6 ms·

The most effective debt collecting email I ever wrote

164 points by mixmax 18y ago

sheats 18y ago
This is a very refreshing approach. In a day where lawyers, contracts, and debt collectors are so prevalent, it is nice to see that respect and honesty still work. Used to be that a handshake was enough -- now a legal contract isn't even guaranteed to work. I would suspect if one is willing to honestly and openly communicate with your customers when conflicts come up, instead of hiding behind lawyers, the results would be much better.
- mixmax 18y ago
  I read quite a lot of business biographies, and I have noticed that a lot of really successful entrepreneurs go on trust and handshakes. If they're burned they will remember and never do business with you again, but if they meet someone that believes in them at an early stage they will go through a lot to keep doing business with them. I just read a biography of a guy that started a chain of stores 30 years ago, and has a huge empire of more than 500 stores today. He still has the same small bank that he did 30 years ago because they were the only ones that believed in him at the time. He recently invested in the bank since they needed to become bigger to keep his growing business. It's all about trust for these people.
  - gojomo 18y ago
    Indeed. There's also the pattern, first anecdotal but since confirmed by at least one survey [+], that a disproportionate number of entrepreneurs are dyslexic, and thus have to rely on verbal communication and gut trust more than others. [+] http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/story_8_45816_44300.html http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/story_8_45816_44300...
    - mixmax 18y ago
      That is a really eye-opening and interesting study. I took the liberty of submitting it, since I'm sure other people will appreciate it. Hope you don't mind. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=462767 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=462767
      - gojomo 18y ago
        Not at all! Stories/ideas/memes aren't owned. Though, it's a duplicate: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=86875 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=86875 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=87148 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=87148 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=91738 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=91738 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=87549 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=87549
- RiderOfGiraffes 18y ago
  I did an MBO 6 years ago and it was striking. All the people who were genuinely helpful did business on a handshake. All those who were ultimately a waste of time, space and occasionally oxygen, insisted on having everything in writing. It was a 100% correlation, and a real eye-opener.
inovica 18y ago
Interesting as it introduces the emotional side into it and re-inforces that the person believes the relationship to be something of value. I often find that the people who owe me money are the closest to me - they ignore the small charges that I had passed to them, or they forget them. I don't think its malicious, but there must be something in peoples psyche that makes them think you've done a favour. What I have now are set rates where I might discount slightly for friends, but not substantially. I also try not to take on jobs that are too small now. I've also always found that lawyers can often exacerbate a situation. Take divorce for example - I know a few people who seemed to be having a relatively amicable divorce until the lawyers were brought in. I myself used to be quite litigious but these days I feel that I should have been more careful at the start and often put things down to experience and move on.
- chris11 18y ago
  And it manages to get emotional without personal attacks and judging their values. That lets the people change their behavior without admitting to themselves that the situation might have been caused by a personal defect, which means one less barrier to payment.
dabeeeenster 18y ago
The best medium for debt collection is the telephone, not the computer.
- skmurphy 18y ago
  I agree. A calm call asking them when you can expect payment can work wonders. See also Len Sklar's "The Check is NOT in the Mail" for how to manage collection starting with your credit policy. http://www.amazon.com/Check-Not-Mail-Without-Customers/dp/0962483354/ http://www.amazon.com/Check-Not-Mail-Without-Customers/dp/09...
wallflower 18y ago
A lot of arguments can be avoided by delving into the scary but true, raw but honest emotional side. I learned this from a great consultation. Take this example interaction: Husband: "There's $500 missing from our checking account." Husband (unemotionally-oriented, bad): "What did you spend it on?" Husband (Good): "I'm worried about where the $500 went." Always tell people how you feel. Human beings have emotions. Constantly tell people how you feel. Human beings have emotions. That is how people connect with each other. For example, for guys talking about sports, it really is sharing emotions - hope, frustration, anger, etc. Talking about that new trade may really be about hope/optimism/reflection.
- nuclear_eclipse 18y ago
  What husband gives their wife access to the checking account? That's just begging for missing money... ;) EDIT: I think people missed the sarcasm...
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
  - jrockway 18y ago
    I thought it was pretty standard for accounts to be joint. If you can't trust your wife with a bank account, why did you marry her!?
    - falsestprophet 18y ago
      You should see my wife
    - nuclear_eclipse 18y ago
      It is standard; my wife and I share our accounts freely. I was just attempting sarcasm because it seems that all the women I personally know are compulsive spenders, especially in the shiny makeup/polish/perfume aisles... Even if she spent everything in our account, that would still never be a reason to not be/stay married to her. Money/spaending is one of the least important things to get in a fuss about in a marriage. I would love her just as much.
pj 18y ago
As clients and vendors we rely on each other for survival. If the vendor provides value, but goes out of business because of late payments, the clients relying on that vendor are going to be worse off too. Pay your bills. Give money for good value. Give good value.
jcl 18y ago
There's something vaguely ironic about summarizing your heartfelt emotions in a form letter.
lallysingh 18y ago
Ouch. It sounds like something a mom would use to guilt their kid. ".. I spent 36 hours in labor for you, and this is how you treat me!!"

164 points by mixmax 18y ago

This is a very refreshing approach. In a day where lawyers, contracts, and debt collectors are so prevalent, it is nice to see that respect and honesty still work. Used to be that a handshake was enough -- now a legal contract isn't even guaranteed to work. I would suspect if one is willing to honestly and openly communicate with your customers when conflicts come up, instead of hiding behind lawyers, the results would be much better.

mixmax 18y ago
I read quite a lot of business biographies, and I have noticed that a lot of really successful entrepreneurs go on trust and handshakes. If they're burned they will remember and never do business with you again, but if they meet someone that believes in them at an early stage they will go through a lot to keep doing business with them. I just read a biography of a guy that started a chain of stores 30 years ago, and has a huge empire of more than 500 stores today. He still has the same small bank that he did 30 years ago because they were the only ones that believed in him at the time. He recently invested in the bank since they needed to become bigger to keep his growing business. It's all about trust for these people.
- gojomo 18y ago
  Indeed. There's also the pattern, first anecdotal but since confirmed by at least one survey [+], that a disproportionate number of entrepreneurs are dyslexic, and thus have to rely on verbal communication and gut trust more than others. [+] http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/story_8_45816_44300.html http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/story_8_45816_44300...
  - mixmax 18y ago
    That is a really eye-opening and interesting study. I took the liberty of submitting it, since I'm sure other people will appreciate it. Hope you don't mind. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=462767 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=462767
    - gojomo 18y ago
      Not at all! Stories/ideas/memes aren't owned. Though, it's a duplicate: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=86875 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=86875 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=87148 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=87148 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=91738 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=91738 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=87549 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=87549
RiderOfGiraffes 18y ago
I did an MBO 6 years ago and it was striking. All the people who were genuinely helpful did business on a handshake. All those who were ultimately a waste of time, space and occasionally oxygen, insisted on having everything in writing. It was a 100% correlation, and a real eye-opener.

inovica 18y ago

Interesting as it introduces the emotional side into it and re-inforces that the person believes the relationship to be something of value. I often find that the people who owe me money are the closest to me - they ignore the small charges that I had passed to them, or they forget them. I don't think its malicious, but there must be something in peoples psyche that makes them think you've done a favour. What I have now are set rates where I might discount slightly for friends, but not substantially. I also try not to take on jobs that are too small now. I've also always found that lawyers can often exacerbate a situation. Take divorce for example - I know a few people who seemed to be having a relatively amicable divorce until the lawyers were brought in. I myself used to be quite litigious but these days I feel that I should have been more careful at the start and often put things down to experience and move on.

chris11 18y ago
And it manages to get emotional without personal attacks and judging their values. That lets the people change their behavior without admitting to themselves that the situation might have been caused by a personal defect, which means one less barrier to payment.

dabeeeenster 18y ago

The best medium for debt collection is the telephone, not the computer.

skmurphy 18y ago
I agree. A calm call asking them when you can expect payment can work wonders. See also Len Sklar's "The Check is NOT in the Mail" for how to manage collection starting with your credit policy. http://www.amazon.com/Check-Not-Mail-Without-Customers/dp/0962483354/ http://www.amazon.com/Check-Not-Mail-Without-Customers/dp/09...

wallflower 18y ago

A lot of arguments can be avoided by delving into the scary but true, raw but honest emotional side. I learned this from a great consultation. Take this example interaction: Husband: "There's $500 missing from our checking account." Husband (unemotionally-oriented, bad): "What did you spend it on?" Husband (Good): "I'm worried about where the $500 went." Always tell people how you feel. Human beings have emotions. Constantly tell people how you feel. Human beings have emotions. That is how people connect with each other. For example, for guys talking about sports, it really is sharing emotions - hope, frustration, anger, etc. Talking about that new trade may really be about hope/optimism/reflection.

nuclear_eclipse 18y ago
What husband gives their wife access to the checking account? That's just begging for missing money... ;) EDIT: I think people missed the sarcasm...
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- jrockway 18y ago
  I thought it was pretty standard for accounts to be joint. If you can't trust your wife with a bank account, why did you marry her!?
  - falsestprophet 18y ago
    You should see my wife
  - nuclear_eclipse 18y ago
    It is standard; my wife and I share our accounts freely. I was just attempting sarcasm because it seems that all the women I personally know are compulsive spenders, especially in the shiny makeup/polish/perfume aisles... Even if she spent everything in our account, that would still never be a reason to not be/stay married to her. Money/spaending is one of the least important things to get in a fuss about in a marriage. I would love her just as much.

pj 18y ago

As clients and vendors we rely on each other for survival. If the vendor provides value, but goes out of business because of late payments, the clients relying on that vendor are going to be worse off too. Pay your bills. Give money for good value. Give good value.

jcl 18y ago

There's something vaguely ironic about summarizing your heartfelt emotions in a form letter.

lallysingh 18y ago

Ouch. It sounds like something a mom would use to guilt their kid. ".. I spent 36 hours in labor for you, and this is how you treat me!!"