There is a Chinese proverb that begins with “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.” Does that resonate with you the way it does with me? Think of all the things you wish you would have done much sooner or more effectively.

Now, think about your business, its cash flow and delinquent accounts. If you had a solution within the first 31-45 days for recovering more profits while reducing expenses and maintaining satisfied customers would you have implemented it? My guess is you would have planted that tree – like yesterday!

The proverb continues…”The second best time to plant a tree is today!” Similarly, the best time to initiate collections is before accounts go delinquent. So, instead of waiting 120 days, or even 60 days to begin collections, with automated first party collection calls you can begin to speed profit recovery on day 31, well before accounts become severely delinquent. Interested? I’d like to tell you about a solution we came up with.

Automated Talking Statements^SM

Talking Statements^SM is a new product from Optio Solutions. It’s designed to keep accounts from becoming delinquent in the first place while recovering more of your money sooner and saving you the added expense of having an FTE make the calls. Here’s a summary of some of the key features and how they work:

First party: The calls come from you. That is, the calls are placed directly to the responsible party with your business name as the caller, not that of a collection agency. It’s a friendlier, softer approach but highly effective. Sometimes people just need a simple reminder.

Automated collection calls with specialized talking statements: Once your accounts hit 30 days past due, you load the accounts into our online portal and the first call is generated the following day with a past due alert. A typical first call alert goes like this: “We are calling to notify you that your account is past due. We realize this could be an oversight on your part and want to provide you with this courtesy alert to assist you in avoiding applicable late fees.” The second call, if necessary, goes out 10 – 14 days later with a collection agency alert type message and sounds like this: “We are calling to notify you that your account is severely past due…provide you with this courtesy alert to assist you in avoiding additional fees and the possible inconvenience of being turned over to our collection agency.”

Specialized Talking Statements^SM: These automated collection calls are available for general and self-pay accounts in addition to specialized scripts which are available for banks, financial institutions and insurance companies. These customize the talking points to your specific business needs.

Link back action to client’s phone for payment arrangements: The Talking Statements^SM ensure that, if the call is not answered, the responsible party receives a diplomatic reminder message. But they go further; if the call is answered by the responsible party, they are able to press a button on their phone that links them directly to the client’s office, enabling them to make a payment or payment arrangements immediately.

Speeding Your Profit Recovery at an Affordable Cost

With Optio Solutions’ automated first party debt collection calls – Talking Statements^SM – you can expect to get payments and payment arrangements that all parties can live with. You’ll reduce expenses and keep 100% of the money collected.

The secret to any successful business is keeping customer accounts from becoming delinquent in the first place. But if they are late, it’s better to plant the message early, before too much time passes. It’s just like planting trees. The quicker you do it, the sooner you’ll be satisfied with the results.

About the author

Joe Gargiulo

Editor Joe Gargiulo has 20-plus years in copy writing, public relations and marketing. He enjoys connecting story leads to all aspects of the human experience.