The steps you should take when chasing business debt.
Ensure that business debt terms are clear to the debtor
Late payment terms and conditions should be made explicit to customers on all invoices. It’s also advisable they’re readily available via email or on your company website. This will not only reflect your professionalism, it will also ensure that your customers know you’re serious about debt recovery.
It really is simple: if you have delivered a product or service, you should be paid for it. And by explaining your company’s strict late payment policy, you are automatically increasing your chances of being paid promptly.
Where possible, ensure your late payment terms are unique to the customer. Set out the exact date you expect to be paid by; when you will deem the payment to be late, and on which date you propose to escalate matters should the payment not be actioned.
Make personal contact with the business debtor
Building and maintaining strong relationships with clients will again increase your chances of being paid promptly.
But what do you do if the relationship breaks down?
In this fast-paced digital age, we often underestimate the power of conversation. It’s far too easy for debtors to hide behind their screens. So if you really want to grab their attention, call them, or if it’s feasible, pay them a visit.
Even if you’ve relayed information over the phone or face-to-face, make sure you send final payment warnings via both email and post. Following the Pre-Action Protocol, creditors are advised to send a Letter Before Action. Where possible, this should be sent via recorded delivery. This final notice should be the last correspondence you send to your debtor before you pursue legal action. If matters do escalate, it’s important that you are able to share records of your attempts to engage with the debtor.
Take action with a business debt recovery agency
A customer who has ignored your emails, calls and letters is likely to continue to do so unless something changes. So if you’ve followed all of the steps above, then it’s time to take action.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when dealing with a debtor. You’ve spent hours of administration time attempting to get them to pay. But your efforts have yet to yield a result. And that’s why so many businesses swiftly move to write off debt. They simply cannot face a long, expensive court battle, so they draw a line in the sand and move on. In the last three months of 2020 alone, £780,000 owed to businesses across the United Kingdom was written off – every single day.
But you don’t have to be part of the statistic.
If your business is owed money, then you can get it back. And you won’t have to wait up to 18 months to have your case heard in court.
Here at Cobra Financial Solutions Ltd, we offer business owners across the world a fast, low-cost and stress-free debt collection solution. Established in 2009, we are award-winning debt recovery experts. Using face-to-face methods, our specialist team know exactly how to deal with debtors. We act with integrity and professionalism to ensure you get the result you deserve. And that’s why our proven practice has an industry-high success rate of 88%.
With clients such as New York Mellon, and with teams right across the world, we offer businesses a truly international debt collection solution.
So what are you waiting for? Instruct Cobra to get your money back.
Contact one of the team today on 0151 526 4222, and let’s get started.
