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Collect your money on time! By Greg Souther |  |
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Here are 7 action steps that will help you and your company collect your accounts when they are due. 1) Taking the time necessary to get all the information when opening the account. Look at some of your past due customers' credit applications and highlight the blanks. It is difficult to collect accounts with incomplete information. 2) Explaining the terms and billing procedures to the consumer when establishing the account. Taking the time on the front-end with the consumer reinforces your expectations. 3) Giving a copy of your policy and procedures to your customer regarding credit and collection. Make this simple to understand and no more than one page. Please do not use small print since it is difficult to read and may seem suspicious to the consumer. 4) Measuring and Monitoring your results weekly, biweekly or monthly to make sure you are making progress towards reducing your accounts receivable. What gets measured gets done - but what gets rewarded, gets done, first! 5) Rewarding your staff for collecting past due accounts. Collecting is considered, by most, the worst job to have in the office. Rewards work better than the alternative. Today, keeping good employees and keeping them motivated should be factored into process. 6) Getting as many people involved in developing or revising the credit and collection procedures as possible. If there is ownership of an idea, then your chances of success are greatly improved. 7) Sticking to the plan once it is in place. There may be a valid reason to make an exception to the rule. However, if the same valid reason appears more than two times, change or update your policy and procedure to reflect the change. If you don't communicate your wishes and your goals to your customers as well as your employees, you will probably get something besides payment on time. Greg Souther, President of Greg Souther Consulting & Seminars, teaches the benefits of becoming Fiscally Fitness! For more information on ways to improve your Fiscal Fitness visit www.gregsouther.com. 2003 Greg Souther Consulting & Seminars– Do not be reproduce in whole or part without permission from Greg Souther C & S. |
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