The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
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The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
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Re: The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
#2This is a very refreshing approach. In a day where lawyers, contracts, and debt collectors are so prevalent, it is nice to see that respect and honesty still work. Used to be that a handshake was enough -- now a legal contract isn't even guaranteed to work.
I would suspect if one is willing to honestly and openly communicate with your customers when conflicts come up, instead of hiding behind lawyers, the results would be much better.
Re: The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
#3Interesting as it introduces the emotional side into it and re-inforces that the person believes the relationship to be something of value. I often find that the people who owe me money are the closest to me - they ignore the small charges that I had passed to them, or they forget them. I don't think its malicious, but there must be something in peoples psyche that makes them think you've done a favour. What I have now are set rates where I might discount slightly for friends, but not substantially. I also try not to take on jobs that are too small now.
I've also always found that lawyers can often exacerbate a situation. Take divorce for example - I know a few people who seemed to be having a relatively amicable divorce until the lawyers were brought in. I myself used to be quite litigious but these days I feel that I should have been more careful at the start and often put things down to experience and move on.
Re: The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
#4The best medium for debt collection is the telephone, not the computer.
Re: The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
#5This is a very refreshing approach. In a day where lawyers, contracts, and debt collectors are so prevalent, it is nice to see that respect and honesty still work. Used to be that a handshake was enough -- now a legal contract isn't even guaranteed to work. I would suspect if one is willing to honestly and openly communicate with your customers when conflicts come up, instead of hiding behind lawyers, the results wou…
I read quite a lot of business biographies, and I have noticed that a lot of really successful entrepreneurs go on trust and handshakes. If they're burned they will remember and never do business with you again, but if they meet someone that believes in them at an early stage they will go through a lot to keep doing business with them.
I just read a biography of a guy that started a chain of stores 30 years ago, and has a huge empire of more than 500 stores today. He still has the same small bank that he did 30 years ago because they were the only ones that believed in him at the time. He recently invested in the bank since they needed to become bigger to keep his growing business.
It's all about trust for these people.
Re: The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
#6A lot of arguments can be avoided by delving into the scary but true, raw but honest emotional side. I learned this from a great consultation.
Take this example interaction:
Husband: "There's $500 missing from our checking account."
Husband (unemotionally-oriented, bad): "What did you spend it on?"
Husband (Good): "I'm worried about where the $500 went."
Always tell people how you feel. Human beings have emotions. Constantly tell people how you feel. Human beings have emotions. That is how people connect with each other. For example, for guys talking about sports, it really is sharing emotions - hope, frustration, anger, etc. Talking about that new trade may really be about hope/optimism/reflection.
Re: The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
#7As clients and vendors we rely on each other for survival. If the vendor provides value, but goes out of business because of late payments, the clients relying on that vendor are going to be worse off too.
Pay your bills. Give money for good value. Give good value.
Re: The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
#8This is a very refreshing approach. In a day where lawyers, contracts, and debt collectors are so prevalent, it is nice to see that respect and honesty still work. Used to be that a handshake was enough -- now a legal contract isn't even guaranteed to work. I would suspect if one is willing to honestly and openly communicate with your customers when conflicts come up, instead of hiding behind lawyers, the results wou…
I did an MBO 6 years ago and it was striking. All the people who were genuinely helpful did business on a handshake. All those who were ultimately a waste of time, space and occasionally oxygen, insisted on having everything in writing. It was a 100% correlation, and a real eye-opener.
Re: The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
#9This is a very refreshing approach. In a day where lawyers, contracts, and debt collectors are so prevalent, it is nice to see that respect and honesty still work. Used to be that a handshake was enough -- now a legal contract isn't even guaranteed to work. I would suspect if one is willing to honestly and openly communicate with your customers when conflicts come up, instead of hiding behind lawyers, the results wou…
I read quite a lot of business biographies, and I have noticed that a lot of really successful entrepreneurs go on trust and handshakes. If they're burned they will remember and never do business with you again, but if they meet someone that believes in them at an early stage they will go through a lot to keep doing business with them. I just read a biography of a guy that started a chain of stores 30 years ago, and…
Indeed. There's also the pattern, first anecdotal but since confirmed by at least one survey [+], that a disproportionate number of entrepreneurs are dyslexic, and thus have to rely on verbal communication and gut trust more than others.
[+] http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/story_8_45816_44300...
Re: The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote
#10A lot of arguments can be avoided by delving into the scary but true, raw but honest emotional side. I learned this from a great consultation. Take this example interaction: Husband: "There's $500 missing from our checking account." Husband (unemotionally-oriented, bad): "What did you spend it on?" Husband (Good): "I'm worried about where the $500 went." Always tell people how you feel. Human beings have emotions. Co…
What husband gives their wife access to the checking account? That's just begging for missing money... ;)
EDIT: I think people missed the sarcasm...