Being a plumber or running a private contracting business is not easy. Getting paid on time for the work done is a huge challenge, especially for those contractors who take plumbing assignments for commercial businesses. Plumbers often need a Line of Credit to function. Other business challenges include – Increased competition from low priced competitors, maintaining profit margins, hiring of talented staff, negotiating retention and coping up with sudden material price increases.
Not only finding skilled labor is hard in USA, experienced staff is getting more and more expensive. When stepping into a home you never know whether this owner will eventually turn out to be a good customer or not, once the job is done.
Cost of insurance, going through one way contracts and sometimes writing the job info multiple times takes time. On top of it fixing dripping faucets, low water pressure, running toilets, leaky pipes and clogged drains is not all that exciting anyway. Working day-in and day-out, contractors do not have much time and energy left to chase after their overdue accounts receivable.
If a customer has not paid you in full even after 30-60 days since the job was done, what do you do? Not much other than making a few reminder phone calls. To minimize your accounts receivable, let an experienced collection agency handle your past due accounts, that’s what they are expert at and do pretty much all day long.
A collection agency can settle these past due accounts by making your invoice a priority, while using respect and diplomacy to maintain strong customer relations. Submitting accounts to a good collection agency on time will improve cash flow and minimize the chances that your small business does not turn into red due to non payment of bills on time.
| Summary of Collection Agency’s Services |
| Collection Letters Service |
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| Collection Calls Service |
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For accounts older than 120 days and those who have not paid even after receiving demand letters, the probability of an amicable solution decreases.
Collection services can perform collections in many ways:
1. Five diplomatic reminder letters send under your name.
2. Five diplomatic collection letters send under the collection agency‘s own name.
First two steps are flat fees services. They are a great deal if the debt is less than 120 days old and cost between $15 to $20 per customer.
3. If diplomatic efforts fail then a debt collector with get on the call with your client and try to recover debt. This service is contingency based, means an agency will give you back about 60% of amount collected and keep 40% as their service fees. Do not fall for collection agencies offering very low contingency rates, their recovery rates will likely be bad.
Check this page >> Cost of Hiring a Collection Agency
If you are looking for a good collection agency, we can help you. Contact us if you are interested in finding out more.