Is your customer becoming a bad debtor? When your clients are unwilling to pay or are slow-paying, it is one of the major signs for you to take the right steps proactively. It is good to trust your customers but it is equally important to become alert after a couple of warning signals. Businesses start with too much optimism at the beginning and become cynical after a series of bad experiences.
When it comes to dealing with accounts receivables, you need to stay vigilant about the payments. But when several of your customers turn to bad debtors, you may also appoint a commercial collection agency to increase the likelihood of payments.
Here are the key indicators to initiate the customer collection process:
- The Customer Is Not Returning Your Calls
One of the first indicators that you need to place the customer for collection is that they are not answering your phone calls and are past due for over 90 days. Now, do you have the training and skills to pursue such a situation and coerce the customers to pay? If they fail to respond after repeated attempts, the best solution you are left with is to appoint a professional credit collection agency. That way, it will be easier for you to bring your customer to the table.
- The Easy Clients Start Pointing Out Issues With Your Products And Services
When an otherwise easy client you have been dealing with for years suddenly turns irksome citing problems with your offerings, think of it the other way around. The moment you get to the bottom of the issue, you will know the truth. When regular clients complain about things that they have never done before, it could be a sign that they are trying to camouflage their faulty payment system. Therefore, you can place such clients for collection.
- You Come To Know the Problem From Other Clients
A lot of people talk and your employees may learn the truth about one customer from another and the news may start circulating soon. Such situations usually happen in smaller business communities. Not that everything you hear about the client is true. But even if you have to believe a part of the entire story, there may still be reasons for you to start looking for a collection agency for small businesses to ensure that you recover the debts.
- Reduction In Order Volume
A business facing financial issues will inevitably cut costs and the first evident sign you may notice is lowered order volume. The other possibility is that the customer is procuring similar goods from another supplier. But that should not be a reason to place them for collection until they stop paying for whatever goods they purchase. When you notice failed payments each month, grow your doubt about the customer. As far as placing them for collection is concerned, you need to figure out the actual issue as fast as possible.
- Changing Bank Accounts Frequently
Banking relations expose the financial health of a business. If your customer suddenly begins paying you from several different bank accounts, it is another doubtful situation you need to check. You can get a credit check for the account and if it shows discrepancies, you may soon require placing it for collection. If you are not sure which collection agency near me to trust, connect with Nelson, Cooper & Ortiz, LLC. They are one of the most reputed commercial collection agencies to help you deal with such suspicious accounts more categorically.
- Too Many Disputes
Disputes with customers are a common instance in the business world and the reasons can be many. It may be that they did not get the entitled discounts, received faulty or unmatched products, and ended up paying only half of the amount in the voice. But such cases can be resolved in several ways. The suspicion when dealing with such clients needs to grow when they are not willing to settle down their debts. Chances are that similar disputes will arise in the future as well and the accounts receivable may never fill up for that account. You may need to place the account for collection to better deal with the disputes.
- Migration Of Key Staff
When the key staffs of your client leave the company of their wish, it indicates internal issues or a decline in the revenue. If you notice a couple or more people leaving the client’s company, you must proactively recover the accounts receivables.
For most businesses dealing with bad debtors, the key concern is when to pull the trigger for collection. The warning signs mentioned above are proof that you need to take the right measures sooner or later. But never let the problems grow beyond control and resolve the issues soon.