CHAPTER 6: COLLECTIONS
6.5 Collection Methods
The method of collecting can differ depending on whether you are collecting monies from a consumer (B2C) or a business (B2B), and what country has jurisdiction over the purchase. Other factors are the amount owed and your industry. Collection methods include the following: Statements and letters Phone calls (the collector’s best tool) Personal visits
BEST PRACTICES
Lisa Rolfe, Credit & Receivables Manager for The Reynolds Company, offers her strategy to ensure payment: “I build relationships with accounts, especially those with problems. I try to walk to a fine line between understanding their situation and abiding by my company’s policies. I listen, I take notes, and if it was a phone conversation, I follow up with an email summarizing the discussion.” She recommends the following techniques to secure payment: “Can you pay with a credit card today? I can waive the processing fees this one time if you pay today.” “Would splitting the invoice into a certain number of payments over the next number of weeks help your situation?” If the account still needs product, all orders should require payment in advance. Then add a set amount to the next several pending orders to apply to the outstanding invoice. If all else fails, submit the account to a collection agency. STATEMENTS AND LETTERS Collections practices include sending a series of past-due statements and collection letter notices as part of the collection process. Statements and letters ensure that past-due customer accounts are properly notified of their account status, while politely encouraging payment. Statements The customer past-due statement is one of several collection techniques employed to collect accounts that are past due. Statements of account are sent to customers on a regular basis. Statements should include all open transactions on the customer’s account: open invoices, current
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THE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE SPECIALIST CERTIFICATION PROGRAM E-TEXTBOOK
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