begin to stop paying on their accounts, the real headache begins. Having outstanding debts can create huge problems for any business, no matter the size. In our current economy, many large companies have already turned to filing bankruptcy as a way to rebound from the money they were unable to receive from customers as a result of bad debt.

One of the most-effective methods as it relates to remedying bad debt is to attack it proactively before it creates a larger problem. The answer to the solution? Hire a debt collection agency in order to aggressively work towards getting your money back into your accounts. Many businesses mistakenly feel they can handle their collections efforts on their own, but there are many reasons why hiring professionals is always the best answer.

While the benefits of utilizing a collections agency are abundant, just some of the best reasons to hire professionals are as follows:

• As a business, you will not have to pay a dime until/unless the debt collection agency retrieves the money owed. This is because most debt collection agencies will not collect a fee unless the account is collected. This can be a great piece of mind when worrying about the initial cost for hiring a collection agency. Obviously, you will want the debt collected, however you can be reassured knowing there is zero risk of any out of pocket money at the very start.

• Another great benefit of a debt collection agency going after your debts is you will actually be saving money. Up until now, you most likely have had a handful of office staff working on collecting debts. These same office staff could have been working on growing your business instead of taking the time and resources to worry about collecting past due benefits. By hiring a debt collection agency, you are able to effectively free up your existing resources and concentrate on other positive areas of your business.

• By using a debt collection agency, you will be almost certain to receive your past due funds faster than if you were collecting the debt on your own. This is largely due to the fact that credit recovery agencies are skilled at what they do, and have proven techniques which lead to repayment at higher rates. Should you undertake collection efforts on your own, it may be months before you begin to see your money trickling back in.

The above are just a few of the many examples of the ways in which it is always better to utilize the services of a professional California debt collection firm in order to collect on your past due accounts. Employing these professionals will allow you more time to run your business as well as focus on the immediate tasks which need tending to. Having a debt recovery agency working for you will also make sure you can recoup your money in the least stressful way possible. By having less stress and anxiety on your behalf, you will be able to run your business and work on positively growing your organization.

If you find yourself in this situation, you may have no idea what to do when it comes to collecting debts. Understanding basic debt recovery tips can help you effectively take the steps necessary to collect on these debts. Should you still find yourself unable to collect, the assistance of debt collections agency will help jump start your recovery actions and bring your money back to the organization.

One of the important things to keep in mind when attempting to collect debts is to retain a firm attitude. Many organizations find this a hard action, as they are usually frustrated when making these types of calls and can find themselves becoming short with their customers. Try to maintain a positive attitude, while still remaining firm. This will show your customers you mean business. It is also a proven fact that individuals which owe money are more likely to respond in kind when the person attempting to collect is polite and not belittling the debtor for not paying on time.

You should also realize a very important concept in business when attempting to collect debts. Many organizations believe they should not attempt to collect on past due accounts with long standing customers, because it could potentially weaken the business transaction. However, if you have customers which are flat out refusing to pay their bills, chances are they will not want to continue to do business with you anyway. It has been reported that as many as 85% of individuals which owe money to a particular business will never shop at that location for that purpose alone.

Another basic debt collection tip is to remember to keep open lines of communication, and to not give up. Giving up on attempting to collect debts means the money you are owed will simply remain outstanding, leaving less money in your corporate account. This is where hiring a debt collections agency, such as international collection agency comes into hand. The specialists at debt recovery agencies are skilled professionals at collecting past due sums, no matter how big or small they may be, and will not stop with their collection efforts. When an account becomes too much to handle with your current available resources, handing it over to a qualified agency is always the smartest move.

By hiring debt recovery services, you will free up a great amount of time in order to run your business without having to also act as a collections agent. Knowing when to hire the assistance of a debt collections agency is crucial, and you will want to make sure you hire a company in a timely fashion. Waiting until certain accounts are 90+ past due will make it increasingly more difficult to collect.

Hiring a debt collections agency is a great way to have the money owed to your company come straight back into your account, and will additionally allow you to continue to run your business without worrying about having to collect.

When you are in charge of accounting procedures for your business, chances are you understand the frustrations of attempting to collect on past due accounts. Your current procedure is most likely sending out invoices and then following up with a phone call, only to still come up without their repayment at the end of the month. If you find yourself performing this routine each and every month, you should consider checking out the assistance of debt recovery services.

Debt recovery services, such as California debt recovery, are essential when the past due accounts begin to take up too much work to collect on. Every past due account which you spend an hour per week working on adds up, and before you know it you will spend your whole day working on collecting past due accounts without success. Hiring a collection agency will allow the professionals within these debt recover agencies to utilize their proven methods along with the resources in order to collect on outstanding debts. Another great benefit of hiring debt recovery services are many of these agencies feature in-house attorneys which offer additional advantages in debt recovery. Sometimes, when there is nothing left to do on the account but file litigation to collect the past due amount, it will be straightforward and simple for the in-house debt collection attorney’s to take over the account and file the necessary legal procedures.

When you hire a debt recovery agency, you will want to make sure you understand all the terms and conditions of your business relationship. You will want to determine the payment structure in advance, so you understand completely what you will be paying for in advance. While some agencies charge a flat fee to work on your past due accounts, some will only charge a percentage each month, or not charge anything until they have success in collecting. Understanding these terms prior to signing any agreements will help ensure you do not end up with any unexpected charges at the end of your first month.

Another factor to consider when hiring an agency is to make sure the agency is legally allowed to practice within the state your business is located in. Going through all the work to hire a debt recovery agency will be wasted should the agency not be able to legally practice in your state. For instance, if you attempt to hire a California debt recovery agency which is not able to practice in your state of Texas, any debt recovered from clients can be returned directly to the individual as it was obtained illegally. Obviously you would not want this to happen.

Hiring California debt recovery specialists additionally save money, as the burden of collection no longer rests with one individual inside of the office. Your office staff can now concentrate on the positive aspects of running your business, without needing to stop just to chase down late payers. Debt recovery services are a beneficial necessity for any business, large or small, and once you have an agency in place you will wonder what you ever did without having them there.

Hiring a debt collection agency, such as a global international collection agency, can be the first step into successfully collecting your outstanding business accounts.  As a business professional, one needs to stay on top of their accounts payable and receivable functions in order to ensure the collection efforts are worthwhile.  It is a proven fact that the longer a debt remains outstanding, the harder it is to collect in the end.  For example, a debt which may only be 60 days late still has a chance of being recovered, as opposed to a debt which is 180+ days over due.  Knowing exactly what debts need to be collected will help a quality debt recovery agency work towards satisfying the past due debt.

Once you are ready to hire a debt collection agency, you may not know the first thing in order to get started.  One of the very first factors to consider is to ensure the specific agency is licensed in the states which your debtors are located.  Due to the very strict collection laws which vary from state to state, making sure you hire a collection agency which is legally able to collect within your state will help you greatly in the long run.

Another factor to consider when hiring a collection agency is cost.  Costs can vary greatly from agency to agency and understanding the fee structure for your specific company is vital.  Depending on the debt collection agency, some may not even charge you until the debt is recovered.  Some agencies offer flat fee arrangements, and some additionally charge a percentage of debts recovered.  Because of the variations of fee structures, understanding what your potential global international collection agency charges will help make the decision easier when hiring an agency.

As one can see from reading the information above, there are many factors to consider when deciding on a debt recovery agency to hire.  Above it all, the most important factor to remember is whenever attempting to run a successful business, money is the key to running any successful enterprise.  Anytime there are uncollected debts, you are putting your business in danger by not acting on collecting these debts.  Hiring a highly skilled, professional, and results driven debt recovery agency will allow you to focus on building your business to higher success rates while putting the control of debt recovery within a professional agency.

Before you ever extend credit to a single customer, it pays to have drawn up those points that will be important should an account become past due.  For example, plan for additional charges that the customer will be held liable for. Typically this will involve late fees and added interest in order to compensate for the cash flow issues that arise when an account becomes delinquent.  Your specific state will have guidelines for the legal rate of interest that can be charged to a late paying customer, so adhere to these. Attempting to charge a higher interest rate than what the guidelines state is usually fruitless.  Should our California collection agency win a judgment, only the allowing interest will be awarded.

Other fees that you want to spell out in your credit terms are those costs associated with collecting the debt.  This could include debt collection fees such as court costs, attorney fees and any fees from our California collection agency.  All fees accrued in collecting a debt should be the responsibility of the consumer; but may only be awarded if you have adequately spelled them out in credit terms.  By documenting terms clearly, you better protect yourself and your business, while maximizing cash flow and facilitating an effective process of debt collection.

One of the most necessary pieces of documentation that is used in collecting past due debt is your credit application.  This provides the necessary information that will help you initially assess the risk in extending credit to a customer; but will also hold details that will enable your collection agency to more quickly and successfully collect debt.  To better chances even further, make it a practice to continually update information once you have extended credit to a customer.   People move and change phone numbers or employers.  To best track a bad debt, you must be able to track the borrower.

In addition to keeping credit applications up to date with the proper terms spelled out, you also want to maintain all statements, invoices, purchase orders, customer agreements, bills of lading, and personal guarantees as well as any other pertinent forms specific to your business.

Debt collection doesn’t always have to be a complex task.  Maintaining excellent documentation as a regular practice is the best way to help your collection agency reclaim the money that is owed to you.

You may be aware of some of the most common.

• Assess a client’s credit worthiness before extending any sort of credit by having them fill out a credit application.
• Verify all information in a credit application.
• Ensure every client understands and agrees to the terms of payment.
• Monitor all accounts on a monthly basis.
• Call clients right away if (when) account becomes delinquent.
• Mark any file that is delinquent so all staff can immediately notice.
• Be sure to mail out monthly statements marked “Thank you for your Payment”.

Now, we’re not saying that these guidelines are inadequate.  You must start somewhere.  However, these guidelines don’t state much about international debt collection, or anything about dealing with a professional debt collections agency.

International debt collection is becoming increasingly common due to the number of people who do business over the internet.  The wonderful World Wide Web opens doors to countless business opportunities; but also puts a business owner in the position of dealing with international customers.  If you think that marking the file or sending an invoice to a non-paying customer in another country is going to do the trick, you have another thing coming.  If your company may at any time deal with international debt collection, the best course of action is to find a debt collections agency that has expertise in this type of business from the very onset of doing business.

How do you know which debt collections agency is right for your international debt collections?  Here are a few things to look for:

• Knowledge of international time zones and employees who work within those time zones.  Many companies work only within the time zones where they are located. With international customers, this does not work!
• Foreign language abilities.  To collect debt from a customer in a foreign country, your debt collections agency should employ individuals with foreign language abilities.
• Knowledge of collection requirements in foreign countries.  Laws change quite regularly.  You therefore need a debt collections agency that is up to date with the requirements in foreign countries in order to effectively collect debts.
• Partnerships are essential to successful international debt collection.  The most successful debt collections agencies have partnerships in various foreign countries.

You may see clients in your office that you bill later.  You may front products to a wholesaler or retailer.  As such, you may fall into the trap of believing you’re not extending credit.  Make no mistake; if you invoice, you are extending credit.  The guidelines listed above may help you; but following them does not guarantee that all of your accounts receivable will stay up to date.  To successfully run your business and collect on invoices both foreign and domestic, your best bet is to partner with a professional collections agency with a strong track record of excellence and ethical behavior.

Extending credit to customers is a gamble that many businesses have no choice but to make.  We live in times when credit is necessary for larger purchases; and sometimes even small ones.  It may seem like a safe practice to regulate who you extend credit to; like only those with a higher credit score.  However, regardless of the circumstances present when credit is extended, it is possible that a payment may be missed.  People experience financial hardships that leave them to question which bills have priority over others.  Because credit issues can and do occur with unfortunate regularity, the business owner and managers are left to figure out the best ways to go about debt collection.

Dealing with California debt collection can be tricky and requires expert knowledge of the states regulations.  For instance, debtors in California are protected by both federal and state statutes.  Moreover, there are court decisions that actually create liability for the debt collector.  The state has a keen eye for debt collection practices that may be deemed abusive or unfair.  Debtors are prohibited from calling during certain times of day; able to call between the hours of 8am and 9pm.  This is not news.  However, debtors are also prohibited from calling at any inconvenient time or place; a regulation that might be easily misconstrued.

Companies that deal with debt collection every day understand the special restrictions surrounding California debt collection as well as the specific practice guidelines set forth by all other individual states.  Some companies that specialize in collecting debt on a commercial level also have departments assigned to the specific task of international debt collection.  The point here is that the job of a business owner and management personnel is to handle the day to day operations of a business; not spend valuable business building time seeking payments or judgments for payments due.

Dealing with debt collection in any state should not be an overly complex task that eats valuable time.  Sometimes there are simple solutions to recovering debt from customers; solutions that a professional debt collection agency knows how to get to.  There are several reasons why a customer may not repay their debt.  A professional agency understands this and has the expertise necessary to communicate to late- or non-paying customers the solutions that may work for them.  Through this understanding, proper communication, and an adherence to state guidelines, a company may find that they have far less debt collection issues.

Debt Collection Success

Not only are low rates important, but an equally important issue is what is your rate of success and your net collection. An extreme scenario to demonstrate this issue is to compare a collection agency that charges 10% contingency fees to a debt recovery service that charges 50% contingency fees.

If the 10% contingency fee collection agency has a much lower collection success rate than the 50% contingency fee collection agency, even though they charge less for the accounts they do collect, your net results will be better if you work with the collection agency charging you 50%.

This is stating the obvious, but it begs an important question, about the simultaneous need for both low contingency rates and high collection results. With this in mind, our main goal is to put as much money back into your hands as possible.

Ideally, you can find and work with a collection agency that offers both low contingency rates and high success rates. In addition, you need to find a debt recovery service that also provides excellent customer service.

Most companies work on an every-increasing thin line of margin. This margin seems to grow thinner by the day. It is especially difficult to accept the idea net collection when, even if the debtor recovery agency collects your money, you stand to lose a significant amount of money. Nevertheless, selecting an agency and comparing rates is not enough to make a determination, you have to seek out quality, even though it costs money.

We’re happy to report that with our collection agency you can enjoy the benefit of both high quality debt recovery services and excellent collection results at the lowest contingency rates available. This important combination will result in the highest net return for you as you work to mitigate your losses and recover important cash flow.

Contingency Rates:  No Collection, No Fee!

One of the first questions creditors usually ask us is how much we charge for our debt recovery services. This is a reasonable question and one we’re very happy to answer and discuss. Of course, everyone wants to know about
the collection process and how we will collect their money, but the most pressing issue from the start appears to be our debt recovery rates. There are hundreds of debt recovery agencies; however, very few offer the full services we do and even fewer offer low contingency rates.

Most collection agencies we compete against that offer our quality of services charge between 35-50%. For over 20 years we have offered low contingent rates starting at 15%. Of course, we have different rates for different types of accounts and scenarios, but our highest rate, our rate for litigation, represents the low end of where most other agencies’ rates begin. In other words, our highest rates are where other collection agencies’ rates start.

We originally established our debt recovery services rates based on the most important factor involved in collection, the age of the account. Our low contingency fee structure rewards creditors that identify problem accounts
and take action quickly by placing them with us while they are still relatively new. The reward is we offer a lower rate for these types of accounts. Our fee structure is based on this important concept of time. In other words, the more recent your account is, the less it will cost you if we collect it.

Everyone wants the best possible deal available. Why pay more the same thing, right? We’re proud of our low contingent rates and our fee structure. We encourage you to contact us to discuss your situation and see how our
rates might benefit you or your company.