Small business debt collection may be difficult. A commitment to a regular process to monitor aging accounts receivables is essential to the health of your business.
If you want to make the process work smoothly, you need to be SMART about it.
Simple
Do not make the process more difficult than it needs to be. Schedule your follow up for 30, 60 and 90 days, so that the process is always the same. Plan your process in advance and prepare template collection letters that you can use again and again.
Monitor
Your small business debt collection process is fluid. You will find things that work, and things that do not. Monitor the process, tweak as necessary.
Active
If you are passive about small business debt collection, you may see some results, but it takes a sustained active effort to get the best results. Plans are great, but you have to actually do it – collecting is an action word.
Repetition
Practice makes perfect. Your first call to a customer may not work, but a second or third just might.
Timing
While you technically have years to collect from delinquent customers, (as long as they are within the statute of limitations for your state), how will your cash flow suffer while you wait? If you are timely with your requests for payment, your customer will know that you are serious.
