.......Collections: An Insiders View - Part One If you do not receive payment in full at the point of sale, you need to get some basic information regarding the customer: NAME- Did you ever look up Skip Barringer in the phone book or take Red Livingston to court? It can't be done. You need to know who you are dealing with. Make sure you have the customer's proper name. Collectors have a variety of search mechanisms, but they are highly dependent on proper name, proper address, social security number, and date of birth. By the way, names are not as common as you think. People with the same last name often know each other. If you are dealing with a company, names are especially important. If I gave you two conversations, you would see what I mean. CONVERSATION NUMBER ONE- "Is Sam Butterfield in?" "No." "Who am I talking to?" "Evelyn." "Could you leave my number?" CONVERSATION NUMBER TWO-........."Evelyn who?""Evelyn Butterfield." In most small businesses, the spouse is the bookkeeper or executive assistant, but you won't know that unless you ask. ADDRESS- No one lives in a post office box, and the operator will never give you a phone number based on one. Get a good address, not just a mailing address. Try this trick. The next time you ask the operator for a phone number, give her (or him) the full name and the full address. It is the best way to get the most information. "Richard Holohan at 2098 Genesee" will get a response of "There is a Richard at 314 Elm or a Jennifer Holohan at 2098 Genesee." Either could be the number you are looking for. Additionally, get one prior address. The debtor may not have been there long enough to have a traceable track record, and kids go home to their parent's house. SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER-If the customer will give it to you, you have access to credit bureau reports and a variety of trace mechanisms. DATE OF BIRTH-This is also highly traceable, and it avoids errors in families with multiple first names. TELEPHONE NUMBER- People pay bills based on their own priorities. Not wanting to be bothered at home is on everyone's priority list. EMPLOYER- This is the highest priority. First, they do not want to be bothered at work, and, second, they know that if you know where they work, you can legally force them to pay. OTHER-Phone number at work (extension), spouse's name (they may be liable), bank information (accounts can be legally attached), and nearest relative (if they disappear, you will want to find them.) Let me make one further comment while we are on the information or application process. American contract law is based on English common law. Everything should be agreed to at the point of sale. If you intend to charge late fees, interest charges, or collections cost, put these items in the sales agreement to protect yourself in a court situation, and have the debtor sign it. Remember, on a 10% margin, an uncollected bill means the next nine jobs you do are for free. Collect those bills.
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..The point of sale is the beginning of the collection process. The more information you have.....the more money you are likely to collect both because of proper identification and because of leverage. As a collection agency, the biggest problem we have is getting enough information. The auto repair shop will send us a bill for Dick Smith with no address. The explanation is "He's in here all the time." Correction, he used to be. Other bills come in as "the parents of Bobby Jones." 
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