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Coordinated contact, structured escalation, and timing across channels
JSD Management INC.
Commercial Collections
Email is used widely in collections because it scales, documents communication, and is easy to deploy through automation. But as accounts age, response rates decline and fewer conversations actually happen. Relying on a single channel, especially email, reduces visibility and allows accounts to drift without consequence. Unanswered emails pile up. Timelines stretch. Leverage disappears. An effective process uses email, phone calls, and written correspondence together at each stage, reinforcing the same message across multiple points of contact.
This outline covers how a collection process is typically structured internally: timing, escalation stages, and the point where accounts transition to third-party recovery. Each stage builds on the previous through coordinated contact, not isolated outreach.
Before a customer becomes a debtor, there are typically warning signs and red flags that signal trouble ahead. Customers communicate, cooperate, and continue to buy from you. Debtors do not.
The following framework identifies when coordinated internal efforts have run their course, and when it is time to escalate.
Control is the key to a successful collection effort. Maintaining presence across multiple channels (calls, letters, and email) reinforces urgency and keeps the account active. Effectively controlling the conversation through communication skills, psychology, and negotiation leads to the desired result: collecting more money, more quickly.
Debtor objections can sidetrack you from your objective. Objections must be acknowledged and addressed. This involves the listening skills necessary to understand the debtor's concern and finding a way to move forward.
Information is the most important factor in collections. The more information you have, the more tools you have at your disposal. That rapport is developed by empathizing and understanding the problems that prevent a debtor from paying their bill.
Getting to a result means making progress on every contact with the delinquent customer. It means having a strategy that leads to the ultimate outcome: recovering all of your company's money.
JSD*
Days
Your
Policy
Action
*Policy is based upon 30 day terms. Adjust as needed should your terms be different.
When this structure breaks, or when one channel is relied on too heavily, timelines stretch, responses slow, and leverage disappears. Breakdown most often occurs when communication is not reinforced across channels.
The Value of a Courtesy Call
The 15-day call is not a collection attempt. It is an early checkpoint: a brief, routine contact to confirm receipt of the invoice, verify that there are no issues with the order, and reinforce communication while the account is still current.
Many payment issues show early signals before an account becomes past due. A missing invoice, a disputed charge, a question about terms, or a contact change can all delay payment if left unaddressed. A simple call at 15 days can surface these issues early, resolve them quickly, and often eliminate the need for escalation at 35 days.
This is proactive communication, not pressure. It keeps the account visible, confirms expectations, and sets the tone for the relationship going forward.
The examples that follow reflect structured early-stage follow-up, before accounts become unresponsive. At each stage, a written letter, a direct call, and a follow-up email work together. They are not alternatives to one another.
Dear ________________________,
Thank you for your recent purchase. We appreciate your business and look forward to being of further service to your company in the future.
For your convenience, I have enclosed a copy of the statement that originally went out with your order. As you will see, your company was extended terms of Net 30 for this transaction. At present, our records indicate that we have not yet received payment from you which means your account with us is now past due.
If you have any questions regarding your account balance or the product you received, please contact my office immediately. Otherwise, we request that you remit the balance on your account of $________.
Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Credit Manager
"Hello, this is ______________ with ______________ calling for ______________, is he/she available please?"
"Hello ______________, this is ______________ calling from ______________. I hope I've caught you with a moment to spare?"
"______________, the reason for my call is that your company has a balance due to my company of $________ that I just noticed has gone 15 days past due. My concern is that this might be due to some level of dissatisfaction with the product/service you received from us. I'm simply calling today to find out if there's a problem that I should know about?"
If YES - solve the problem. If agreement reached...
"Good, I'm sure this was just an oversight by someone there. I was concerned that this invoice would reach 60 days. Our company has a strict policy about credit limits and at 60 days all accounts are automatically put on Credit Hold."
Following this call, a brief email confirming the conversation and expected payment date reinforces the contact and creates a written record. This coordination is what separates structured follow-up from passive outreach.
"Hello, this is ______________ with ______________ calling for ______________, is he/she available please?"
(GREETINGS WHEN CUSTOMER GETS ON PHONE)
"______________, the reason for my call is that your company still has a balance due to my company of $________. When we last spoke on ______________, it was my understanding that payment was to be sent." (PAUSE, ALLOW CUSTOMER TO RESPOND.)
"While we value our business relationship, the balance has now become significantly past due, and as you may remember from our last conversation, it is our policy that credit holds be put on accounts once they reach 60 days."
(MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR PAYMENT OR ADDRESS ANY PROBLEMS.)
"Again, thank you for your time. I appreciate your help with this and I'll note in my file that we can expect payment. Good day."
At this stage, the Termination of Credit letter (65 days) is sent alongside continued phone contact. The letter documents; the call maintains presence. Neither replaces the other.
Dear ________________________,
Our company shipped your product (provided you a service) in good faith. Unfortunately, we have not received either our payment or any notification of any problems with our product (service). This lack of communication concerns us.
The purpose of this letter is to notify you that, due to nonpayment, your open credit account has been placed on credit hold status. Your prompt attention to this matter is now strongly encouraged.
Sincerely,
Credit Manager
This letter is most effective when sent in coordination with a follow-up call scheduled within the same window. Written correspondence documents the escalation; the call maintains direct presence and control.
"Hello, this is ______________ phoning, is ______________ in? May I speak with him/her please?"
(GREETINGS WHEN CUSTOMER GETS ON PHONE)
"______________, I'm calling today to discuss the delinquent balance your company has outstanding with us. At present, your balance here is $________ and according to my records, we've not received any payment on this balance."
"I know that occasionally every company can experience a cash flow problem. If that's all this is, I'm sure that management here would be happy to work with you through this tough time."
DECIDE AND AGREE ON THE SHORTEST TERM PAYMENT PLAN YOU CAN GET.
Dear ________________________,
The purpose of this letter is to inform you that your company has an outstanding balance of $________ which is now 90 days old. Since the invoice is 60 days past the terms originally extended to you, we must now demand your immediate payment in full.
If this payment is not received in this office by close of business on ______________, this matter will be referred to our collection agency and you may be liable for additional charges and costs of collection as provided in our credit agreement.*
To avoid the loss of your standing with us, and the damage to your credit ratings, I strongly urge you to resolve this matter immediately.
This will be the last correspondence you receive from this office. Please act now!
Sincerely,
Credit Manager
* Only if provided for in collection agreement and within guidelines of state law.
** Final Demands should be Final Demands. Telling a debtor three or four times of a final demand will weaken your position as well as any third party intervention.
When the final demand letter is sent, a physical copy mailed the following day reinforces the message through a second channel. Two separate forms of contact at this stage signal a process that is coordinated, structured, and deliberate.
Once accounts reach direct contact and escalation, certain patterns emerge. The examples below reflect how these conversations typically unfold. Handling them well requires the same principles applied throughout: control, acknowledgment, empathy, and progress toward a result.
Debtor continues to avoid contact, is always out of the office and always unavailable.
Use your wisdom in determining if a broken promise is a stall tactic or if a payment is legitimately lost.
Separate the amount disputed from the total balance. Do not let small disputes tie up entire balances.
Obtaining additional information is critical to distinguish between reasons and excuses.
Inability to sell does not remove the obligation. Stay firm while remaining professional.
Cash flow issues can be legitimate. Empathize with the situation and verify it.
By empathizing with a customer's situation, you are more likely to uncover their true intentions. If they refuse to cooperate, that tells you something important.
Always ask the customer to contribute something: names of banks, vendors, receivables. By participating in the process, they maintain at least one mark of a good customer: cooperation.
JSD MANAGEMENT INC.
Commercial Collections Since 1997
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