Saturday, 30 July 2011
Deanem Collections: What links the Taming of the Shrew and Credit Coll...
Deanem Collections: What links the Taming of the Shrew and Credit Coll...: "This week’s blog has been inspired by Jacqui Frost of The Office Genie who challenged me to write a blog linking The Taming of The Shrew and..."
What links the Taming of the Shrew and Credit Collection?
This week’s blog has been inspired by Jacqui Frost of The Office Genie who challenged me to write a blog linking The Taming of The Shrew and credit control.
When I first received the challenge my mind went blank was it possible to link William Shakespeare’s masterpiece with credit control. But then I thought of the “Shrew” in Shakespeare’s tale Katherine & her sister Bianca. In the story Bianca is everything that Katherine is not she is soft-spoken, sweet and unassuming and is the one that all the men want to wed. The problem is that Bianca cannot get married until Katherine does. In the story Katherine is eventually “tamed” by Petruchio and eventually both Kate & Bianca find happiness.
There is a direct link between the characters and credit control and I hope this illustrates why I can make this statement. When I started in business over 30 years ago being allowed time to pay was not expected or demanded as it is today, you had to earn the right to be granted credit. Once you had proven yourself worthy of being offered credit and you had passed the vigorous vetting procedure, well OK it wasn’t that vigorous as it usually consisted of you providing 2 trade references. Obviously the salesman, or Bianca would be delighted and they soon became a “friend”. They would show you the latest goods, they would shower you with compliments etc etc.
Depending on the size of the company you were dealing with there would be at least 1 or 2 people, who were generally ladies who took care of the credit control for the company. These ladies could also be like Bianca as it was in their interest to be nice with customers who paid. However, if you didn’t pay your invoice Bianca would suddenly become Katherine.
I once met a Katherine when I was asked to meet Maggie* who was the credit control manager for a major publishing house. Maggie had a reputation for being a bit of a dragon and was for ever stopping new customers from obtaining credit and as such upset the sales team who found it hard to attract new advertisers who would not be granted credit. The board felt that while Maggie was doing a good job they wanted to know if she was acting unreasonably and asked me to carry out a review.
Maggie & I met for a cup of coffee and I found her to be charming very much like Bianca, she explained that before joining her present employer, she had been a tax inspector. It was her belief that if as long as a client let her know if there was a difficulty and sorted out a payment plan and stuck to it, she was happy. However woe betide anyone who did not keep their promise, as she then became Katherine. When I asked her how far she would go to get paid, she pulled out a portable credit card machine! She explained that she would attend exhibitions both here and abroad and if she saw an errant advertiser entertaining someone, she would march up to them and demand that they pay their overdue invoice.
I reported back to the board that Maggie was the perfect example of a competent credit controller whose goal was to insure that her company did not suffer from bad or late payers. John* the sales director asked what did I think of Maggies’ attitude to granting credit as it affected the sales staff’s ability to attract new customers as they wanted credit before placing an order. I explained that I felt Maggie was right and gave him my favourite analogy of not being able to go to Tesco, Sainsbury and Waitrose etc and fill up a trolley and then walk out with out paying. I finished my report by saying that I felt as long as they allowed Maggie to carry out her job the company would continue to grow and remain relatively debt free.
A few years later I met Geoff* who was the Chairman of the publishers at a networking event and as we both had some spare time I treated him to a coffee and asked how things were, howMaggie, John and the rest of the team that I had met were. Geoff explained that after Maggie had retired John had insisted that the company employ less of a Kate and more of a Bianca as he felt it would allow his team to take the company to the next level. Geoff then went on to explain that within a year the company had gone from having virtually zero debtors to over 15% and the majority of the debtors had come form new customers that had been signed up since Maggie retired.
When I asked him what he had done, he took a deep breath and said that he had begged Maggie to come back on a part time basis so that she could teach her successor how to do her job. When I asked Geoff how John took the news, he said that John had said that if Maggie came back he would leave because he felt that she stifled the sales team with her attitude. Geoff then smiled and said since Maggie had come back debts had fallen and while they had lost a small number of customers, the majority respected the fact that if they wanted to advertise within their titles then they had to follow Maggies’ rules.
While I have not used Maggie, Geoff’s or John’s real names the story is true. If you would like to know a bit more about the Taming of the Shrew or other works by Shakespeare I would suggest that you obtain a copy of To Be or Not To be, Innit by Martin Baum.
If you would like to challenge David to link a subject to credit control or like to know more about him or Deanem Collections Ltd please do visit our website www.deanemcollections.co.uk or send David an email david@deanemcollections.co.uk
When I first received the challenge my mind went blank was it possible to link William Shakespeare’s masterpiece with credit control. But then I thought of the “Shrew” in Shakespeare’s tale Katherine & her sister Bianca. In the story Bianca is everything that Katherine is not she is soft-spoken, sweet and unassuming and is the one that all the men want to wed. The problem is that Bianca cannot get married until Katherine does. In the story Katherine is eventually “tamed” by Petruchio and eventually both Kate & Bianca find happiness.
There is a direct link between the characters and credit control and I hope this illustrates why I can make this statement. When I started in business over 30 years ago being allowed time to pay was not expected or demanded as it is today, you had to earn the right to be granted credit. Once you had proven yourself worthy of being offered credit and you had passed the vigorous vetting procedure, well OK it wasn’t that vigorous as it usually consisted of you providing 2 trade references. Obviously the salesman, or Bianca would be delighted and they soon became a “friend”. They would show you the latest goods, they would shower you with compliments etc etc.
Depending on the size of the company you were dealing with there would be at least 1 or 2 people, who were generally ladies who took care of the credit control for the company. These ladies could also be like Bianca as it was in their interest to be nice with customers who paid. However, if you didn’t pay your invoice Bianca would suddenly become Katherine.
I once met a Katherine when I was asked to meet Maggie* who was the credit control manager for a major publishing house. Maggie had a reputation for being a bit of a dragon and was for ever stopping new customers from obtaining credit and as such upset the sales team who found it hard to attract new advertisers who would not be granted credit. The board felt that while Maggie was doing a good job they wanted to know if she was acting unreasonably and asked me to carry out a review.
Maggie & I met for a cup of coffee and I found her to be charming very much like Bianca, she explained that before joining her present employer, she had been a tax inspector. It was her belief that if as long as a client let her know if there was a difficulty and sorted out a payment plan and stuck to it, she was happy. However woe betide anyone who did not keep their promise, as she then became Katherine. When I asked her how far she would go to get paid, she pulled out a portable credit card machine! She explained that she would attend exhibitions both here and abroad and if she saw an errant advertiser entertaining someone, she would march up to them and demand that they pay their overdue invoice.
I reported back to the board that Maggie was the perfect example of a competent credit controller whose goal was to insure that her company did not suffer from bad or late payers. John* the sales director asked what did I think of Maggies’ attitude to granting credit as it affected the sales staff’s ability to attract new customers as they wanted credit before placing an order. I explained that I felt Maggie was right and gave him my favourite analogy of not being able to go to Tesco, Sainsbury and Waitrose etc and fill up a trolley and then walk out with out paying. I finished my report by saying that I felt as long as they allowed Maggie to carry out her job the company would continue to grow and remain relatively debt free.
A few years later I met Geoff* who was the Chairman of the publishers at a networking event and as we both had some spare time I treated him to a coffee and asked how things were, howMaggie, John and the rest of the team that I had met were. Geoff explained that after Maggie had retired John had insisted that the company employ less of a Kate and more of a Bianca as he felt it would allow his team to take the company to the next level. Geoff then went on to explain that within a year the company had gone from having virtually zero debtors to over 15% and the majority of the debtors had come form new customers that had been signed up since Maggie retired.
When I asked him what he had done, he took a deep breath and said that he had begged Maggie to come back on a part time basis so that she could teach her successor how to do her job. When I asked Geoff how John took the news, he said that John had said that if Maggie came back he would leave because he felt that she stifled the sales team with her attitude. Geoff then smiled and said since Maggie had come back debts had fallen and while they had lost a small number of customers, the majority respected the fact that if they wanted to advertise within their titles then they had to follow Maggies’ rules.
While I have not used Maggie, Geoff’s or John’s real names the story is true. If you would like to know a bit more about the Taming of the Shrew or other works by Shakespeare I would suggest that you obtain a copy of To Be or Not To be, Innit by Martin Baum.
If you would like to challenge David to link a subject to credit control or like to know more about him or Deanem Collections Ltd please do visit our website www.deanemcollections.co.uk or send David an email david@deanemcollections.co.uk
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Deanem Collections: There is nothing like a claim.
Deanem Collections: There is nothing like a claim.: "I was sent this blog by George Emsden, who inturn received it from the author Alan Lakey I was so impressed I wanted to pass it on to my rea..."
There is nothing like a claim.
I was sent this blog by George Emsden, who inturn received it from the author Alan Lakey I was so impressed I wanted to pass it on to my readers.
Something for nothing? Let's make a claim. Alan Lakey takes us in to a murky claims culture:
The rise of the claims culture continues unabashed, dismally trumpeted by a blitz of automated phone messages instructing that we should all claim compensation for PPI mis-sales - via the caller, of course. The surge in newspaper adverts on mis-selling has also plumbed new depths of shamelessness and deceit.
This relentless push is inspired by the unrelenting Americanisation of the UK but part of the responsibility lies with the current and previous regulator which derived vigour from portraying the consumer as always on the end of a scam and of implying that such scams emanated from all parts of the industry.
In addition, the appetite of the FOS for publicising its services at every turn also lends itself to the accusation of claims incitement. The US effect is incorrigible and may be impossible to reverse but the negativity of bad regulation can be, maybe not just yet though.
During the last week, my office has received six automated calls where the recorded message, in friendly newsreader tones, assured me that I am able to claim for my PPI missale and my recent injury, dodgy pavement if I remember rightly.
Disturbingly, this torrent of misinformation works, as confirmed by the FOS which highlighted that three qaurters of PPI claims stem from third-party introductions.
Some weeks back, a long-standing client telephoned me declaring that she had received a phone call about claiming for mis-sold PPI insurance. "And why are you phoning me"? I asked. "So that I can make a complaint", she explained.
I enlightened her that she did not have a PPI plan and she dutifully accepted this terrible reality and ended the call.
One the plus side, I can say that at least this unremitting tosh is specific and normally enables listeners to judge whether or not they are, or think they are, affected. Other, even less savoury claims-mongers, are taking their advertising to new subterranean levels. This suggests desperation or perhaps the road to wealth. No doubt this will become clear in due course.
Last week, while scanning a London evening paper, I chanced across a big claims-monger advert advising me that I could be "owed thousands without even knowing it". Excited by this good fortune, I avidly read on. It explained that its business is "winning compensation for holders of life policies and investments - whether or not you believe there is a problem with them".
Apparently, any plan taken out since April 1988, when regulation first reared its head, is fair game. The advert focused on the direct-sales companies, banks and building societies which we know are easier targets than IFAs.
Could this focus be down to IFA sales practices being superior? Or could it be due to the disagreeable practice whereby some insurers pay compensation to a certain level without bothering to investigate? Both, I would conjecture.
So, will the Financial Conduct Authority take up the FSA's baton and continue to espouse the fiction that mis-selling and bias is endemic throughout the industry or will it seek to provide some kind of balance? The FCA's recent Approach To Regulation paper (p.15) advised six regulatory principles, one of which states "that consumers should take responsibility for their decisions".
Now just imagine, if that ever should occur, there would be no claims-mongers, far fewer staff at the FOS and whatever regulator is in temporary existence and a consequent reduction in fees.
Alan's Orginal article Money Management 07Jul2011
As I said I didn't write the article and hope you enjoyed it. My regular blogg will be available next week when it will be based on The Taming of The Shrew, Tallymen or the events in Norway
Something for nothing? Let's make a claim. Alan Lakey takes us in to a murky claims culture:
The rise of the claims culture continues unabashed, dismally trumpeted by a blitz of automated phone messages instructing that we should all claim compensation for PPI mis-sales - via the caller, of course. The surge in newspaper adverts on mis-selling has also plumbed new depths of shamelessness and deceit.
This relentless push is inspired by the unrelenting Americanisation of the UK but part of the responsibility lies with the current and previous regulator which derived vigour from portraying the consumer as always on the end of a scam and of implying that such scams emanated from all parts of the industry.
In addition, the appetite of the FOS for publicising its services at every turn also lends itself to the accusation of claims incitement. The US effect is incorrigible and may be impossible to reverse but the negativity of bad regulation can be, maybe not just yet though.
During the last week, my office has received six automated calls where the recorded message, in friendly newsreader tones, assured me that I am able to claim for my PPI missale and my recent injury, dodgy pavement if I remember rightly.
Disturbingly, this torrent of misinformation works, as confirmed by the FOS which highlighted that three qaurters of PPI claims stem from third-party introductions.
Some weeks back, a long-standing client telephoned me declaring that she had received a phone call about claiming for mis-sold PPI insurance. "And why are you phoning me"? I asked. "So that I can make a complaint", she explained.
I enlightened her that she did not have a PPI plan and she dutifully accepted this terrible reality and ended the call.
One the plus side, I can say that at least this unremitting tosh is specific and normally enables listeners to judge whether or not they are, or think they are, affected. Other, even less savoury claims-mongers, are taking their advertising to new subterranean levels. This suggests desperation or perhaps the road to wealth. No doubt this will become clear in due course.
Last week, while scanning a London evening paper, I chanced across a big claims-monger advert advising me that I could be "owed thousands without even knowing it". Excited by this good fortune, I avidly read on. It explained that its business is "winning compensation for holders of life policies and investments - whether or not you believe there is a problem with them".
Apparently, any plan taken out since April 1988, when regulation first reared its head, is fair game. The advert focused on the direct-sales companies, banks and building societies which we know are easier targets than IFAs.
Could this focus be down to IFA sales practices being superior? Or could it be due to the disagreeable practice whereby some insurers pay compensation to a certain level without bothering to investigate? Both, I would conjecture.
So, will the Financial Conduct Authority take up the FSA's baton and continue to espouse the fiction that mis-selling and bias is endemic throughout the industry or will it seek to provide some kind of balance? The FCA's recent Approach To Regulation paper (p.15) advised six regulatory principles, one of which states "that consumers should take responsibility for their decisions".
Now just imagine, if that ever should occur, there would be no claims-mongers, far fewer staff at the FOS and whatever regulator is in temporary existence and a consequent reduction in fees.
Alan's Orginal article Money Management 07Jul2011
As I said I didn't write the article and hope you enjoyed it. My regular blogg will be available next week when it will be based on The Taming of The Shrew, Tallymen or the events in Norway
Monday, 25 July 2011
Deanem Collections: Who is responsible for your company’s bad debt?
Deanem Collections: Who is responsible for your company’s bad debt?: "This week’s blog has been inspired by the very sad and tragic death of Amy Winehouse. I was quite shocked by the comments being left on soci..."
Who is responsible for your company’s bad debt?
This week’s blog has been inspired by the very sad and tragic death of Amy Winehouse. I was quite shocked by the comments being left on social network sites. While the majority of the comments were on the loss and the fantastic music she left, people were also commenting on the fact that due to her addictions death was inevitable. That’s not what surprised or shocked me, it was the almost vitriolic attacks by addiction defenders, who will state that an addiction is an illness and no one asks to become an addict. This always gets me as I’ve never seen someone put a gun to someone’s head and demand they drink or snort a line of coke, or pop a pill.
So I’m sure you’re asking what has the above got to do with a company having bad debts and poor credit control. We’ll I hate to be the one who tells you this, ultimately 99% of those companies with bad debts are responsible for their own financial situation. We as business owners have allowed ourselves over the years to grant credit to all and sundry. Like an addict it’s very easy to blame everyone else for your poor cash flow, ultimately it is only when you recognise that you don’t have to give credit to all of your clients that cash flow will improve. When I run seminars on credit control I remind the delegates that they can’t go in to Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose etc and leave with a trolley load of provisions unless they have been paid for.
I’m certain that there are a number of people who will be reading this and will say that I’m talking rubbish, that without credit their business will wither and die. To those people all I can say is take off the blinkers and face reality. I was speaking to John* who was an old client this afternoon who when we first met had an unhealthy level of overdue invoices and his bank manager was nagging him to do something about getting his overdraft under control. While we were able to solve his immediate cash flow problems by collecting the majority of the debts, we discussed at the time what he should do about providing future credit. His main concern was upsetting his established “clients” who were always late paying.
I managed to convince John to offer a two tier cost structure of either 100% with order or a split payment structure which would carry a 10% surcharge. How this works is very simple, if someone wants credit they pay 10% extra. However, they can only get credit if they pay 50% with order, 25% prior to delivery the final 25% 30 days after delivery. John was telling me that far from losing clients the majority are happy to order using the split payment system, his bank manager even phoned to congratulate him on the improvement to his cash flow!
While I will admit that a split cost structure may not suit all business, the above does prove that you don’t have to stick to historic practices and if you are finding that your “clients” are taking longer to pay and can’t think how to get paid early, please contact us.
*Johns’ name has been changed.
To find out more about David or Deanem Collections Ltd please do visit our website www.deanemcollections.co.uk or send David an email david@deanemcollections.co.uk
So I’m sure you’re asking what has the above got to do with a company having bad debts and poor credit control. We’ll I hate to be the one who tells you this, ultimately 99% of those companies with bad debts are responsible for their own financial situation. We as business owners have allowed ourselves over the years to grant credit to all and sundry. Like an addict it’s very easy to blame everyone else for your poor cash flow, ultimately it is only when you recognise that you don’t have to give credit to all of your clients that cash flow will improve. When I run seminars on credit control I remind the delegates that they can’t go in to Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose etc and leave with a trolley load of provisions unless they have been paid for.
I’m certain that there are a number of people who will be reading this and will say that I’m talking rubbish, that without credit their business will wither and die. To those people all I can say is take off the blinkers and face reality. I was speaking to John* who was an old client this afternoon who when we first met had an unhealthy level of overdue invoices and his bank manager was nagging him to do something about getting his overdraft under control. While we were able to solve his immediate cash flow problems by collecting the majority of the debts, we discussed at the time what he should do about providing future credit. His main concern was upsetting his established “clients” who were always late paying.
I managed to convince John to offer a two tier cost structure of either 100% with order or a split payment structure which would carry a 10% surcharge. How this works is very simple, if someone wants credit they pay 10% extra. However, they can only get credit if they pay 50% with order, 25% prior to delivery the final 25% 30 days after delivery. John was telling me that far from losing clients the majority are happy to order using the split payment system, his bank manager even phoned to congratulate him on the improvement to his cash flow!
While I will admit that a split cost structure may not suit all business, the above does prove that you don’t have to stick to historic practices and if you are finding that your “clients” are taking longer to pay and can’t think how to get paid early, please contact us.
*Johns’ name has been changed.
To find out more about David or Deanem Collections Ltd please do visit our website www.deanemcollections.co.uk or send David an email david@deanemcollections.co.uk
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Deanem Collections: How important is your reputation?
Deanem Collections: How important is your reputation?: "This week’s blog has been inspired by a sad but significant event that took place earlier today (Sunday 17 July). As some of you may recall,..."
How important is your reputation?
This week’s blog has been inspired by a sad but significant event that took place earlier today (Sunday 17 July). As some of you may recall, last August my father passed away after many years of ill health. The reason for bringing this up is that in the Jewish religion it is the custom to set the tomb stone in place approximately 1 year later and today was the stone setting for my late father.
The first thing I noticed was despite the appalling July weather a significant number of people attended the ceremony, in fact someone counted that there were around 100 people. By and large they all said the same thing to me and my siblings that one of the things they admired and valued about my father was his reputation for being trustworthy and honest. The second thing I noticed was that a number of the epitaphs read like CV's! It was this that reminded me of a question that my father posed, when I was quite young.
He asked me “what was I given as a baby that was mine for life, but once lost or tarnished could never be recovered?” after much head scratching he finally gave me the answer and that was my name. He was quite right, you only have to look around you at the reputation, or lack of some of the people making the news. We have the sight of famous actors such as Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan hypocritically pontificating about the activities of some journalists when just a few short years ago they were caught out by the papers for behaving inappropriately.
I was always led to beleive that in business your name was your most important asset, which has led me to wonder why executive officers go out of their way to put themselves and or their company in a position to damage it. Lets take the recent phone hacking scandal, while the Chief Executor may not have known, or not been made aware of what actions were being carried out, the moment to resign was when the allegations were proven to be correct and not when the worlds press and politicians were calling for it. Had she resigned at the beginning at least her reputation would not have been so badly damaged.
While the brouhaha about the phone hacking was going on, I had a meeting with a potential customer for Deanem Collections. I had been asked to meet the senior management of a registered social landlord, the meeting went very well and before it ended I asked them why they had requested to meet me. They said that it was that our reputation for hard work and total honesty meant they felt they could trust my company to assist with the collection of their tenancy arrears. I was delighted, as it has taken many years of hard work to get to this position and I know that I would never knowingly do anything that could change people’s perception of Deanem Collections Ltd or myself.
If you would like to find out more about David Baum or Deanem Collections Ltd please do not hesiatet to email David at david@deanemcollections.co.uk or visit our website www.deanemcollections.co.uk
The first thing I noticed was despite the appalling July weather a significant number of people attended the ceremony, in fact someone counted that there were around 100 people. By and large they all said the same thing to me and my siblings that one of the things they admired and valued about my father was his reputation for being trustworthy and honest. The second thing I noticed was that a number of the epitaphs read like CV's! It was this that reminded me of a question that my father posed, when I was quite young.
He asked me “what was I given as a baby that was mine for life, but once lost or tarnished could never be recovered?” after much head scratching he finally gave me the answer and that was my name. He was quite right, you only have to look around you at the reputation, or lack of some of the people making the news. We have the sight of famous actors such as Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan hypocritically pontificating about the activities of some journalists when just a few short years ago they were caught out by the papers for behaving inappropriately.
I was always led to beleive that in business your name was your most important asset, which has led me to wonder why executive officers go out of their way to put themselves and or their company in a position to damage it. Lets take the recent phone hacking scandal, while the Chief Executor may not have known, or not been made aware of what actions were being carried out, the moment to resign was when the allegations were proven to be correct and not when the worlds press and politicians were calling for it. Had she resigned at the beginning at least her reputation would not have been so badly damaged.
While the brouhaha about the phone hacking was going on, I had a meeting with a potential customer for Deanem Collections. I had been asked to meet the senior management of a registered social landlord, the meeting went very well and before it ended I asked them why they had requested to meet me. They said that it was that our reputation for hard work and total honesty meant they felt they could trust my company to assist with the collection of their tenancy arrears. I was delighted, as it has taken many years of hard work to get to this position and I know that I would never knowingly do anything that could change people’s perception of Deanem Collections Ltd or myself.
If you would like to find out more about David Baum or Deanem Collections Ltd please do not hesiatet to email David at david@deanemcollections.co.uk or visit our website www.deanemcollections.co.uk
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Deanem Collections: Are you guilty of overselling and under performing...
Deanem Collections: Are you guilty of overselling and under performing...: "This week I’m grateful to a statement I read which was attributed to a rival debt collection agency. The statement proudly claimed that thei..."
Are you guilty of overselling and under performing?
This week I’m grateful to a statement I read which was attributed to a rival debt collection agency. The statement proudly claimed that their agency could guarantee to collect 85% of all debts passed to them. It further went on to say that they didn’t believe there was a debt that they couldn’t collect.
I was amazed by the statement as I felt that at Deanem Collections we are pleased if we managed to collect an average 40 – 50% of debts passed and resolve a further 25%. I decided to speak to the agency concerned, because if they could guarantee the % it may have been worthwhile outsourcing our collection work to them.
I made two calls, the first posing as a potential customer. I was amazed at the commission rate they charged as they only had two rates under 6 months @ 25% and over 6 months @ 40%. I mentioned that the rate seemed high and was told that the rate could be reduced if I was to pay a handling charge of 10% of the debt, commission would be reduced to 10% and 25% but as they can almost certainly guarantee collection it was “a bit of a no brainer”. I then uttered those immortal words “I’ll think about it”.
About an hour or so later I called again, this time as myself and spoke to “Mike” and explained that I was possibly interested in outsourcing our non-collected debts to them, especially if they could guarantee collection. Mike suggested that we met for a cup of tea and see if we could work together.
During the meeting Mike, explained about their commission rates and handling charges, he also let slip that the stated collection rate was slightly exaggerated as the true figure was around 50% resolved or collected. I asked him what he told customers when they didn’t collect, he said very simply “we’re sorry but this is one of those rare cases where we haven’t been able to collect the debt” in the meanwhile they’ve pocketed a fee for not collecting the debt. I asked him if there was any negative comments from their customers when they didn’t collect, Mike said that while “punters” will generally be upset, his team was very good at making them feel that they’ve tried everything to collect the debt. I asked if they got much in the way of repeat business and he said no. He carried on by stating “That while there was an unlimited number of businesses out there who were suffering from bad paying customers, there was a ready flow of “punters” that were desperate for someone to collect the debt, who needed repeat customers”.
Mike then asked if I had any cases that we could pass to him, as he thought we could both make money out of our uncollectable debts. I said I would think about it, thanked him for his hospitality and then said I had to go to an appointment and left.
My meeting with Mike only went to reinforce my belief that there is a correct way and a wrong way of acting as a debt collector. The right way is to never guarantee your customer anything other than you will try your very best to collect their debt. The wrong way is Mike’s way which seems to embrace P.T. Barnum’s motto “There’s a sucker born every minute”
If you would like to find out more about David and Deanem Collections please do not hesiatet to contact us on +44 (0) 208 446 7720 or email us at enquiries@deanemcollections.co.uk or visit our website www.deanemcollections.co.uk.
I was amazed by the statement as I felt that at Deanem Collections we are pleased if we managed to collect an average 40 – 50% of debts passed and resolve a further 25%. I decided to speak to the agency concerned, because if they could guarantee the % it may have been worthwhile outsourcing our collection work to them.
I made two calls, the first posing as a potential customer. I was amazed at the commission rate they charged as they only had two rates under 6 months @ 25% and over 6 months @ 40%. I mentioned that the rate seemed high and was told that the rate could be reduced if I was to pay a handling charge of 10% of the debt, commission would be reduced to 10% and 25% but as they can almost certainly guarantee collection it was “a bit of a no brainer”. I then uttered those immortal words “I’ll think about it”.
About an hour or so later I called again, this time as myself and spoke to “Mike” and explained that I was possibly interested in outsourcing our non-collected debts to them, especially if they could guarantee collection. Mike suggested that we met for a cup of tea and see if we could work together.
During the meeting Mike, explained about their commission rates and handling charges, he also let slip that the stated collection rate was slightly exaggerated as the true figure was around 50% resolved or collected. I asked him what he told customers when they didn’t collect, he said very simply “we’re sorry but this is one of those rare cases where we haven’t been able to collect the debt” in the meanwhile they’ve pocketed a fee for not collecting the debt. I asked him if there was any negative comments from their customers when they didn’t collect, Mike said that while “punters” will generally be upset, his team was very good at making them feel that they’ve tried everything to collect the debt. I asked if they got much in the way of repeat business and he said no. He carried on by stating “That while there was an unlimited number of businesses out there who were suffering from bad paying customers, there was a ready flow of “punters” that were desperate for someone to collect the debt, who needed repeat customers”.
Mike then asked if I had any cases that we could pass to him, as he thought we could both make money out of our uncollectable debts. I said I would think about it, thanked him for his hospitality and then said I had to go to an appointment and left.
My meeting with Mike only went to reinforce my belief that there is a correct way and a wrong way of acting as a debt collector. The right way is to never guarantee your customer anything other than you will try your very best to collect their debt. The wrong way is Mike’s way which seems to embrace P.T. Barnum’s motto “There’s a sucker born every minute”
If you would like to find out more about David and Deanem Collections please do not hesiatet to contact us on +44 (0) 208 446 7720 or email us at enquiries@deanemcollections.co.uk or visit our website www.deanemcollections.co.uk.
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