Debt collection is a process. It is strategic and involves more than simply billing your customers.

Certainly, billing customers is important.

Too often, people tell us that they would have paid their debt but did not receive a bill. Prompt billing of your customers keeps your receivables cycle moving. Your bills should be easy to read, and provide clear instructions on how to pay. Make it easy for people to pay you.

The trouble comes in when you are billing customers and they are not paying you. At this point, you need to do more.

How many bills should you send to customers?

There is no set rule for how many bills you should send someone who is not paying you. It depends on the size of the bill, the value of the customer to you business, and a number of other factors. However, if you have sent two or more bills to a customer and received no response it is time to …

Pick up the phone and speak with your customers.

You will be surprised how many customers will appreciate a friendly reminder. Use the call as an opportunity to get feedback on customer satisfaction, or to sell new product or service. People are busy, and some people really do forget to pay a bill.

If your customer has multiple bills, your phone call could just move your bill to the top of the pile. If you do not ask, you may never know.

So what does a debt collector do that is different?

Imagine if you bill a customer and the bill is returned back to you marked, “Return to Sender – Unable to Forward”. You try to call the customer and the phone number is out of service.

While there is a good deal of information on the internet, a debt collector has specialized tools to find information about people. Research is known to debt collectors as “skip tracing” and it is what we do all day long.

Debt collectors also are experienced negotiators, and can handle tough customer issues. You can spend less time chasing delinquent payers and more time growing our business.