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Our Subscribers Say...
I think Credit Today is fantastic. You cover many practical topics in the credit field that I use regularly. Just one recent example—a conversation on the ListServ about preferential payments—gave me tips that I used in an actual case. The specific information I picked up from this one discussion saved me $10,000, enough to cover my membership for many years!
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Justin Brands, Inc. (A Berkshire Hathaway company)
Fort Worth, Texas
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Corporate Credit Manager-World Wide
Thales Navigation, Inc.
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Kimberly-Clark Customer Financial Services |
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Your One-Stop Resource for Collections Information - Tools, Tips, Tricks of the Trade
You've just found the ultimate resource for credit execs interested in reducing DSO. Everything you'll need to know about managing your collection function, from big picture concepts to specific details. What's working in business collections and what pitfalls to avoid. How to hire and train a collections staff, control slow paying customers, speed payments by phone, make better collection calls, negotiate better deals, and manage collection agencies and collection litigation. Actionable items to help you bring in cash faster!
Interested in collection training? - Click here to learn more.
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9 Steps to Help Your OCA Help You
By Loral Narayanan
It's the nature of the beast, the law of averages. Whatever you choose to call it -- some of your accounts are going to end up past due. You're going to have to call on a professional to help you collect. So you hand the account off. It's up to the agency now. You've done all you can. Right? Maybe. . . .
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Collecting Interest and Recovering Collection Costs on Delinquent Accounts
By Loral Narayanan
Legal and Practical Issues - Based on the financial information available and the customer's promise to pay, you extend credit terms to your customer. Most of the time this works quite well. The customer receives what they ordered, and you get paid. There are those times, however, when, in spite of you best efforts, you have to place an account with a collection agency. Now, you're going to have to pay to get paid. You'll have to foot the bill for fees and expenses, as well as the interest costs that accrue in carrying bad debt. All to collect money that's owed to you. Doesn't seem fair, does it? . . .
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Commercial Collection Placements Declined Significantly in 2011
January 17, 2012
Annette Waggoner, Executive Director of the Commercial Collection Agency Association of the Commercial Law League of America, reports that in 2011 commercial (B2B) accounts placed with CCAA members declined significantly. The dollars placed for collection declined by approximately 15.2% and the numbers of those accounts declined by approximately 19.5%. . . .
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What can you tell me about these three collection agencies?
January 10, 2012
I am in the process of finalizing the selection of a new collection agency. I started with a 33- question RFP which was sent to 18 different collection agencies. Eleven were returned. From those eleven, I selected my top five which has now been narrowed down to three and they are in no particular order: Commercial Collection Corp of NY D.A.L., Inc. CRF Solutions (Continental Recovery and Filing Solutions) If you have any experience both good and bad with any of these companies, please let me know. . . .
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Negotiation Skills Are the Key to Collections
As you make collection calls each day, it can be easy to forget that you are negotiating with people and not just talking at them about debts. A collection call is not just an ordinary conversation in which your attention can move in and out without affecting the outcome of the call. It is an active negotiation that requires full attention in order to do the best job for both your company and your customer. . . .
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey, Part 3: Selection Criteria For Collection Agency Outsourcing Services
By David Schmidt
Just as choosing a collection agency for third-party collections is a critical task, so too is selecting an agency to provide outsourcing services on a first-party basis. Maybe even more so than with third party collections, a bad choice can negatively impact your recoveries and your company's reputation, because an agency acting as a first party outsourcing partner is dealing directly with your active customers. A good choice will drive greater collection efficiency without raising customer service issues. . . .
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What is a CLLA Certified Agency?
By Emil Hartleb
Recently, Credit Today conducted a survey of its readers regarding the criteria and practices they use when selecting a commercial collection agency. The survey showed that ninety (90) percent of survey respondents indicated that being a CLLA certified agency was an important factor when selecting a commercial collection agency with which to do business. . . .
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey: Credit Professional Perceptions of CLLA Certification
By David Schmidt
The Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) boasts it is the oldest existing creditor rights organization in America. Most of its members are attorneys, but it also supports a collection agency section known as the Commercial Collection Agency Association (CCAA). Agency membership is contingent upon meeting a strict set of professional standards, including bonding. This provides a valuable level of protection in terms of fraud protection and professional performance for the companies that place claims with CCAA agencies in comparison to non-affiliated commercial collection agencies. . . .
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5 Steps For Year-End Collections
November, 2011
Maintaining modest A/Rs is good business throughout the year. With year end right around the corner, there's no better time than the present to ratchet up efforts, collect aged receivables, and clean up your balance sheet. Not that you needed any additional reasons to collect an aged receivable, but obviously your accountants will no doubt expect you to write off bad debt shortly as well. . . .
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Basics of Writing a Good Debt Collection RFP
By Loral A. Narayanan
Selecting a third-party debt collection agency can be as simple as getting a referral from a trusted source, contacting the company, negotiating a rate and submitting your first claim. To find the best fit for their specific needs, however, many companies prefer to contact several agencies to compare their capabilities. The best way to do this is by issuing an RFI or RFP to a number of prospective suppliers. . . .
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I know your problem
By Tim Paulsen
If you've been in this business of collections for a period of time, you are good…and you are bored. After months and perhaps a few years in the business, you know collections. You've heard the stories -- all of them. (It would be nice to have a dollar for every time you heard it's in the mail, wouldn't it?) You have the t-shirt and the video and if the movie studios ever decide to do a remake of "The Collector", your name is on the short list. . . .
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey: Collection Agency Selection Criteria
By David Schmidt
Choosing a collection agency is a critical task. A wrong choice can negatively impact your recoveries or even your company's reputation. A good choice will ensure you achieve the highest possible net recoveries (receivables recovered less collection costs) in a highly professional manner. That professionalism will evidence itself in how your accounts are handled and how well the agency communicates with your staff. Ideally the agency will become a valued advisor in regard to your credit and collection practices. This month's benchmarking survey was conducted jointly with the Commercial Collection Agency Association to learn what criteria are most important to credit execs when selecting collection agencies. Learn: - The 8 top objective criteria for choosing an agency
- How important fees are in the decision
. . .
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Reminder to New York Collection Agents: Rubber-Stamping Things in the Workplace is as Important as Ever
David Mannion, Esq.
If the doctrine of "accord and satisfaction" made its debut today instead of 19th century England, it would probably be called "compromise and payment." However, at least outside of communications with significant others, we don't normally expect to be held to compromises we had no intention of reaching. That?es the scary thing about an accord and satisfaction from a creditor's point of view. Compromise may have been the last thing on your mind. Nevertheless, you may be considered to have reached an accord and satisfaction. . . .
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Economic Recovery is Still Stalled
October 24, 2011
Annette Waggoner, Executive Director of the Commercial Collection Agency Association of the Commercial Law League of America, CCAA, states that CCAA members have reported a year-over-year decline of twenty-one percent in the volume of accounts placed for collection. Ms. Waggoner indicated that commercial accounts placed for collection are an excellent harbinger of the strength of business activity in the economy. She further stated that . . .
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Outlook 2012
This month's survey explores...
- What the top problems are facing credit execs currently, and
- What the top improvement initiatives are.
Click here to participate!
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February 2012
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