Accurate Invoices and Statements Get You Paid

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Business woman at computer, C2C ResourcesIncrease your profits by reducing errors

At C2C Resources we offer a powerful web-based accounts receivable management system we call Profit Maximizer.
With over 70 years of experience in commercial debt collections, we’ve learned how to streamline processes to increase profits.

Profit Maximizer benefits our customers by housing all their A/R details in one place that can be accessed at any time from any place.

Profit Maximizer provides multiple import options including:

• Direct link with QuickBooks including automatic sending & updating
• Reports that offer multiple viewing options
• Collection letter templates ready to send via email, fax or mail
• Follow-up phone call scheduling to ensure prompt communications
• Notes for storing details of each communication
• Collection timeline for effective and timely communication

There is no extra cost to our customers for using Profit Maximizer. We offer this web-based accounts receivable management system in an effort to increase profitability in-house.

C2C Resources: Minimize Debts – Maximize Profits

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Shaking HandsWith over 70 years of experience in commercial debt collections, at C2C Resources, we pride ourselves on serving over 25,000 clients here in the U.S. and abroad.

Our powerful combination of Profit Maximizer and our InfoMax Collection System helps companies effectively collect debt in-house. We work with our customers to minimize their debt, while maximizing their profits.

We educate our customers so they can manage their in-house collections and streamline their processes for the best, most profitable outcomes. With us you’ll learn:
•    Best practices for collection calls
•    How to write effective collection letters
•    Communication that yields results
•    Record-keeping
•    Avoiding litigation
•    The basics of extending credit
•    Improving cash flow
And much more

For more information about our Commercial Debt Collection Agency, please visit our website: C2C Resources.

Guide to Collection Letters

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What you need to know about writing good collection letters

LetterAt C2C Resources, we like to provide information not only to our existing 25,000+ customers but also to would-be customers, to help them improve their in-house collection processes.

For us, we see the long-term value and trust that’s built by helping businesses build strategies that work, thus minimizing the need to use a commercial collection agency like ourselves.

Our strategy is simple: trust builds long lasting, mutually beneficial business relationships. We’ll show you how to collect in-house with strategies that provide results – you’ll come to us for handling cases that need the touch of professional collectors.

One tool we provide at no cost is our Guide To Collection Letters eBook. It’s a free download, no strings attached. It’s our gift to you in the hopes that, if you need a third-party commercial collection agency, you’ll think of C2C Resources first.

Download your copy right now to get started writing collection letters that get results!

3 Ways to Win Your Clients’ Love

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February is the season of love. Wouldn’t you love it if your clients were brand advocates for you?

In the digital age, peer-to-peer recommendations are the most powerful advertising tool available for companies. Walt Disney said it best: “Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring a friend.” By leveraging your existing client-base, you will not only excite for clients, but encourage them to excite others through networking or social media avenues.

By doing this it will grow your customer base, as well as allow for your customers to become more involved with your company; and that means they will be more likely to pay their invoices early. Remember, the less internal time you spend chasing payments the better because time is ultimately money being taken away from the company.

Here are three ways you can win your clients’ love:

Develop a brand ambassador program.

In developing a program, you can pull from three distinct groups of people: your employees, your existing clients and brand influencers. Getting these demographics excited will develop a buzz around your brand and show both new and existing clients that you are a brand people trust. Building trust is essential when securing quick pay clients.


Genuinely engage with your clients and listen to what they are saying.

It is not just about communicating to your clients; you need to be listening to what they have to say to you too. It is important to make your clients feel that they are not merely a means to your cash flow. Gather feedback through surveys, focus groups, social media, sales team observations and social media. This feedback can help your organization become more customer-focused.


Build trust by alerting customers of large scale changes.

You should always treat your clients like valued partners within your company. No matter the size of your company, you should always keep your clients in the know of changes, both positive and negative. Remember, it takes 12 positive service experiences to make up for one negative experience. The more clairvoyant your company is with its clients, the more opportunity it has to build trust.

4 Most Common Responses to Your Debt Collection Campaigns

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Running an internal debt collection campaign is essential for getting the money back that your company is rightly owed. While it is important to design your debt collection campaign to effectively reach out to clients quickly after an invoice goes unpaid, knowing what to do after your call, email or letter will help drive success.

Here are the top four most common responses businesses receive from their debt collection efforts:


Prompt payment
This is the ideal scenario. Sometimes a missed invoice is a mistake within the accounting department or the result of an employee being on vacation. If the client promptly pays after you reach out to them on a past-due invoice, always verify the following:

  • The best point of contact’s name, email address and phone number
  • Their preferred mode of contact for invoices (email v. mail)


Acknowledgement, with actionable response
This is the next preferred scenario after you contact a client concerning delinquency. When a client acknowledges that they are late on their payment and confirms a date they can pay their invoice, as a company you should follow-up to confirm:

  • Method of payment
  • If they have all of the essential information to pay (routing number, company address, etc.)
  • Reason for late payment. Gathering as much information as possible for your records is important should the delinquency happen again.


Acknowledgement, but no actionable response
In this scenario, the client is aware that are late on their invoice, but does not confirm or offer a date for payment. Always reach out to the client because he or she could have forgotten to include that information in their communication with you; or they could be waiting on someone within their business to confirm a date of payment. Whatever the case may be, it is your goal to get a date set with the client. The probability of receiving payment drastically increases when you can commit the client to a specific date or payment plan.

No response
If you receive no response from a phone call, email or mailing, there may be several reasons for this.

  • You may not be contacting the correct person.
  • The client has a cash flow problem and has yet to find a solution. They are simply trying to avoid communication with you.
  • The client is unwilling to pay the invoice and is trying to avoid you.

With any delinquent invoice, you should always follow the bad business debt timeline, which features a series of phone calls, letters and emails to engage with the client. You can find the full timeline here: http://c2cresourcesblog.com/c2c-resources-commercial-debt-collection-agency/bad-business-debt-timeline/.

Internal Debt Collection Campaign Tips: What time of day is best to call?

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Your customer has not paid after the final past due notice. It is now time to tackle a debt collection call to figure out when you will be receiving your money. While we often discuss best practice phone etiquette and provide sample call scripts, many clients have inquired about the best time of day to call their clients to get the best results.

While there is no specific time or magic solution for calling and reaching a happy client on the other end of the line, there are several best practices you should follow when calling.

Get to know the person you are calling

Not only do you need to know the specific person to call, but you should try to form a relationship with that person.  If and when the client encounters financial troubles, you will have a deeper insight into their schedule. Keep notes on what business hours the person works, if they only work on certain days and any upcoming vacation time they will be taking. This could all provide helpful insight if you are calling their direct line and continually reaching their voicemail.

Call time can be influenced by business size

If your customer is a very small business, there is a potential that you could be in contact with the business owner instead of an accounts payable employee. If this is the case, try to call concerning collections early in the morning, around 7 a.m. Most business owners get to the office early to take care of business matters before being pulled into meetings. Remember, 7 a.m. is not a firm call time. It is always important to develop a relationship with the person you will be calling and use your judgment on whether a call before work hours is necessary.

First thing in the morning is better than end of the day

Collection calling is probably not the first thing on your to-do list that you want to do. Nevertheless, it is important to call early in the morning to reach people before they become busy with anticipated tasks and meetings. By calling in the morning you are more likely to get a same-day decision on a payment schedule, even if the client needs to contact you back later in the day.

What time of day is most successful for your business’s internal debt collection calls? 

Five Tips for Making Collection Calls that Get You Paid

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Debt collection calling is not the type of task most employees get excited about. Typically, in-house campaigns take employees out of their comfort zone. For most small businesses it is a task given to employees in addition to their normal job responsibilities. Don’t waste your time and money with an inefficient debt collection calling campaign. Instead, be successful from the start!

Here are the top five things to do when making collection calls:

Always prepare for excuses.

Unfortunately, most debtors will not be quick to offer payment options. Don’t allow yourself to get flustered by excuses. Instead, be prepared. Here are the most common excuses you will hear:

The check is in the mail.
How to respond: Ask for the date of the check, amount, address where it was sent and check number.

I never received the invoice.
How to respond: Always give the customer the benefit of the doubt. This is a great time to verify their preferred method for their invoice: email or mail. Always follow-up this discussion with asking how the customer will pay the past-due balance.

Our business is going through financial problems.
How to respond: Work to set up a payment schedule with the customer.

We completed the wire transfer yesterday.
How to respond: Ask for the routing and banking information. The customer could be telling the truth, but you need all of the information you can collect to verify the validity and make the most of the call. 

 

Do your research before the call.

Learn as much about the customer as possible before picking up the phone. Common information to find out includes:

    1. Has the customer had payment problems in the past or is this uncharacteristic?
    2. Did the sales person have concerns about the account?
    3. Terms of sale
    4. Payment due date
    5. Exact amount due

 

Always be professional.

Never threaten a customer for payment. The goal of the collection call is not merely to successful collect payment; you should try to also maintain the business relationship if possible. When on the collection call, follow these tips:

    1. Never multi-task. Be completely focused on the call.
    2. Speak slowly and take more pauses when you speak.
    3. Never eat food, drink a drink or chew gum while on the phone.
    4. Go into the call with a positive attitude. Your tone and inflection of voice will mirror your attitude.


Ask open-ended questions.

You will never get paid if you only ask questions with Yes and No answers. Let’s look at a scenario:

Option A: Do you plan on paying us soon?

Option B: What date can I expect payment from you?

Option B is obviously the better choice. You are committing the customer to a specific date. Make it a goal to commit the customer to something before getting off the call: full payment, partial payment, or even a date that they can let you know their payment plan (Remember, sometimes your main point of contact does not control the money within the business.)

 

Be deadline-driven, but still flexible.

Debt collection requires you to walk a fine line. You need to be assertive, but not too pushy. Always emphasize the urgency of the matter and try to have the customer commit to dates for payment.

 

Internal Credit Application Investigation

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business

Whether you have taken advantage of our free credit applications or not, your business needs to utilize an internal checklist during the investigation process to verify that the information provided is correct. A verification checklist not only keeps your staff honest in verifying the entire application for every client, but ensures that your business is not endangering itself with bad business debt. This is particularly important for clients who you have never worked with.

If you have not used a credit application checklist in the past we suggest making it your year-end goal to review all existing credit applications for credit that is currently extended.

Verify the following business information provided within the credit application and review any discrepancies with your client:

  • Legal entity status
    • Most states’ Secretary of State Websites will allow you to verify the corporate status. Make sure to keep this on file either digitally or as a hard copy. Included on this site will be the principal office location, the business’s original date of formation and their main point of contact.
    • Phone
      • Do not just verify that the phone number is listed online. Dial the telephone number and see if they answer with the name given.
      • Business Name
      • Address
      • Contact Name/Title

Verify the following bank information:

  • Name of bank
  • Address
  • Phone
  • Contact Name
  • Account Number
  • Age of Account

As a best practice, always contact the trade references listed on a credit application. Remember, most business owners only provide contact information of companies who they know will give good references. Nevertheless, contacting the references provided will give you a further understanding of a client’s payment history, relationship with other vendors and balance ranges that they have had in the past. If you do have concerns over a client, you can always investigate and see if they include suppliers on their website who you can reach out to. They may provide you a more accurate snapshot of the client’s history.

The credit application and investigation process are valuable tools for your business. Always keep a copy of both the application and your investigation notes for future reference.

Here is a copy of our internal checklist. Fill it out online or print it out and scan the documentation into your client’s file.

http://c2cresourcesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Internal-Worksheet-Checklist.pdf

Should you treat every customer the same?

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apples-orange

The short answer: No!

Ever heard of the common phrase, you can’t compare apples to oranges? By treating every customer the same, you are placing them in a basket and assuming they all want the same thing at the same time.

While we believe that every customer should be treated with fairness, treating every customer the same is robotic; and it will lead to unengaged customers who do not feel like they receive a personal experience from your brand. Remember, customers don’t buy from companies; they buy from people.

As a company, you should focus on each customer’s unique needs. Within your CRM, always document unique characteristics of customer that could better your relationship.

  • Does the customer prefer e-invoicing v. paper invoicing?
  • Do they respond best with phone calls over email communication?
  • Did they mention they will be on vacation and you should invoice someone else?
  •  Do they regularly purchase at the beginning of the month? Consider contacting them if you don’t receive their order.

Customers will appreciate the personal touch on their account. While all customers ultimately affect the bottom line and are a source of cash flow, remember they want to be treated like people, not dollar signs.

When an Account Goes to Collection

This is a common question especially when it comes to collections. The majority of your collections efforts should follow your late payment policy. If not, why have a policy in place at all?

Some companies give special treatment to their best customers who falter once with a past due bill. Keeping a quality customer may mean that you need to bend the rules. This is a business decision that has to be made by the executive team. Always keep your eye on the long-term, big picture relationship. Forgiving a late payment once could result in a positive long-term relationship!

Before any action is taken, a series of questions need to be asked and answered on the part of the service provider:

1. How long has the company serviced this customer?

2. Has this customer ever missed a payment before?

3. How much money is involved?

4. How much might the relationship be worth in future sales?

5. How likely is the customer to continue making referrals?

From there, weigh your options on the best way to handle the late payment in order to sustain a relationship.

What Makes a Good Debt Collector?

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Businesswoman making a call - C2C ResourcesAs a business owner, your collection call team will lead you to increasing cash flow. But is a good debt collector born with “it” or taught “it”? For small businesses and start-ups, finding the right person on the team is particularly important because often team members wear multiple hats; only needing to step into the role when needed.

We think the right person has a combination of the right personality traits and proper training. Don’t always go for the sales person or accounts receivable person on the team. While they may be directly related to the process, they may not have the personality needed to deal with potentially intense situations.

 

When considering a team member, look for the following traits:

-          Problem-solver: Often driven to find a solution, the problem solver is going to approach the situation with unique ideas. They will be results driven, even if the debtor becomes upset during the process.

-          Self-motivator: Getting on a call is nerve-wracking because the debt collector does not always know how the debtor will react. By having someone with a keen sense of self-motivation, they will be driven to get the work done.

-          Tenacity: If a debtor is persistent with providing reasons as to why they cannot pay, the collector will need to be just as persistent to make sure that the call ends with an action item of next steps in the payment process.

 

And, provide the following training:

-          Selling: The debt collector on your team needs to be able to prove to the debtor that they must pay. This is very similar to a salesperson’s role. By providing the team member with proven tactics you can prepare them for the most challenging calls.

-          Customer Service: While it may be a good idea to pick the most tenacious person on the team, they also need to have good customer service skills. Being too controlling during the situation could turn the customer off and lead to no payment. The ideal candidate would have a good balance.

Finding the right person on your team to handle debt collection calls goes beyond the ability to pleasantly interact with customers. It requires a combination of skills to be effective.

Do you have the right person for the job on your team?