"Our terms are net 30, and if we haven't received a check by the thirty-fifth day, we're on the phone to the customer," says an East-Coast credit manager. "To make sure the call will be as effective as possible, I do my research before I dial, and I have all the necessary paperwork in front of me--including the purchase order numbers."
During the call, she focuses only on the customer and the issue at hand, eliminating all other distractions.
"I don't start out by demanding payment," she says. Instead, she asks the customer why payment has not been made. In business, any number of things can go wrong.
I try never to become irate or talk louder than the customer.
A product might be shipped short. The wrong product might be sent. There might be an error in pricing. A customer might not have received proper credit for such problems.
"It's important to find out why a customer has not paid before you demand payment. Addressing a customer's legitimate concerns will more than likely eliminate payment problems."
She uses tried-and-true solutions for customers that give her either of the two most common excuses in collections:
"The check is in the mail." She asks for the check number, the amount of the check, and the date it was mailed. "Then, if we haven't received the check in five to seven days, we make a follow-up call."
"We never received an invoice." She immediately emails a copy.
"This solves the problem quickly," she emphasizes.
Regardless of how a customer responds to a request for payment, she makes sure she doesn't "lose her cool."
"I try never to become irate or talk louder than the customer," she says. "Each time I make a call, I write the name of the person I spoke with in my system. That way, if I have to make a follow-up call, I will know whom to contact to follow up on the previous conversation. If you can make contact with the same person the second time you call, you have a much better chance of getting paid."
