Managing collections during the holidays

As a collection agency, we often get inquires as to how to handle late and non-paying customers during the holiday season. Many businesses make the mistake of halting all collection efforts during this time of the year for fear of causing even more tension between the business and client. And as a collection agency, we see this more often than not. While it’s great that the business is trying to keep that customer, it’s not a good idea to stop communication.

If you stop communicating with the client who owes you money, they may get the impression that you have gone away or given up on securing payment. And while that may sound strange, many people can rationalize this when they are struggling. A few quick tips to get you through managing accounts receivable during the holidays;

Stay cordial: We always advocate staying diplomatic in your efforts. Never raise your voice and try to instill a little holiday spirit in your communications. Wishing your customer a great holiday season just might help in your efforts.

Stay on course: Just because it’s the holidays, don’t let that get in the way of business as usual. Don’t skip out on regular invoices because it’s getting close to Christmas. We have always taught you to try and preserve that customer relationship but not sending a regular invoice or statement only pushes your payment out even further.

Did we mention be nice? We recently got a note from one of the consumers our collectors was calling on. “You are the nicest bill collector I’ve ever spoken with!” Strive for that type of response.

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