Collection calls have started!!

This week I started collection calls to facilitate an upcoming auction. What that means is that I have 22 units that could be heading to auction. To get to the final stage of auction you need to start filtering who can be justified at auction. When I get to auction day I want to be crystal clear in my heart and mind that the units that are auction have had all the chances allotted by law to catch up their account and save their stuff. Sometimes good customers get behind and this first step (collection calls) will give them the time to catch up before the more drastic steps are taken. Good customers who fall behind are only one kind of customer I get to deal with. There are several other categories of customer that fall into the general category of my personal aneurism.

The first of these is the “Oh Woe is Me” client. You get into this customer almost always by surprise. The call starts off normal enough. The customer answers the phone happy with a jovial “Hello”. I announce my self and ask to speak to the customer. From this point the sound and domineer of the customer starts to decline. The woes are different but all sound the same, I lost my job, I have been sick, I got a boil on my butt. The cost of whatever is killing me and I just haven’t had a chance to catch up…. This is the type of client that will eventually come to the office in a brand new BMW and pay with a real platinum card. They don’t think I notice things like that, but I do.

Another sub category of My Personal Aneurism is the “It is Not My Fault”. With this customer they will try to prove that they do not deserve to be in auction. I have heard all sorts of stories and not all made up. In fact most stories from this category are true. What the customer just does not get is that none of it really matters. The contract is in their name and there is a balance owed. These are the facts that count, but I will still spend 20 to 40 minutes hearing that my ex-husband was supposed to pay this bill, or my uncle said he moved everything out 6 weeks ago. When customers let other people have control of the unit, is when I end up here.

The last type I will mention is “It’s Your Fault”. This is the one I like the best/least. In this situation I will not be able to find the customer. The phone numbers will be no good and the mail will be returned, so as a lost ditch effort I start searching the internet, 411 and any other way to find people and I will get a number. I finally get the customer on the line and they want to know why I let the bill get so high before I called…. This is the one that really hurts.