One of the most challenging parts of running a business occurs when your customers are not paying their bills. While most people want to give their customers the benefit of the doubt and avoid creating unnecessary conflict, you also can’t afford to let the income that you’ve earned disappear altogether.
In any circumstance where you’re faced with nothing but excuses for money owed to you, it’s time to contact a debt collections specialist that can resolve the issue ethically while also bringing income back to your company.
The Problem with Patience
When your company is owed money, the problem is greater than the uncomfortable feelings that come with an unfair situation. Reasonably, many business owners would prefer to give a valued customer the benefit of the doubt and to avoid conflict as long as possible.
Unfortunately, in the majority of cases, that procrastination allows some people to think they are off the hook for the money they owe and can even encourage them to spend extra money elsewhere rather than being responsible about their debts.
The Intensifying Pressures of Unpaid Invoices
When procrastination occurs, the stresses of lost income tend to build rapidly. Just the idea that you’re losing money and avoiding the problem is enough to make a business owner feel anxious and defeated. These emotions are not helpful in the case of any business, but in certain situations like the world of sales, they can be devastating to your job performance.
In any situation, stress is a distraction from your work. If you’re wasting time trying to contact a client that is avoiding you, that’s more of your time out the window. In fact, the more time that you spend pursuing a problem that you aren’t resolving, the more your working hours will disappear. Since time equals money, you add to your loss.
The Solution: Working with a Debt Resolution Expert
Whether you require individual customer or commercial debt collection services, you can be sure that contacting an expert to help resolve the issue is the best decision you can make. Rather than waste more of your time worrying about lost income, you can turn the problem over to a company that will quickly bring those funds back to your accounts payable department.
Two Kinds of Excuses
In the world of unpaid debt, almost every excuse that you will hear to explain why someone has not paid what they owe can be divided into two categories:
- Simple Problems that Can Be Easily Resolved
- Complicated Issues that are Hard to Overcome
While it might seem evident that any excuse that falls into the first of these descriptions, an excuse that seems quick and easy is often merely a delay tactic by someone who has a more significant issue. In this case, you may be dealing with someone that will try to avoid paying at all costs, including failing to respond to communications.
In the case of either type of excuse, the time to contact a debt recovery specialist occurs as soon as you hear the first excuse. In fact, after you’ve worked with someone that can easily identify and resolve all of the problems in your accounts payable department, you may be eager to partner with that company for pre-collections services.
There’s a Problem with the Invoice
When a customer is unable to pay, they will often attempt to place the blame on you in any way possible. While this strategy does not resolve the issue for either party, it can buy some time for those trying to find the money they need to pay their bills or who may be trying to find ways to avoid paying altogether.
The best way to address this situation is to keep a written record of every document that pertains to billing in your company, including all communications. If this solution seems like a great plan in retrospect but useless to you in your current situation, then a collections agency can help.
Complaints about the Product or Service
Problems with the quality of your work or product represent another reason it is essential to keep close records of every communication with your customers. If you have agreed to deliver on something you haven’t provided or your product is not what was promised, then your customer has a right to compensation or withholding payments. The issue here occurs when such complaints are merely an excuse to avoid paying for something that was flawless.
Again, the best way to address this situation is to keep a written record of every document pertaining to billing in your company, including all communications. Whether or not you’ve already been great at keeping records, a collections agency can help.
Financial Struggles
While this excuse is honest, it does not make things easy for either party involved. Whether or not a customer has been honest with you, it is always vital to treat them with the utmost respect in interactions that involve debt recovery. The challenge with this situation is that those who lack experience dealing with this kind of issue often resort to conflict and unethical behavior.
The solution is to allow an experienced and highly trained team of debt recovery specialists to take over. By ensuring that your customer is treated ethically, with human dignity in mind, you’ll be able to retain a customer or client that is sure to return your honestly and respect just as soon as they recover.
Don’t Become an Excuse-Maker Yourself
When it comes to excuses, customers that owe you money are not the only ones at fault. Business owners that do not take the appropriate steps to resolve the issue of lost revenue from unpaid invoices often make their own excuses not to act.
Don’t wait until the money that isn’t returning to your business causes your own financial struggles, prevents your profits from growing, and threatens your relationships with other partners; contact a debt recovery specialist immediately to get your earnings back on track.
