A different subject came up at one of my group meetings: "Do you make collection calls during the holidays?" The consensus was that group members didn't like being Scrooge-ish, so they gave themselves and their customers a break from collection calls.
What are your thoughts?
We are closed during the holidays, so it's not applicable. If I HAD to, in order to actually get a hold of the customer, I would call - after I checked with the powers that be.
I just asked our VP when I saw this, and the VP's response was "If they owed us enough money, you bet!" But went on to say, that it wouldn't be practical, as most businesses are closed during the holidays. (We assumed it was during the winter holidays.)
Our clients are in the outdoor furniture, pool, spa & nursery industry. Many of our clients and industry friends are closed for the holidays between 12/24 to 1/2.
Therefore I don't want to be the only scrooge dialing for dollars. That being said in most cases we try to avoid calling however occasionally exceptions are made. When I have called, I am mainly leaving messages as the AP people are off for the holidays
In my industry, metal, business is very slow during the holiday season. However, we do make calls and try to be a little more friendly. We will hold orders, yes. Will we send people to collection yes.
We push to get our calls and year end negotiations done during the first 2 weeks of December so we don't have to be Scrooge before Christmas. There will be a call here & there if necessary to try and keep product moving out the door. We are a little more lenient until after the 1st of the year as long as we have received cooperation from that dealer in recent months.
During December, I usually call up until Christmas week. Business is business, and if a customer owes us money, I don't consider it being a "Scrooge", but instead tell them they have an opportunity to start the upcoming new year with their account cleared up. The last two weeks of December I generally handle filing and non-urgent items, but still stay in touch with debtors who I'm working with.
We are generally less aggressive during the holidays. But, after reading the remarks made thus far, it seems that a case could be made that gentle collection efforts might free up money left on the table since most suppliers choose to wait until after the holidays. If no one else wants to ask for it during the holidays, the squeaky wheel may get lucky.
We have Christmas Eve and New Years Eve off. Sales is selling and shipping right up to those days. Logic would dictate continuing collection calls as well. I do cut some slack, I'll not call, but only send forward dated statement status on the day before those eves where I have to, and only the most urgent of contacts by calling would be made, as customers tend to over-react to collection calls on those days.
We only make the calls we have to make during the holidays. When a past due customer sends in an order, we have no choice but to call them. Additionally, significantly past due customers who have promised payments that haven't arrived are called.
I am not trying to be a Scrooge, but if anything, we ramp up calls knowing that some of our customers will be closed. I have been doing this for 15 years and never gave a second thought to it. Our goal is to close the year with the aging as clean as possible.
For me, it is business as usual though I do get two days break for each week; Christmas and New Years. I also use the "opportunity to clean up their account for the upcoming new year" as well. However, I send all of my accounts holiday greetings during the two weeks of Christmas and New Year when I call, email or fax for money.
I generally like to keep the collection calls going through the end of the year (except for days when the office is closed, of course). The beginning of the year is not always the best time to collect, as our customers have to deal with returns and have more money going out than they've got coming in. Anyone dealing with the retail industry should be familiar with this.
Agree, calls during Holiday time periods and year end are critical and I push hard the first two weeks of December to catch ap and invoice approvers before they are out for the holiday vacations. Subsequent weeks are for follow up to confirm payment commitments.
This methodology gives me an opportunity also to thank our clients for their assistance this past year and for making payments in a timely manner.
Rita
We call up to two weeks before the holiday. The week before and the week of we don't call unless an order comes up pending. Reason for this, in my industry customers don't have the time and don't want to talk to you because they are trying to work one on one with their customers and make sales. Therefore, Within 2-3 days after the holiday is when we start calling again. I figure by that time they should have the funds to pay us.
A bit late to comment on the year end holidays, but please allow me to offer a slightly different perspective. I call around holidays for three reasons. One: Because I assume that other creditors are not doing so and therefore the chances that the person I want to speak to will pick up are greater. Two: Being one of the few who calls for payments helps make me and my employer more memorable. Three: It costs almost nothing to make a call...and this to me is an example of the old adage "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained."
Best regards
Michael Dennis
You must log in to post.
Copyright 2011 - Credit Management Association