Finding The Best Collection Agency
Once you’ve decided on delegating your delinquent accounts to a collection agency, the next question is how to find the best one. In today’s current economy there are so many different kinds it can be confusing. Following are suggestions for finding the best collection agency to suit your needs.
Collection agencies use two kinds of fee structures. Some of them send you a bill each month, while others take their money out of the funds they recover for you. The latter is clearly preferable, because it doesn’t cost you money upfront and it shows you that they have confidence in their ability to collect. There’s really no reason to pay fees up front to a collection agency when so many of them don’t require it.
The second thing you need to ask potential collection agencies is whether or not they belong to one of the professional collection associations. These two organizations are the Commercial Law League of America and the American Collectors Association.
Both professional collection societies insist on professional trade practices. This means not just the minimum (conforming to Fair Debt Collection Practices requirements) but also continuing education so their members understand the latest and best techniques in debt collection. Debt collection practices have changed radically over just the past couple of years so you don’t want to hire someone who’s behind the times.
The next question for a collection agency you want to hire is whether or not they will allow you to access your accounts online. Even though you’re delegating collections to them, you want to be able to check your files to see how things are going at any time. A truly professional agency will understand this need and take care of it for you rather than making you rely on monthly reports.
Another thing to ask when you’re interviewing collection agencies is whether or not they make use of private investigation firms or software. Sometimes the hardest part of the collections process is locating the client. It’s absolutely imperative to pick a collections firm that will go the extra mile and hunt the debtor down if the current phone number and address you have for them isn’t working.
Agencies that incorporate private investigative services into their offerings are also preferable. One of the most difficult parts of the collections job is tracking down missing debtors. An agency that incorporates investigations into the services they offer you will cost less and be more efficient than one who has to outsource their investigations or one who doesn’t do investigations at all.
The last thing you need to keep in mind is that a collection agency should have extended business hours and coverage in different time zones. If you have accounts across the country a local agency won’t be able to call them during the prime collection hours. It’s necessary to either have people working on a sliding schedule so the office is manned from 8:30 am Eastern time to 9:00 pm Pacific time, or hire a national collection agency that has offices in each time zone.
David P. Montana brings thirty years experience as an industry professional, business advisor and published writer in debt collection agency services. David provides additional beneficial tools and resources about nationwide collection agency services.
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