Delinquent accounts result in millions of dollars of losses for businesses every year, meaning that they are always looking for ways to increase their bad debt recovery ratio to offset some of the losses. When a customer falls behind on payments or fails to pay them, then the collection process needs to begin as soon as possible. A debt collection agency knows that the longer a debt goes past due, the lower the chances of successfully collecting the money owed.
Trying to collect on past due accounts can be extremely frustrating, which is perhaps one reason why a company may want to consider hiring a financial collection agency. These professional agencies have both the time and resources necessary, in order to contact debtors and increase your bad debt collection revenue. This leaves you the time necessary in order to keep focused on your business and increasing sales.
A debt collection agency can be more objective when it comes to the collections process, which generally results in larger and faster collections. Yet not all agencies operate in the same manner. They normally start out by sending collection demand letters, and then they will move on to phone calls. They may even suggest legal action if it is warranted and necessary. As well, not all debt collection services offer the same rates for all services, as their services and charges will vary usually in accordance with the area and the amount of money owing.
As indicated, the more delinquent an account becomes the less chance of successfully collecting on it. For instance, if it is ninety days past due, then the account will start to depreciate faster. When it is 6 months past due, the depreciation is so far gone that only 30% of money owing may be recovered. This type of loss is called depreciation of accounts receivable and it is the main reason for jumping on past due accounts and obtaining collections help right away. This depreciation of collection accounts literally destroys the profit margin of these businesses.
The key to the most successful collections, for both in-house and with a third party debt collection agency, is to tighten and shorten the process used to collect bad debts. These delinquent accounts need to be sent to collection agencies for recovery before becoming 90 days past due. If you wait longer, then you are most likely going to keep lowering the chance of recovering any money owed on the debt. Many times a company will wait six months before sending an account for collection, when in reality it needs to start much sooner, to boost the chance of recovering the money owed.