OUR COLLECTION PHILOSOPHY

When an account is referred to Williams & Williams, Inc. we demand immediate payment of the entire outstanding balance. Typically, most of the clients we represent grant credit terms of net 30. When we become involved, maximum consideration has already been given in that our client has become an involuntary banker by virtue of the customer taking between two and ten times the normal amount of time to pay an overdue balance. The customer becomes a debtor and a bad risk. A company’s financial problems cannot be corrected overnight. Debtors in financial difficulty tend to worry about day-to-day survival and cannot make the necessary major changes that will result in profitability.

Our philosophy can be summarized as follows:

• We initially demand all of the money due.

• Payouts must be justified by financial disclosure.
• The debtor we pursue must agree to give the client we represent preferential treatment.
• Keep the scope and pressure as broad and as intense as possible.
• Focus the situation, determine collectability, and avoid the futile exercise of “throwing good money after bad.”
• Provide detailed reporting (no checklists) enabling detailed accountability for our clients’ credit personnel to pass along progress reports to upper management.
• Never agree to a settlement without a client’s consent.
• Attempt to prevail upon the commercial collection attorneys to file suit on the basis of court costs alone.
• Use best aggressive attorneys possible.
• Provide support services free of charge.
• Pass along advisories outlining the latest techniques and trends in credit and collections.
• Continually emphasize that the most crucial factor affecting collectability is THE PASSAGE OF TIME.
• Remind our clients that an effective agency will generate bogus debtor complaints.
• Learn the “Red Flags” of financial difficulty and when uncovered, react quickly.
• Educate credit personnel whenever possible.
• Create and maintain a decisive advantage with intimate knowledge of the Uniform Commercial Code – the governing body of legislation for all open account transactions.
• Use of pressure points specific to our clients’ industry.