Consider the Person Behind the Business

By John W.

In any social setting, when asked what you do, responding that you work for a collection agency can sometimes evoke a less than enthusiastic response from some. But why is this?

In most cases, our opinions are cultivated in reaction to our own experiences. So, your friend that rolled their eyes when you said what you do may likely be thinking of a past call that they received from a debt collector, or could be thinking of their grandpa’s experience getting in over his head and being on the receiving end of a collection agency’s efforts.

This is a one sided view however. What if grandpa owned the business that is owed?

It’s important that when we refer to a business that we remind ourselves of what that consists of: people. Each of those people have their own ambitions and dreams, and each of them have bills and responsibilities that they need to manage as well. Their livelihood is reliant on the success of that company and if you refuse to pay that business you aren’t taking away from some faceless, colossal entity. You are taking away from people that are just like you.

So while it’s important to understand that people may hold these opinions on this industry based on personal experience, or even based on the negative way that the media sometimes depicts it, there is a larger scope here to consider. Sometimes grandpa owns the company, and if that’s the case, you’re certainly happy there’s people like us to help him, and his company, flourish.