A Debt Collection Phone Call – The Power of Urgency

The first 30 seconds of a collection call are the most important. Initially you must establish that you know what you’re doing, you’re professional and that it’s not your first day on the job. Short and sweet and to the point is usually best. Be articulate but not overly verbose, especially if you’re not used to using certain verbiage. The person on the other end of the phone is typically seasoned in determining who means business and who does not.

Now to the point of urgency.

Good Example: Hello my name is Mr. Jones with ABC Firm- put ted on the phone, it is imperative I speak to him immediately. My firm has been retained versus your organization and I must report back to my client today. I cannot divulge the nature of my call to you as it is a violation of state and federal law in doing so unless if you’re not an officer of the company.

Bad example: Hi my name is Mr. Jones can you put Ted on the phone I want to talk to him thanks. Oh and by the way I’m calling about collection matter.

Which one of these two openings would get your attention?

Once you have the debtor on the phone you need to introduce yourself, spell out who you are and why you’re calling and immediately provide a consequence, keenly woven into the conversation, should the debtor decide to take you lightly.

Example: Ted I would love to help you resolve this matter amicably but I cannot do it without your cooperation. My client is waiting on a call back from me right now to determine whether or not to add a host of fees and move forward on an involuntary basis. If you work with me I may be able to help you in waiving the fees. Without your cooperation, my client will insist on incorporating the additional fees as well as a credit report and I will have no discretion as to its assessment on the possibility of litigation.

Here we see urgency at work. There are 1000 other examples of urgency but I am sure you get the picture.

Remember when employing urgency you must also make sure that you don’t place yourself in a box that you can’t get out of. Once you create a deadline and that deadline is not met its hard to go back and reestablish a new deadline without the debtor thinking that you’re just a complete and utter joke.

Flathmann & Stern, LLC, specializes in business debt collection. They have over 30 years of experience. To find out more visit http://www.fsbizcollect.com/ and get your business debt collected. We guarantee your collection or its free!