For an SME, a single individual refusing to pay what they owe is just one scenario, albeit an extremely common one. It could be more serious; you could have more than one debtor and face a mounting pile of unpaid invoices. Or your issue may be wider, and you want to outsource all, or part, of your credit control function. Whatever the wrinkle, a dedicated debt collection agency can help iron out the issue.
There are always solutions
Rest assured, there’s a comprehensive range of solutions available for small businesses in your situation; from credit control and arrears management to tracing, locating, and establishing contact with debtors and more. How much or how little a debt collection agency is involved is your call.
If it’s a one-off and you’ve been trying to chase the debt yourself, an agency should be happy to pick up the baton and continue the pursuit. Equally, if you’d like more regular help with the credit and debt management side of your business, your debt collection agency will be perfectly placed to offer the best of advice.
Opportunity from adversity
While many customers find chasing unpaid invoices to be a time-consuming, energy-sapping experience, a good debt collection agency will pride themselves on remaining calm, focused, and dedicated to the task of collecting your debt. Rather than a problem, a professional will view the situation as an opportunity.
Why? Because establishing a dialogue between yourselves and your debtors will not only result in you being paid what you’re rightfully owed, it can also help smooth the road ahead. If the ideal is to recover the debt while maintaining positive relations with your customers, it’s important to keep talking. It often stops the same problem occurring with the same debtor in the future.
There’s no time limit on collecting a debt
People often ask, is a debt that dates back over, say, three years too old to collect? That’s not necessarily the case and it can be possible to collect historic debt and it would be wrong to write off any debt you think may be too old.
