The 6th of September is Procrastination Day which made us think about all the things we put off. How often have you said I will do that tomorrow and always find a reason to put it off again?
This is a very common problem in the debt recovery world as clients have kept putting off chasing a client for an outstanding invoice, it’s not the greatest job but it is one of the most essential. We also feel that we may be upsetting the client by asking the for the money you are owed.
We call it “eating the frog” it is the thing you really don’t want to do so it is put off. So how can we stop procrastinating?
One thing that works for us is to write out a To Do List. Having the task written down means it is sat there looking at you until it is done therefore there is a certain satisfaction to striking it off the list.
But when it comes to credit management it is good to set a time in your diary each week to go through your debtors. They don’t even have to be outstanding but a quick email or phone call to make sure your invoice has been received and it is correct according to your client. This leaves them no reason not to pay your invoice on time and therefore reduces the need to make those difficult phone calls when the invoice does become outstanding.
The other factor to think of is that by leaving making contact might mean that by the time you start chasing it will be too late. In the current climate we are expecting to see a rise in the number of companies going into liquidation and that will leave a lot of creditors in a long line waiting to be paid out of the proceeds. If you had just picked up the phone earlier or passed it over to a professional debt collector, you may have received the monies outstanding.
It might not work every time but taking that step may just recoup some monies if not all outstanding. Be pro-active rather than re-active.
But the question is what do you put off till tomorrow which could be done today?
