As someone who has made thousands upon thousands of debt collection calls as a credit manager and first party collector and as an agency owner and third party collector, I wanted to share what I know about making these calls so that you can improve on your calls. To take the fear out of it, just remember that making a collection call is like making a customer service call. You are calling about a problem with the account and you just want to resolve it. You will learn what common excuses people give and what you can say to them in order to keep the call moving in the right direction and not going off track. You will learn how to notice a red flag with an account that you are calling and be able to avoid disaster by taking specific steps based on your knowledge of what is happening with that particular account. This book will help anyone who owns a business and needs to call customers that are past due. It will help accounts receivable clerks who make calls to delinquent accounts; it will help credit managers who make collection calls or "your account is on credit hold" calls. This book will also help collectors who work for a third party collection agency. This book is meant to be a guide for bill collectors. I have shared with you actual and specific steps I have taken in my years of doing collection work that have worked well for me. I have found that when making collection calls and dealing with excuses, you must be firm, tread lightly, have compassion and treat the account carefully. Treat the account (not the customer) like a child who needs your guidance and help to get this paid. This has worked very well for me and I have successfully collected more money than other collectors based on following these steps.

Are outstanding debts eating away at your business's profitability? This valuable "toolbox" of over 400 collection letters, scripted collection calls, directions for visiting customers in person, plus model faxes can help you turn accounts receivable into accounts paid. Avoid the costly trap of chasing down a small number of problem accounts, limit delinquencies, stay on the right side of the law, and reduce the time it takes to collect balances. This groundbreaking volume can help you substantially increase your cashflow without a lot of costly and time-consuming systems changes. At last you'll have the time and the money to run your business more effectively. Step-by-step procedures and ready-to-use forms help you organize or reorganize your credit department, construct more useful credit files, and build a new credit policy that keeps customers happy and keeps the payments pouring in. Cecil Bond is full of sound advice on: precautions you must take when collecting by mail ... how a conciliatory tone can be more effective than a threatening posture ... setting up a payment program to work with your customers' cashflow ... the advantages of "doing lunch" with a customer ... writing the final demand letter ... and what bad-debt accounts are better left alone. For both commercial and consumer accounts, for business managers and owners, The Complete Book of Collection Letters, Telephone Scripts, and Faxes is a veritable treasure trove of the dos and don'ts of collection methods; what's legal and what's not; key ingredients in successful letters and how long they should be; how to avoid controversial statements; how to structure and control collection telephone calls; and when to employ acollection agency. Actual samples with clearly explained procedures include the letters that generate payments with the key words that get action; how to freshen up a favorite letter, and how to selectively use the form letters in this guide; putting it all together: integrating letters, calls, faxes - and visits; your collection efforts and the law - practices to avoid; deploying your credit department people to collectible accounts; screening accounts for creditworthiness; the most effective series of collection notices; combining the strengths of letters and telephone calls; tailoring your efforts: when and how to use more than one option; when and how to use a collection agency; and steps for salvaging bad-debt write-offs.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the median annual income for someone in the collection industry is $29,000 and, as a business owner, you could make even more. The Department also suggests that the industry is expected to grow 18 to 26 percent by 2014. Working in the collection agency business requires patience, empathy, a commitment to excellent customer service, and superb negotiation skills. If you are thinking of opening a collection agency business, then we have a book that can guide you through the process, providing all of the insider tips needed to get started in a minimal amount of time, with a minimal amount of money. Whether you will be operating out of your home or you are looking to buy or rent office space, this book can help you with a wealth of start-up information, from how to form and name your business to deciding if this will be a joint venture or if you would rather work solo. Valuable information on forming a Partnership, LLC, Corporation, or becoming a Sole Proprietor, the four types of business formation, is included, as well as the legal implications of each. With all of the federal and state laws governing the industry, opening your own collection agency can quickly become a nightmare, and for that reason, you will be provided with the most up-to-date information on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as well as a listing of laws state-by-state that may supersede this federal act. Many states, and even cities, require third-party agencies to be licensed and/or bonded, so you will be provided a wealth of information on all requirements so that you can knowledgably, and legally, operate your business with peace of mind. A complete checklist of all of the start-up equipment that you will need is provided, as well as a sample budgeting sheet to allow you to gauge start-up costs. You will learn about potential risks that you take in opening a collection agency and how a collection lawyer can help settle debts when you are unable to. You will learn the difference between first and third-party agencies, the different methods in which you can expect to be paid by creditors, tips and tricks to gaining clients, and the advantages of the debt buying method. This complete manual will arm you with everything you need, including sample business forms; contracts; worksheets and checklists for planning, opening, and running day-to-day operations; lists; plans and layouts; and dozens of other valuable, timesaving tools of the trade that no business owner should be without. A special chapter on customer service is provided, with tips on communicating with debtors in a non-threatening manner. While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through every detail that will bring success. You will learn how to draw up a winning business plan (the companion CD-ROM has the actual business plan you can use in Microsoft Word

The credit crisis, high fuel costs, job losses, bankruptcies, foreclosures and the failing economy are all contributing to factories closing, job loss and business owners going out of business because they can’t get paid. Learn how to take specific steps and use positive action to streamline and maximize your credit management policies. This book, Credit and Collections: A Business Perspective, is for businesses that have past due customers and need help collecting from them. It is for businesses who want to check their customer’s credit to limit credit risk and avoid bad debt. Things that have worked in the past are no longer working; everybody’s credit has changed, everyone’s job situation has changed, people have lost their homes due to the economy or weather and the flow of our business cash has taken a hit. Credit and Collections: A Business Perspective will help anyone who has customers that owe them money and will give them specific steps and actions they can take to make effective collection calls that work. This book will show you how to check a customer’s credit and determine their credit worthiness before you extend credit to someone who may not be able to pay you. With this book you can protect your business and your bottom line by protecting your most important asset, your cash flow.

The 5 Elements of the Highly Effective Debt Collector is the first How to collect a debt book of its kind, in that it breaks the debt collecting process down into five core fundamental areas. After years of training in the collection industry, I have found that these five fundamental areas are at the center of revealing the mystery behind why only a small percentage of debt collectors produce at a high level and more importantly explains why the larger percentage of low to mediocre performers never reach a top producing level. Not only does this book establish fundamental concepts every debt collector must understand to maximize personal or agencys earning potential, it also teaches: sound principles of engagement, valuable communication concepts, effective sales rebuttal techniques, as well as a system of file management that if followed and executed properly will more than double a collectors efficiency and effectiveness in less than 30 days The 5 Elements principles and concepts were designs to ensure that no matter an individuals talent level, years in the industry, or position held within an agency, the end user will understand clearly and be enriched by the experience.

In many respects, collecting debt is a negative job—a fact that all credit risk professionals must be sensitive to. The typical collector may attempt 120 calls a day and speak to 36 customers, and then gain a kept promise from just half of those 36 customers he speaks to. This means the collector has just 18 kept promises and 102 negative results. An 85 per cent negative response rate translates to seven hours of negative feedback in an eight-hour day. This book offers the epiphany that great customer service in debt collections yields far greater kept promises than the above number. Consistent reiteration and coaching of the collections team about the importance of quality has always delivered a 25 to 35 per cent higher performance than the average. There are tips in this book that help you improve collection performance by embracing quality service. This is tried and tested in my career, and this is what this book reiterates.

Ditch the failed sales tactics, fill your pipeline, and crush your number With over 500,000 copies sold Fanatical Prospecting gives salespeople, sales leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives a practical, eye-opening guide that clearly explains the why and how behind the most important activity in sales and business development—prospecting. The brutal fact is the number one reason for failure in sales is an empty pipe and the root cause of an empty pipeline is the failure to consistently prospect. By ignoring the muscle of prospecting, many otherwise competent salespeople and sales organizations consistently underperform. Step by step, Jeb Blount outlines his innovative approach to prospecting that works for real people, in the real world, with real prospects. Learn how to keep the pipeline full of qualified opportunities and avoid debilitating sales slumps by leveraging a balanced prospecting methodology across multiple prospecting channels. This book reveals the secrets, techniques, and tips of top earners. You’ll learn: Why the 30-Day Rule is critical for keeping the pipeline full Why understanding the Law of Replacement is the key to avoiding sales slumps How to leverage the Law of Familiarity to reduce prospecting friction and avoid rejection The 5 C’s of Social Selling and how to use them to get prospects to call you How to use the simple 5 Step Telephone Framework to get more appointments fast How to double call backs with a powerful voice mail technique How to leverage the powerful 4 Step Email Prospecting Framework to create emails that compel prospects to respond How to get text working for you with the 7 Step Text Message Prospecting Framework And there is so much more! Fanatical Prospecting is filled with the high-powered strategies, techniques, and tools you need to fill your pipeline with high quality opportunities. In the most comprehensive book ever written about sales prospecting, Jeb Blount reveals the real secret to improving sales productivity and growing your income fast. You’ll gain the power to blow through resistance and objections, gain more appointments, start more sales conversations, and close more sales. Break free from the fear and frustration that is holding you and your team back from effective and consistent prospecting. It's time to get off the feast or famine sales roller-coaster for good!