|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Selecting A Collection Agency
If you run a business, you are sure to have some customers who require a lot of follow-up before they pay you. Often you spend too much time and energy to collect money that is rightfully due to you. Giving this task to a collection agency will help you:
Concentrate on your core business rather than on non-core tasks like debt recovery. Increase your debt collection and reduce bad debt.
Selecting A Collection Agency
You must consider the following factors while selecting a collection agency:
1. Experience
How many years of experience does the collection agency have? Does it have experience in the debt collection services you require, such as commercial, medical or check collection? Can it collect debt for your kind of account balance? Can it give references?
2. Professional Collectors
Are professional collectors in the collection agency well trained to deal with your customers? Remember, they are going to represent you and tempers may run high in debt collection. One bad conversation can spoil your relations with the customer.
3. Expertise In Local Debt Collection & Debt Collection Laws
Debt collection agencies use many techniques. These include skip tracing and written communication.
Does your debt collection agency have enough local sources for skip tracing or finding people who are avoiding you?
And does the agency have good knowledge of local debt collection laws so that they don't go beyond legal boundaries?
Breaking laws for collecting debts can prove more harmful to your business than bad debt. If your customers are spread across multiple states, it is better to select from collection agencies having offices in those states.
4. Options
Does the collection agency offer you multiple ways of debt collection and will it follow only ways approved by you?
5. Value-Added Services
Does the agency offer value-added services such as advice on contracts and legal documents and eliminating customers having bad payment histories?
Collection Agency Services offers you a wealth of information on how to select the best collection agency for your business.
CNNMoney.com - 4 hours ago
( Kristen McNamara writes Practice Management, a column that looks at ways financial advisers can build and improve their business. ...
CNNMoney.com - 3 hours ago
These statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. ...
Reuters
Wall Street Journal - 22 hours ago
The business has $4.5 billion under management, and holds stakes in more than a dozen portfolio companies including a Spanish railcar manufacturer to a US ...
Lehman Deal Spins Off Part of Private Equity Unit Into Independent ... New York Times
Lehman deal on private equity close Reuters
Lehman Said to Be in Talks to Sell Fund to Managers, Reinet Bloomberg
FINalternatives - RTT Newsall 95 news articles
CNNMoney.com - 7 hours ago
New Management stated the following: "We are very pleased to begin our new operations and to share our visions and exclusive development program whit HE-5 ...
CCTV
Newsweek - Jan 8, 2009
In the world of management consulting, high-powered and often expensive contractors infiltrate all levels of a company to determine how it can run more ...
Chief Performance Officer: Nancy Killefer TIME
Obama Appoints Government Performance Officer Washington Post
Obama's performance czar has tried to improve IRS The Associated Press
CFO.com Magazine - GovExec.comall 486 news articles
GigaOm, CA - 3 hours ago
Today, Amazon ( s AMZN) Web Services announced a management console that illustrates how carefully Amazon is playing its role as a platform provider. ...
Amazon Web Services Launches Management Console CMSWire
Amazon Web Services releases web-based EC2 console CNET News
Amazon EC2 launches Web-based management console Examiner.com
ReadWriteWeb - PC Worldall 28 news articles
Reuters - 8 hours ago
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 9 (Reuters) - South African wealth and asset management firm Peregrine Holdings Limited (PGRJ.J) said on Friday a management buyout plan ...
Bizjournals.com, NC - 5 hours ago
A pay freeze for senior management of the University of California system will be considered by the UC Board of Regents during a Jan. 14 teleconference. ...
CNNMoney.com - 4 hours ago
PARIS -(Dow Jones)- JPMorgan Asset Management's stake in French IT company Bull SA (BULL.FR) has fallen through the 5% threshold to 1.72%, according to a ...
CNNMoney.com - 53 minutes ago
Helios High Income Fund, Inc. is managed by Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management, Inc., a registered investment advisor located in New York City. ...
Pimco Pays Seven Dividends It Postponed Last Month Financial-Planning.com
PIMCO Municipal Income Fund and PIMCO New York Municipal Income ... Trading Markets (press release)
Western Asset Income Fund Declares Monthly Dividend Distribution PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)
MarketWatch (press release)all 62 news articles
The Rise of Corporate Chair Massages
Employers have rapidly begun to understand the importance of stress relief in the workplace. Stress free employees have a higher retention rate and higher rates of productivity.... Read More
How To Learn Great Management from Our Kids
Learning comes from many places. And one of the most wondrous opportunities is right in front of us. At dinner, at play and at bedtime, every evening.... Read More
Getting Information From Prospects
You're at a networking function and you've made that all-important contact. You want to get help from this individual but you know that you need to start... Read More
Why Outsourcing Could Be The Best Thing You Do For Your Business
While it's probably not true to say that the traditional 9-5 job is on its way out, it IS true that more and more businesses these days... Read More
Riding the Waves to Success
Last week I was confused and frustrated about a few things related to one of my businesses, and a bit upset with myself and "The Universe." As... Read More
Ten Business Reasons Why Asking for Help Works
In fact, bringing your people - any of them - into your confidence and asking for help, is a very powerful tool indeed. The form of words'... Read More
The High Cost of Employee Turnover Among Project Managers
Imagine for a moment this scenario from a frustrated Senior Manager of a large pharmaceutical organization: "Our organization has experienced a large turnover among project managers in... Read More
Your Appraisal System Can Be Better ? Overcome These Nine Serious Failings
This article is directed at senior managers. As a senior colleague you have the authority to make tremendous improvements. You can have maximum effect in improving your... Read More
Oasis in a Cash Flow Desert - Four Resources That Increase Small Business Capital Streams
For small business owners, an enthusiastic vision for smooth, steady growth can become nothing more than a mirage once company cash flow problems begin to heat up.... Read More
How to Enhance Quality in Your Business
Every business must strive to provide quality products and services to customers. To achieve that objective the company must draw well thought out policies and procedures to... Read More
Project Management, A Forgotten Perspective
Effective project managers know how to get the job done, and get it done right. Success comes not only from wise selection of the team members and... Read More
The Power of Positive Communication
Communication is the key to your success at work, at play, and at home. Here are six tips that will make a difference in your life:1) People... Read More
Take Your Firm to the Next Level
So you did such a good job in 2003 at bringing in new clients to your firm that you're swamped with business, your firm is large and... Read More
How to Reject a Job Applicant
A Nightmare That Really HappenedOver 10 years ago, when I worked as a manager at a major corporation, I received a call from a headhunter about a... Read More
Make Change Easy - Get Involved!
There are wild variances in how much involvement organisations are brave enough to offer their people in change. From those organisations where they just 'tell' (sometimes by... Read More
Well-Defined Processes ? How to Create
Interested in learning how to reduce development time, save money and stay in control? Business professionals can learn how to create well-defined processes with the easy-to-manage Process... Read More
Think Twice Before Selling ROI
When we're selling to business people, our value proposition has to show a good return. Solid, credible Return On Investment (ROI) calculations are supposed to prove this... Read More
Planning a Productive Retreat
What value is there in leadership or team-building retreats? Just consider the following. An executive committee of an association, deliberating on strategic planning issues, identified "who we... Read More
Tales From the Corporate Frontlines: An Unexpected Benefit
This article relates to the Compensation and Benefits competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of a company that offered a new benefit... Read More
Lets Flourish and Prosper!
Some say that in business as in sex: if it is good, it's great and if it is bad it's still pretty good. This does not happen... Read More
Increasing Employee Retention Through Employee Engagement
You've seen it happen many times. An organization that provides top wages and benefits loses a great employee to a competitor for no apparent reason. Of course,... Read More
Problem Solving
When problem solving, you may recognize that you were working on a symptom instead of the problem. An analysis of the more clearly defined problem may require... Read More
5 Ways of Increasing Business Profits
The economy may finally be turning around and showing signs of a rebound. Interest rates have begun to rise and the stock market is recovering from the... Read More
Challenge of ERP Implementation: Q and A with Rick Maurer
Question: ERPs seem like a good idea, so why is return on investment so low?Answer: Resistance often kills many of these new systems. Even though the promise... Read More
25 Great Ways to Find the Right People and Not Break the Bank
Are you trying to hire dozens of hourly workers or a senior executive? Where do you look and how do you get the word out? There are... Read More
Creativity and Innovation Management: The Creative State
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this... Read More
Innovation Management ? how does the user benefit?
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem... Read More
The Power of ?Ask?
For Call Center managers, it is not a pipe dream to improve employee moral while increasing productivity. It may even come easy to some to find fresh,... Read More
I Am Not A Number - Why Too Many Change Projects Fail
Many of you will recognise this quote from the 1960s TV show, "The Prisoner". Patrick McGoohan used the phrase to describe his frustration at not being treated... Read More
Delegating Responsibility
Too many managers waste both time and energy performing tasks an employee could perform just as well, thereby lowering productivity while raising operating costs. The answer to... Read More
Knowledge Management - Capturing And Structuring Knowledge Into Reusable Assets
Many organizations have an approach for identifying and recording lessons learned, perhaps as part of a post-project review or similar process. Unfortunately, lessons learned reports have a... Read More
30 Ways to be a Butt-Head Boss
1. Trust no one. Not your superiors and not your employees. Especially not your employees. They're probably out to get you anyway.2. Believe that all of your... Read More
Can A Business Still Be Profitable When People Skills Are Absent?
In our current world of rapid and amazing technological advances, many entrepreneurs have managed to dramatically limit the need for staff in highly profitable operations of all... Read More
CEOs Role in Family Business
I first met Roland (not his real name) in 1972. He was a high school student working a summer job in his father's business."We're teaching him the... Read More
What Every HR Manager Should Know About Hiring Productive Employees
The characteristics of job applicants have a strong influence on whether or not they get hired. Their characteristics also indicate the level of their productivity. If you... Read More
The 10 Realities of Change
I've seen several articles that begin with lines like "the only constant today is change." I assert that change that is constant can't really be called change.... Read More
Solve Problems Permanently - Ask WHY
As Albert Einstein said:-"The significant problems we face today, cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."Problems don't go... Read More
Business Innovation ? Organizational Structure
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this... Read More
Squeezing the Blood Out of that Old Turnip
I suspect all of you out there have someone that you rely on for insight and perspective ? that wise old mentor that seems to have an... Read More
Innovation Management: The Quality and Quantity of the Idea Pool
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem... Read More
Executive Performance -- Whos to Blame for Incompetent Managers?
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal raised the question: Who's to blame for inept managers?The answer, of course, is the superiors who hire or promote... Read More
Radical Creativity from Incremental Creativity ? large movements from small changes
Positive radical movement is the holy grail of nearly every decision maker. Every CEO wants to radically shift his profit and loss statement into the black, every... Read More
Building the Trust in Your Employees - 12 Easy Tips
In Stephen Covey's great book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", he talks about the 'emotional bank account', where you have to build a credit in... Read More
Knowledge Management - Keys to Successful Communities of Practice (Networks)
How can I make my community of practice truly effective?How can I prevent my network becoming a "notwork"?Communities of practice (networks) lie at the heart of successful... Read More
Making Your Workers Your Partners
There is an inherent conflict between owners and managers of companies. The former want, for instance, to minimize costs - the latter to draw huge salaries as... Read More
The How-Tos of Firing Incompetent Employees
CATEGORIES OF OFFENSES: Most organizations have two categories of offenses in their policies. One category is for flagrant actions which are cause for immediate termination. Cited as... Read More
Eight Skills of Highly Successful Consultants
With deference to Dr. Covey and his very popular Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (all habits that will make us better consultants!), here are eight skills... Read More
Creative and Innovative Culture, Change Management ? Three Easy Tests
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation and innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. From this simple definition, it is... Read More
How Invisible Communication Barriers Kill Productivity
Many kinds of interferences or disturbances can confuse a message. Communication specialists call them ''noise.'' A noise is anything that competes against communication. Obviously, if we want... Read More
Well-Defined Processes ? How to Create
Interested in learning how to reduce development time, save money and stay in control? Business professionals can learn how to create well-defined processes with the easy-to-manage Process... Read More
Avoiding The Sheep Dip
It is a sad fact that many employees are still being subjected to the age old training ritual of "sheep dipping". This is a process by which... Read More
Tales From the Corporate Frontlines:The Importance of a Competitive Wage and Benefit Package
This article relates to the Compensation and Benefits competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of a company that needed to attract new... Read More