When a client owes your business money, it’s only natural to feel aggravated by the situation. However, while those funds rightfully belong to your organization, taking an aggressive approach to correct the situation may only make it more difficult for you to resolve the debt. If you’re having challenges with debt collection attempts, here are a few reasons why adopting more sensitive strategies will help you recoup owed balances.

What Are the Benefits of Sensitive Debt Collection Strategies?

1. Personalizes the Call

When clients get calls from debt collectors, they often automatically assume that the caller isn’t at all interested in their situation. Instead, they believe that the agent only wants to get the money and is otherwise, not personally interested. This outlook primes the customer to take a defensive stance or be just as impersonal.

When you politely address the individual by name, introduce yourself, ask how they are, and avoid making demands from the start, it will be easier to form a connection that promotes a more productive conversation.

2. Promotes Understanding

Once the client can tell they are talking to a genuine person who cares, they will be more likely to—at the very least—explain why they cannot pay a debt. Whether they recently had a bad quarter or lost key personnel unexpectedly, having the opportunity to explain their side of the situation can help put them at ease.

When this happens, they may be more likely to return the favor and understand, with empathy, that you’re not attacking them. Instead, you’re simply looking to fix an unresolved matter in the easiest way possible.  

3. Provides Opportunity for Negotiation

In a perfect world, every collection call would end with the owing party paying off their total balance in full. Unfortunately, most situations don’t end that way, as customers will often assume that they must pay the balance or not at all.

After listening to the customer explain their situation, use language that shows you’re ready to reach a resolution. For example, you might say, “I can see why your situation’s been challenging, and I’m hoping we can resolve some of that financial stress today and prevent further frustration.” With this approach, the customer can see that you’re open to renegotiating the terms of the settlement and may become more willing to adjust their repayment, so you can recoup the owed balance.

Although adopting a softer approach to debt collection is productive, finding the time to employ these strategies isn’t always easy when you’re busy with other business matters. That’s why companies across the nation turn to Joseph, Mann, & Creed for simplified third-party collection services. For more than two decades, this commercial collection agency has built success in converting credit to cash using productive solutions that are suitable for all parties involved. To learn more about their sensitive, yet sensible strategies, visit this B2B collection agency online or call their Twinsburg, OH, headquarters at (216) 831-5626. For more information about this third party collection professional, visit their LinkedIn.