Haven't You Waited Long Enough for Your Money?
by Jim Finucan
Published on this site: July 12th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
Business-to-business debt collecting is a different ball
game than collecting from an individual debtor. Once things
have gotten to the point where a business debtor has owed
you for quite awhile, it's perfectly OK to take the gloves
off - to go all out to get your money. After all, things are
now at the point where you wouldn't accept another P.O.from
that outfit anyway so there's nothing more to lose!
Be clear in your own mind about what your objective is: getting
the balance paid in full. Nothing else is acceptable. It's
OK to threaten legal action. This creates a public record
that this firm is stealing from you. Essentially you are going
to be calling this person a thief to try and make him see
himself as you see him and make him change his mind about
paying you. You simply cannot be timid about it, nor can you
approach the campaign half-heartedly. The debtor already has
you figured as a pushover; you have to convince him otherwise.
And he already has a catalog of excuses set aside just for
you. You have to have a mindset ready to sweep those excuses
aside and let him know you mean business.
Start by getting to the right person. Don't mess around with
underlings or gatekeepers. They don't cut the checks. You
want the owner or the guy who authorized the purchase and
is now telling someone else to ignore your invoices. Seek
him out. Call him as often as you need to, even at home in
the evenings. Communicate your anger and don't be overly concerned
with business etiquette; it doesn't apply here. In fact, the
federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not apply
to commercial transactions so you are pretty much free to
try anything, although common sense suggests you avoid anything
that would reflect badly on you or your firm.
Some verbal examples you might want to use:
You received the product, now I want my money, and you're
going to pay it – whether you want to or not
I have personal knowledge (assuming you do) of the assets
you hold.
Now how are we going to settle this?
Are you a man of your word?
What kind of operation are you running there?
Are you ripping off other people as well?
Would you say your conduct here is honorable? (With this
one, be ready for the debtor to try some self-justification.
This will reveal how this he thinks he can justify his stealing
from others. When he does point it out to him)
It's imperative that you stamp out any objection or stall
tactics he may try until you have him on the ropes. Then you
can try to reason with him; just don't waver in your insistence
on full and complete payment.
Jim Finucan's debt collection manual "Past
Due!" is filled with techniques he developed over some
15 years as a top gun debt collections expert. "Past
Due!" shows you how to double your debt collections!
More info is at: http://www.tiare.com/pastdue.htm
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