The Steps Small Businesses Should Take When Chasing Debt

Asa business owner, it is vital to keep a good relationship with your customers and contractors, especially, when having to deal with debt collection. Dealing with late payments while keeping a positive connection with your customers or clients may be difficult.

So, getting external help from the professionals at eCollect is one method to de-personalise the collection procedures. Inform debtors that taking further action is not a personal decision and is out of your control. There are times when taking further action to recover unpaid invoices beyond 30 days is a requirement to keep the business afloat. In most situations, this will not harm your business relationships; but, if late payments continue, you may want to reconsider if you want them as a customer or client.

Many creditors dig themselves a hole by being inappropriate, frustrated, threatening or intimidating, effectively giving the debtor an excuse not to pay. There are various methods one can adopt in order to keep late payments to a minimum. This does not really mean that there are ways to completely avoid such late payments. Firstly, have a well-defined credit control procedure in place:

• For this, you can send a seven-day demand for payment as soon as payment is late.
• Follow up with a phone call to clear any lingering questions or concerns about the invoice.
• Pass the debt on to a debt collection company as soon as your credit control term is up. Do not put it off any longer.

Secondly, know your consumer and get as much information as possible about them right away:

• Who are the people you’re working with? Is it better to operate as a sole trader, a limited company, or a partnership? It is insufficient to simply have the company name, such as the name of the shop or restaurant. You must be aware of the company with which you are negotiating. If at all feasible, credit check them.

Thirdly, have clearly set terms and conditions.

• Make sure your payment terms are spelled out clearly in your contract’s terms and conditions.
• Keep a record of a signed order form or agreement.

At the commencement of debt recovery action, from an external party, a debt collection letter to the debtor to bring the unpaid invoices to their notice as well as spell out your complete claim against them. This is referred to as a letter before action and stands as a part of the pre-litigation procedure.

eCollect is one of Australia’s most dependable and trustworthy debt collection firms, capable of recovering any sort of debt. They take on all sorts of debt, whether it’s little or large, personal or business. If someone has told you that they are unable to collect your debt, we are likely to be able to do so for you, as we have for many others. eCollect’s highly trained staff of experienced debt collectors know what they’re doing.