Creditors' Rights 31
Q: A company has an outstanding bill and I’ve called several times but to no avail. I’m hoping to avoid legal action, what should I do?
A: Take a deep breath. It sounds like you’ve entered into the “Red Zone”, the most dangerous area of the Payment Gap. Debtors are human beings and like all humans, even diehard debtors respond more openly to credit workers who want to build a relationship with them and treat them with respect. They will always get further and bring in more money than those who focus on rule enforcement alone.
Rarely discussed are the costs of late payments on debtors. It may be out of their control. The economy, slow business, debt can ruin a customer’s credit rating and place future sales to that client in jeopardy. It makes late payers feel like credit criminals which they are not.
A company should act on collections during the first 90 days after the due date. It is a company’s window of greatest opportunity. Add to that the typical 30-day grace period and the window is a mere 120 days – four short days from invoice.
*Learn more about credit policies and the Payment Gap with Bob Bernstein’s new book, Get P.A.I.D.TM A Guide to Getting Paid Faster (and What to Do if You Don’t!) at www.getpaidsystem.com
