$141 Billion of Consumer Debt was charged off last year

The Boston Globe is doing a series right now called “Debtors’ Hell” in their last segment, Part 4, they state, “They generally owe the money, but seldom anticipate the consequences.” I have found that to be my experience even when the consequences were printed on the credit application they have signed.

Richard S Daniels Jr. the Boston lawyer The Globe interviewed said it perfectly, “Any system that puts people’s backs up against the wall doesn’t work.” If you listen to my interview on NPR that aired on January 29, 2003 on All Things Considered, you will see that I spent my debt collection years trying to help debtors to get the bill paid that I was collecting on while having understanding for their situations. Sometimes this meant advising my client there was a hardship situation, or offering a settlement amount and taking payments. This only works with the debtors who seriously have run into hard times, not the “career” debtors. I created an online community for debt collection professionals and explain in my book “Starting a Collection Agency, How to make money collecting money” that being a bully does not work and is also against the law. Compassion, patience and understanding will help you collect more money and also let you and the debtor keep their dignity in an already embarrassing situation.

I am not saying everyone follows these practices but I think that debt collectors have been given a bad rap collectively and there are many collectors out there who follow the law and try to work with people rather than bully them into paying. I encourage collectors to join associations in the collection industry, as well as the Better Business Bureau and their local Chambers of Commerce. This is because when you are operating an agency, even if you are the most perfect agency on the planet, this will let anyone who is considering using your agency see that you belong to these organizations, which lends your agency credibility and shows you have ethics. The people who hire an agency, should realize the agency they choose is a reflection of their business, and not choose an agency because it is the lowest price, but because it is an honest, ethical agency that can back that up with references and statistics.

Something to consider is if there are debtors who feel they are being treated unfairly by a collection agency, we might want to look at the creditor that chose to use that agency. Why did they choose that agency? Maybe they are not aware the agency might have done something they wouldn’t have done, but shouldn’t they be?

How to Deal with Customers that Do Not Pay

Author Michelle Dunn, has been interviewed by Tom Taulli who writes a weekly column for Forbes.com. “Tom contacted me on a Sunday night and had just found my book online”, says Dunn. Tom had a deadline for his column which is featured on the front page of the Forbes.com website each week, and this weeks column is about how business owners can deal with customers that do not pay them, how to decide if someone should be on a cash only basis, if you should collect using phone calls or letters, hot to escalate things when no payment is forthcoming and when and how to place accounts with a collection agency. “The article will get front page exposure and Forbes.com gets quite a bit of traffic approximately 9 to 10 million unique visitors a day” says Tom.

As a recognized expert in her industry Dunn has received nationwide press through the years based on her knowledge and expertise in the debt collection industry. Michelle has been featured in Business NH Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, NH Business Review, NPR, The CBS Early Show and many other national media.

Tom Taulli is an author and advisor to startup companies, is the author of various books on finance, such as The Complete M&A Handbook (Random House) and Investing in IPO's (Bloomberg Press). Mr. Taulli teaches finance and investing at a variety of educational institutions, including University of Southern California (USC) and University of California , Irvine (UCI). He has written numerous articles for such prestigious publications as Business2.0, CBS MarketWatch, MSN Investor and Forbes.

In addition to being a published author, Mr. Taulli often appears on high-profile television venues such as CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg TV, and is frequently quoted in the various print media sources such as the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, USA Today and LA Times. Besides his books on M&A and IPO's, Mr. Taulli has written five other books on finance, with publishers such as Bloomberg Press and McGraw-Hill. Mr. Taulli has a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Cal Poly, Pomona , and a law degree from Whittier School of Law.

Dunn was a debt collector for 17 years, started and ran her own debt collection agency for 8 years and has written 7 books on the subject of collecting money. The Second Edition to her first book “Starting a Collection Agency” has just been released in June and Entrepreneur Press is publishing Dunn’s book “The Ultimate Handbook of Credit & Collections, the Check IS in the Mail” on August 1, 2006. Dunn also owns and moderates Credit & Collections a 10 year old online networking community and website with over 950 members. To learn more about Michelle or her services please visit www.michelledunn.com or www.credit-and-collections.com To learn more about Tom visit http://www.taulli.com.