Entrepreneur just printed an article based on a chapter from my Ultimate Credit and Collections Handbook and I thought the tips might help some of you with your telephone collections.
Collection Call Telephone Tips
Making collection calls is an art. You need to anticipate what the customer is going to say and be ready for anything. You have to stay in control of the phone call.
- Making collection calls to your customers has some advantages. They are:
- Inexpensive--compared to personal visits and individually typed letters.
- Immediate--produces some sort of answer the moment contact is made.
- Personal--allows an exchange between two people.
- Informative--allows you to ask questions, obtain information, and take appropriate action.
- Flexible--approach can be varied as changing situations demand
For your collection call to be a success, it must always result in agreement as to what can be done. Following are some things you can do to get your collection calls to bring you results:
- Use voice mail or answering machines if available. Leave detailed and complete messages, speak slowly and always tell them what you want them to do, such as to please return your call by a certain time or day. Don't leave an open-ended message that just says you called, but not why, or what you want them to do.
- Always be courteous and professional.
- If you speak with a secretary or spouse, you can tell them you are calling in regard to an invoice, rather than a debt.
- Create a sense of urgency by leaving a deadline time to hear from them, whether you speak with a person or leave a message on a machine.
- Get the name of the person in charge of issuing checks or paying bills.
- Ask for the best time to call them in the future.
- Get the name of the person answering your call. If you don’t get a call back, ask for that person when you call again. When you speak to the person you are trying to get hold of, you can tell them, “I left four messages with Susie—didn’t she give them to you?” This sometimes gets the person to call you back in the future so as not to make the message taker look bad.
The most important things to remember when making collection calls are to get or confirm the name of the person in charge of paying invoices. Try to find out the best time to reach the person you are calling, leave your complete name, company name, phone number, and a request for a call back if you get a person taking a message. Leave the same information on voice mail. Always get the name of the person taking the message and ask the person taking the message when the person you need can be reached.
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