The Guide to Getting Paid

Over 100,000 businesses have slow or non-paying customers. Yet very few actually have a workable plan for claiming the missing revenue that results. This book gives you a complete solution and tool set to ensure your business maximizes its collections while maintaining an effective, profitable credit plan.

You'll discover how to set up an efficient in-house credit policy that not only lets you collect more debts, but also boost sales, increase cash flow, and grow profits. Step-by-step credit management instructions show you how to weed out bad-paying customers, add more good-paying customers, collect on past-due balances, avoid bad debt, and limit credit risk.

• Contains all needed forms to set up and implement an effective credit policy
• Author is a popular columnist for several newspapers and national magazines, and appears regularly in the media as a go-to authority on debt

Get Paid enables you to decide what matters most to your business when it comes to billing, payment terms, pricing, cash flow, and more, then set up the systems to meet these goals and increase profitability.

Foreword Harry A. Strausser III ix

Preface xiii

Chapter 1 What Is Credit Management? 1

Chapter 2 How Credit Affects Business 65

Chapter 3 Effective Payment Arrangements 77

Chapter 4 Handling Customer Deductions 101

Chapter 5 Debt Collection Calls 109

Chapter 6 Using E-Mail in Collections 119

Chapter 7 Using Social Media in Collections 145

Chapter 8 Third Party Collection Services 157

Chapter 9 Debt Collection Laws, Rules, and Regulations 169

Conclusion 197

About theAuthor 201

Index 203

MICHELLE DUNN is an internationally known expert on credit and collections. As a leading authority on debt collection to businesses everywhere, Michelle is a consultant and keynote speaker. She is founder and CEO of the American Credit and Collections Association and has worked in the industry for more than twenty years. She has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and SmartMoney, among other media outlets. Most recently, she was nominated for a Credit Excellence Award. When the economy took a nosedive in recent years, businesses in every industrysuddenly had to make more collection calls than ever before. If those businesses didn't have an effective credit policy inplace, they found themselves scrambling.Many fell behind on their own bills, and bad debt rippled through the economy. If only everyone had read this book, where might we be now?

What many business owners fail to realize is that credit management IS your business. A good credit policy will help you make more sales, increase cash flow, and make a profit. The Guide to Getting Paid teaches you how to manage your business credit and accounts payable and receivable in an efficient and effective way. With sample letters and forms, you'll get detailed advice on how to create a simple credit policy that is tough but flexible, has specific action guidelines, and gets enforced consistently. Avoid the common mistakes people make, such as not checking credit, not getting any signed paperwork, or being unfamiliar with laws. The Guide to Getting Paid delivers step-by-step guidance on how to:

• Check and issue credit, determine credit risk, and limit that risk

• Outline policies and procedures that will help provide your customers with options when they cannot pay in full

• Use email and social media in collections

• Legally collect money from slow or non-paying customers and enlist third party collection services

• Deal with customers who make deductions on their payments

• Improve your phone delivery, and conduct compassionate, rather than angry and aggressive, debt collection calls

A simple and effective credit policy will save you time, money, and headaches. Make sure your business is on top of the credit game, and get paid today!

THE GUIDE TO GETTING PAID

When the economy took a nosedive in recent years, businesses in every industry suddenly had to make more collection calls than ever before. If those businesses didn't have an effective credit policy in place, they found themselves scrambling. Many fell behind on their own bills, and bad debt rippled through the economy. If only everyone had read this book, where might we be now?

What many business owners fail to realize is that credit management IS your business. A good credit policy will help you make more sales, increase cash flow, and make a profit. The Guide to Getting Paid teaches you how to manage your business credit and accounts payable and receivable in an efficient and effective way. With sample letters and forms, you'll get detailed advice on how to create a simple credit policy that is tough but flexible, has specific action guidelines, and gets enforced consistently. Avoid the common mistakes people make, such as not checking credit, not getting any signed paperwork, or being unfamiliar with laws. The Guide to Getting Paid delivers step-by-step guidance on how to:

• Check and issue credit, determine credit risk, and limit that risk
• Outline policies and procedures that will help provide your customers with options when they cannot pay in full
• Use email and social media in collections
• Legally collect money from slow or non-paying customers and enlist third???party collection services
• Deal with customers who make deductions on their payments
• Improve your phone delivery, and conduct compassionate, rather than angry and aggressive, debt collection calls

A simple and effective credit policy will save you time, money, and headaches. Make sure your business is on top of the credit game, and get paid today!