Do you have an elevator pitch for your business? It’s defined as a succinct description of your unique selling proposition (USP), ideally in 30 seconds or less. It can be helpful for networking events, or for turning casual run-ins into business leads. It can also be beneficial to your debt collection policy because the way your business is set up has a direct influence on how your payments are structured, and what you can do to recover them.

For example, a clothing retail chain shouldn’t have an issue getting paid, because customers pay before they can take anything home. However, they …

The process of debt collection is often a stressful one for both parties. It can really put a strain on both the creditor and the debtor, as well as the personal relationship between them. Business owners and other creditors have therefore found good use in the services offered by debt collection agencies if only to avoid the hassle of chasing down a debtor. However, it is worth noting that a debtor’s debt can be wiped clean, preventing the creditor from getting back what is due. This is because debts are legally subject to the statute of …

Unpaid invoices are a thorn in the flesh of many a business that can easily result in a slow painful death of businesses. And while unpaid invoices are usually blamed on the customer, often the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the company. Many business owners forget that their customers have numerous bills to pay and that their invoice is just another bill on a heap of bills. Most times customers pay their bills off in order of priority. So how do you get your invoice higher up on the list? How do you get your customers to pay …

Credit and collections is a process most companies have to deal with regularly. What you want out of it is to turn invoices into cash while adhering to the terms of payment. This is however not an easy task. For most companies, to achieve a smaller accounts receivable and increased cash flow, the points of gain must be smaller and incremental, but with an overall consequence of achieving this stated objective.

In order to mitigate the hassle, the best way to do this is to compartmentalise the problem and turn it into smaller points of return on your way to combat …

Running any business is a challenge. You have to come up with a product or service people are interested in, then convince them it’s worth paying for. Unfortunately, this isn’t where the journey ends. Sometimes, the customer is convinced, has collected the product or used the service and then refuses to pay for it. This could happen in any business – a restaurant, a wholesale supplier, a rental premise – any scenario where customers pay after the fact has the potential to turn problematic. If you’re not careful, you could spend significant amounts of time chasing after cash. So, what …

This is a continuation of the two-part series on the topic to conclude it.

Before disclosing personal information about a debtor to a recipient overseas, the collector must take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach the APPs (Australian Privacy Principles) in relation to that information. Caution should be exercised when leaving messages for the debtor that may be seen or accessed by external parties, for example:

Business cards or other documentation should not be left for the debtor in any open manner that would allow a third party to infer the …

To begin, at the Commonwealth level the office with the responsibility for privacy regulation is the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

 
Personal Information
Personal information refers to information or an opinion about a person that can reasonably make them identifiable based on that information, whether it is true or not. You should treat a debtor’s personal information with respect keeping in mind that the improper use of a debtor’s personal information may cause that person serious problems.

There are legal obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act) to protect the privacy of a debtor’s personal information, which is done in …

Laws, regulations and policy which affect your business are constantly changing. In fact during 2015 alone, 181 bills were passed by the Australian senate, creating new laws and regulations or altering existing ones.  For those in business, this means that keeping track of current legal requirements that impact their commercial activities can be extremely difficult, or deleteriously time consuming at best.

Business owners are responsible for ensuring that every aspect of their commercial operations complies with relevant laws. For most businesses this will include: employment, tax, accounting, contract, insurance, privacy, intellectual property, and consumer and workplace health and safety …

Retaining a lawyer can be an expensive line item or a valuable asset to your business depending on who you choose. Many businesses assume that all commercial law firms are much the same and offer a comparable overall understanding of business and the law. However the reality is, experience and expertise vary considerably, from lawyer to lawyer and firm to firm, and not all business lawyers will have the relevant and specific skill set to give your business the best bang for its buck.

Taking the time to find a lawyer whose expertise is tailored to your business requirements is much …

Debt collection is a task that can at times be very arduous due to all the moving parts that are involved. Those in charge of collecting have the daunting task of turning those invoices into cash as fast as is humanly possible. Some steps along the way act as a hindrance to this end result due to the enormous amount of time spent on things like data entry, sifting through reports which are ageing by the day, tracking down who to call and similar tasks which can waste valuable time. In this field of work, one cannot compromise on productivity. …