HOW TO WRITE LETTERS COLLECTING ACCOUNTS THE collection of accounts is probably one of the most difficult, and at the same time one of the most important, tasks that faces the writer of business letters. Although the individual amounts involved may not be large, when considered collectively the sum involved soon becomes quite a different 'natter, and many houses owe a large part of their success to the promptness with which they are able to collect their outstanding debts. The reason why collecting money is so difficult is because it must never be forgotten that the debtor to whom you are writing is a customer, whose future business is liable to be lost if too brusque a tone is adopted, or too strong a demand made for payment.
The letters given below show several styles of " dunning" letters, and it is worth mentioning that the somewhat informal type of letter often brings successful results, partly because it places the matter on a personal footing. This, however, is seldom possible, and most houses have to be content with an ordinary series of formal letters, of which sevei al varieties are given. The recipients of collection letters can usually be placed in one of three classes : the first consisting of slow payers who have the money, but who have fallen into the habit of postponing payment and require several reminders before sending a remittance ; the next class consists of people who would pay but who happen at the moment to be short of cash ; while the third and final class consists of bad payers who will seize any opportunity to avoid payment altogether. The last class calls for particular firmness, and once it is realised that a customer is to be reckoned in this class steps should be taken to limit his credit altogether. Such bad payers, however, do not represent quite as difficult a problem as the other two classes. After all, when it is known that a person does not intend to pay if he can possibly help doing so, it is time for drastic steps, and one can hardly be too careful or too firm in the matter.
But even with the other two classes firmness is very valuable, and letters should be so written that the debtor realises that the firm means what it says. For this reason care should be taken to avoid making any threat which is not to be carried out, even if it is found that such threats prove for the thne being effective. A firm in the habit of making vain threats is bound in tbe end to
suffer through its customers realising that these threats are not likely to be carried out, and trading upon that knowledge.
As is the case with letters seeking business,eollection lel.ters shoula be written as far as possible in the second person rather than the first person. They should endeavour to make the debtor realise that it is to his own personal advantage that the debt should be paid, and that unless all accounts are paid promptly, the customer is bound in the end to suffer, through the trader being compelled to make allowance for bad debts by increasing his priees. In avoiding the use of the first person it is particularly advisable to avoid any statement which suggests that a debt should be paid because the creditor is " hard up." When a creditor makes such a suggestion the debtor is only too likely to use it as a reason why he in turn should not paY. The only exception to this rule is when a firm, dealing with a large number of sintill accounts, points out that though the individual amount may seem trivial, the amount involved sop obtains respectable proportions when thousands of accounts are considered.
Very often the effectiveness of collection letters can be increased if some attempt is made in them to procure further orders. A slow payer will often hesitate to place further orders while his outstanding account is still unpaid, and it often happens that the answer with a further order will also include a remittance. Such an effort to obtain further business should, however, only be made in the first couple of letters of a collection series.
Finally, it may be mentioned that all collection letters should be as short as possible. A long letter is less likely to be read, and for that reason the shorter a collection letter the better. Some firms indeed manage to avoid any necessity for letters at all by the use of gummed " stickers " on their invoices. It is now possible to obtain such a wide variety of these " stickers" that their continual change will itself attract attention.