Collecting Past Due Accounts - Please Make Me Pay This
Bill!
by Jim Finucan
Published on this site: November 23rd, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
If you listen "between the lines" you can sometimes
hear a debtor saying this. It's a cry for help you're hearing,
even though they may not be saying it in so many words. In
fact, they might be saying something completely irresponsible.
It's as if they hate themselves Offering some phony excuse.
The more carefully you listen for this hidden message the
more easily you can spot it.
Reflecting this back to the debtor can have a very powerful
effect. Often it will soften even those who are the most hostile
and make them ready to listen to a solution you offer, perhaps
even making them agree to sending the balance in full.
Listen for those times when a debtor indicates he really
wants you to collect but doesn't come right out and say so.
He may give you what sounds like another whining excuse but
you may be able to hear the hidden cry for help. He's caught
up in a thought pattern that encourages complacency and inactivity.
Sometimes the debtor may even come across as trying to apologize,
trying to tell you how sorry he is about the delinquency.
The debtor feels bad because he knows he has the capacity
to pay but he just doesn't want to part with the money. Your
reaction should be to ask the debtor how badly he really feels.
He needs your help to get over this hurdle.
This is the time to bring your skills into play, restore
the debtor's self esteem and give him hope.
"OK, Mr. Jones. You own your own home and you've been
making payments on this diligently. You could refinance your
home, pay off this bill and any others you may have and be
done with it."
The debtor may respond by saying something like:
"I don't want to refinance. I could lose my house."
"Not at all, Mr. Jones. Many people refinance when mortgage
rates drop. When interest rates go down more of your money
goes to paying down the principal. Your monthly payment could
even drop. Besides, if your wages are garnished and you lose
25% of your income would you still be able to make all those
payments? What would the bank say if you should decide to
refinance after someone has had to take a judgment on you."
Or, the debtor might come at you with:
"Quit calling me, damn it! I don't have the money right
now. I'd pay it but you can't get blood out of a turnip."
"Mr. Jones, a turnip doesn't have a job that gives it
a paycheck every Friday. Now, you said you'd pay it if you
could. Do you really mean that or were those just empty words?
Now shift the call into talking about how he is, in fact,
able to pay and the assets he has.
Let 15-year collections pro Jim Finucan show you
how to double – even triple-- the amount of money you
collect from your accounts receivable. Check out his unique
collections manual "Past Due!" It shows you how
to turn their excuses to your advantage! For more information
visit: http://www.tiare.com/pastdue.htm
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