Guerrilla Collections

I was trying to find out why a local developer had not paid for a special lumber order. I had left a number of messages without a call back. One day I decided to dedicate my life to getting a call back. I started calling about every hour. He was “in a meeting”. Later he was “out to lunch.” By early afternoon he was back in the meeting. I started calling every thirty minutes. By late in the day, I was calling every fifteen minutes. At about four, he called me back, finally. He was exasperated. He told me he had not paid because he discovered he could have bought the product more cheaply elsewhere. Now I had something to work with, a price dispute.

Another time, I was trying to reach the owner of a general contracting firm. Again, I had left a whole lot of messages with the receptionist without the courtesy of a reply. I thought it was very rude of him. So, the next time I called and the receptionist, who sounded sweet polite and had the demeanor of a restaurant hostess, I informed her that since she was the only employee answering the telephone, she alone represented the company and she therefore was solely responsible for getting me paid. She protested, but I was relentless. I told her I wanted an answer and since her boss was not talking to me, she would find out for me, or she could write me out a check. When she tried to remind me she was merely a receptionist, I reminded her that as far as I was concerned she was the only employee and that made her not only the receptionist, but the accounts payable clerk and the Chief Financial Officer as well. I made it clear that I was not expecting anyone else to call me back. The next time I called her, she was to tell me when I could pick up a check. By the end of the call, I think she was whimpering. Not a half hour went by before the owner was calling me. He wanted to complain about my intimidating manner and I wanted him to tell me about payment. He complained for awhile and then he gave me a payment commitment.

I was getting no where with a lumber company until I rang late one afternoon and a warehouse manager picked up the phone. I asked him straight out if his payroll checks were clearing. Then I told him how an involuntary bankruptcy worked and he’d be out of a job. Less than a hour later the owner of the company, calling from his mother’s house in Lake Arrowhead, was screaming at me. The nerve of me telling a low level clerk the things I’d said. And to prove me wrong, he was sending over a personal guarantee. When the corporation filed bankruptcy, I was the only creditor with a personal guarantee.

A friend of mine worked for a hospital in charge of medical supplies. He had failed to pay a supplier because he did not recognize the vendor. After an exchange of calls and letters, he finally received a notice that the vendor was sending over a representative to discuss the bill. Enclosed was a picture of the representative, so that he would be cleared at the front desk. The man in the picture looked so intimidating that my friend fired off a check.

Whenever Verizon wants money from me, I get a text message. Perhaps on all credit applications there should be a space for the guarantor’s cell phone number. That way they can be reached twenty four seven.

The point of all this is, as collectors, sometimes you have to go beyond the normal collection routine. Sometimes you have to take extraordinary means. Strategic Credit Management Solutions can help train your collectors to be more creative and more productive. See our website http://powerscredit.com/. You can e-mail us at patrickpowers@sbcglobal.net. Your comments are welcome.