How to be an effective collector?

First of all I just would like to express my sincerest gratitude to those who are sending me emails especially to those who are expressing their continuous appreciation of the various credit and collection topics this column writer has been writing for over a decade with The Freeman. At the same time, I would like to apologize for several emails that I was not able to answer as I believe that I have already written several articles and made several comments already especially topics pertaining to “unfair collection practices”.

Today, I will be expounding a topic that has been almost always being asked by collectors both neophytes and veterans alike. Personally, I always believe that almost anybody with a decent education can be an effective collector. As what I have said before, collection is not as complicated as others would like us to believe, but not as easy as some may presume. Based on experience, part of the success of being an effective collector is one’s attitude. Below are some of the proven mind set a collector should start practicing in order to be an effective in this profession.

First, always have a positive mental attitude (PMA). Believe in what you do as a collector. Believe in the quality of the product your company is selling. Believe in the total amount your system is telling you the customer owes your company. Believe that your customer is responsible in paying the account. Never have a doubt. Part of collecting is negotiating, if you have doubts in your product’s quality, if you have doubts in the amount you are collecting, if you have doubts in your own invoice then you are already at a disadvantage. Part of collecting is also mind game, by being prepared, assured and confident, you will surely project a positive mental attitude. So, how are you going to do this? By making sure that you are prepared, by inspecting everything, if you need to double check your invoice with your accounting department, especially for higher amount invoices – do it. If you have to go down and discuss your product’s quality with your Quality Assurance (QA) team – do it. Read and memorize your company’s terms and conditions or credit sales agreement. Bottom line, if your customer sensed that you are confident in your statements your customer will realize that he/ she is dealing with a no nonsense collector.

Second, always maintain self-control. Endeavor to always be calm and check your emotion when doing collection. There is a good Cebuano term for this “ayaw awaya”. Don’t be drawn into the debtor’s anger or you will lose your effectiveness. Debtors often come through with payment after they have been given a chance to express their hostile feelings. So, you may ask, how to handle angry customers? There are 3 steps to follow: Step 1: Establish the point of conflict. As immediate as possible, find out exactly what your customer is disagreeing. Step 2: Always endeavor to exchange information. After establishing the point of concern or conflict, find out everything about the facts and even the circumstances that surround the situation; don’t immediately jump to conclusion, and Step 3: Reach for a give and take position. Always try to reach for a win-win compromise.

(to be continued)

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