An unpaid bill is lost money. It is taken away from your bottom line in its entirety. It not only hurts financially, but also may sting from the debtor’s betrayal of your agreement. Some debtors may have lied to you, abused your good faith or abused your lack of diligence in checking them out carefully.
Sometimes the debt sticks in your craw. Sometimes you may want more than the collection of your money. The insult to your relationship must be revenged. The debtor must be made to pay.
When a business cannot get a bill paid they usually resort to a Debt Collection expert.The debt collector’s job is to collect as much money as possible. A Client may, however, also be looking for justice or even revenge.This makes the job of collecting money much more difficult.
The Collection professional must start at zero with an unpaid debt. In the quest for money, everything over zero is progress. Many Clients have a different view. Nothing less than complete payment is acceptable. This creates a common problem that must be addressed.
Common goals are required. Debt collectors are not in the revenge business, nor do they worry about what is fair, which is a matter of perspective rather than legality. The goal is to put as much money back in the Client’s pocket as possible.
You can get revenge, but only at a cost. The court system wants money up front.You will have to fill out forms and you will often have to spend a day in court.
The best you can hope for your efforts is a piece of paper that gives you the right to go after the defendant’s assets. Usually the thrill of victory turns to disappointment because only about one in four judgments ever turns into money. All your expense and all your work usually get you nothing.
Sometimes getting it all costs more than it is worth.Even on Judgments that are collected there are costs in time and paperwork. You may also have to wait for years awaiting the sale of a house.
Sometimes taking less will get you more money than going for everything. You will spend 30 percent plus 4 days of your time for each 100 percent you collect in court. If a day of your time is only worth five percent of your average claim you will spend a whopping fifty percent when you litigate.
Now, let’s compare that with a settlement offer. You get the entire settlement without any effort or expense whatsoever. Your total involvement is to approve the settlement.
It’s all about the money. Revenge will never help your company but cash will. You will actually average a higher collection return taking sixty percent settlements for every offer than going to litigation against the same debtors. Even a fifty percent settlement breaks you even with litigation without the effort.
Maximize your recovery by considering all the factors. Settlements are cheaper. Settlements are easier for Clients. Settlements are guaranteed money. Think twice before turning them down.
Understanding debt collection and background screening best practices can save your business big money. Building up front applicant screening into your business processes costs you very little, but saves you so much in the end. If you haven’t already, partner with a full service debt collection and applicant screening company to guide your business to a place of security and prosperity. Contact us to sign up for a free account and get started protecting your business today.
ABOUT EXECUTIVE CREDIT MANAGEMENT, INC.
Executive Credit Management is a full-service Debt Collection and Applicant Screening agency with over 20 years experience located in Central New Jersey. We provide excellent service in the following areas: Employment Screening, Business Screening, and Tenant Screening. Executive Credit Management belongs to a number of Skip Tracing databases and offers services to help locate and confirm the current address of missing debtors. Other services provided are: litigation evaluation on all lawsuit decisions, improvement of the quality of the applicant data, Lawsuit Monitoring, Handling of Debtor Disputes. Executive Credit Management features the best Call Monitoring System in the Debt Collection industry.