I remember January like it was last week. I had planned a vacation to Florida to include a 5-day cruise with my girlfriend. Someone mentioned something about a virus in Asia and to be completely honest, I knew nothing about it. I got on an airplane thought nothing of it, boarded my cruise, had a great time, still the virus was just a conversation some people were having.
When we got back from the cruise it seemed as though talk about the Corona virus had picked up momentum but it was still so far away from my reality. I boarded the plane home, noticed some people were wearing masks (which I thought was a little over-reactive) and I sat myself arm to arm and cheek (not the face one) to cheek with my fellow passengers. In less than a month, wow, was I and everyone else dealt a reality check.
As the virus found itself to American soil and then infiltrated itself into our everyday life, we were faced with mandatory stay at home orders, social distancing, non-essential businesses ordered closed, and thousands of people out of work.
At first, my partners and I were at a loss as to what we should do. I mean how could we possibly make collection calls when it seemed as though the world was coming apart at the seams. The first few weeks we decided we would give it a go and see what type of reception we would get. We made a pledge that we would be very respectful and understanding of the situations that the people we were contacting were possibly facing. Our thought was just to open a dialogue with them, offer understanding if they were faced with financial difficulty due to loss of income, assure them that we could give them an extension until April 1, 2020 (which we were all optimistic at the time that this virus would be under control and things would be back to normal). We offered payment plans, keeping in mind no amount was too small and that when things picked up then the payment amount could increase. Sounded like a great plan and guess what – it was!
Not only have we been able to collect payments (yes payments) on outstanding debts, secured payment plans and offered simply more time (no longer April 1st but optimistically mid-May) but we also a shared dialogue with the debtors about what we are all facing as this virus has become so much more than a “pandemic” that was happening somewhere else far away.
I have also found out that there are still a lot of people who are employed (albeit their office may now be located right outside their bedroom door) and they are still earning a paycheck.
So, when people ask, and believe me I get asked often (even from my adult children) how can you possibly call people and ask for money during a time like this? My answer is simple – people are still people, corona virus or not, they still want to pay their bills, (a lot of the time they are bills that were overlooked) and when treated with respect and kindness they respond positively. In the past month, we have had phenomenal success with our collections and each week surpasses the prior week’s total.
In closing, although we are living through uncharted and uncertain times, we all know that this too shall pass and life will pick-up right where we left off. We will all be back to “business as usual”, working, socializing and yes even traveling, and in my case, cruising!
