Managing the collection of overdue credit is a sensitive topic which requires an expert and professional approach in order to best manage the interests of all parties.

When many people hear the term debt collection the image conjured up is one of burly men making threatening house calls. In these modern times, nothing could be further from the truth.

In reality there are a wide range of reasons that see people fall into arrears on their debts and the vast majority of people and businesses have every intent to make good on their outstanding obligations. Usually, it’s simply a case of working with the creditor and debtor to identify what the challenges are and to come up with a sensitive, sensible plan to address the financial problem.

This is a particularly important consideration in the current environment, where unemployment is surging and many businesses have been forced to close their doors, at least in the short to medium term, as a consequence of government-imposed restrictions on commercial activities.

Similarly, most creditors would consider engaging a credit management agency to be a step of last resort. It’s actually the 4^th step of before the resort.  The first three are the issue of the invoice, the reminder and then final notice by the creditor to the customer. By the time that a customer becomes a debtor, they should not be a surprised.  No business wants to develop a negative image and all reasonable efforts should have been attempted before specialist debt recovery assistance is applied.  Once referred through to debt recovery, your matter becomes a focused pursuit to collect on your payment. In many cases the fear of the of the legally aggressive and unreasonable behaviour is simply persistence and determination that is required for the pursuit of your outstanding debt. The response is a natural consequence of your former client being unwilling to pay their debts to you.

Modern credit management is a professional process that relies on sound and transparent systems and processes, underpinned by a strong focus on managing relationships to ensure that the needs of the various parties are recognised and taken into account while delivering the required outcome – repayment of outstanding debt for goods or services.

In Australia, debt collection occurs within a highly regulated environment and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has clear guidelines in place governing how the practice is to be undertaken – including new, short term rules introduced in March 2020 in response to the business and economic impacts of COVID-19. If you are a creditor seeking to recover outstanding debt, it is highly recommended that you engage a professional, expert credit management agency that understands and works within this regulatory framework, in order to ensure the right outcome is achieved.

Professional credit management agencies like eCollect start with the premise that it is essential to establish and maintain a relationship with the debtor – whether they are one of the majorities, that wants to pay but is struggling, or even if they are an unwilling payer, in which case we will seek to understand their objection to paying and work with them to overcome the objection.

We also recognise each situation, and each industry is different – that means it is essential to understand the industry sector, the nature of the parties, how the sector works and what the best credit management solution will be to ensure full payment of the outstanding debt. Subject matter experts that understand the industry and the type of debt are much better placed to build the required relationships and achieve debt resolution.

If you require a professional, sophisticated and respectful approach to managing bad debts, it makes sense to engage with the industry experts, eCollect.