Your Child’s Financial Future
The ACA International Education Foundation teamed up with USA Today recently to release a special supplement dedicated to youth financial literacy. While the supplement was only released in hard copy to select Northeast markets, the online version is now available and linked at the end of this blog post.
The supplement outlines three major tips from the ACA
1. Encourage schools to organize financial education programs.
2. Train more teachers in financial literacy.
3. Introduce children to savings accounts at a young age.
“Children with savings accounts are seven times more likely to attend college”
The supplement suggests teaching children about savings, credit, budgeting, and managing their money starting at a young age.
“It’s never too early or too late to talk with your kids about personal finances,” said Dave Canella, President of the Associated Collection Agencies of Colorado and Wyoming.
A Tip From Industrial Credit: Allow your child to collect an allowance. This will provide them with a hands-on lesson in savings and budgeting. When they are teenagers, you can introduce a pre-paid debit card that allows them to pay for their entertainment, clothing, and music without overspending or dipping in to their savings. You can preload the card at the beginning of the month and have it include their lunch money, money for the movies, money for school dances, etc. Allow them to make personal choices and ask themselves, “If I want to go to the movies twice this month, how much money per-day do I have to spend on lunch at school?” Yes, they might stumble a time or two and come begging you for lunch money at the end of the month, but by the time your child is ready for college he or she will understand the importance of budgeting. You have now given your child one of the greatest gifts, financial education. Knowing your child is independent and smart with their money will help you feel at ease that first day you drop them off at their dorm. To read the USA Today supplement, click here!
Top 5 Reasons to Hire Us
1. We are experts.
ICS has been helping Accounts Receivable departments all over the nation since 1966.
2. We help a wide demographic of industries.
Everyday we help people in construction, the medical field, equipment rental, wholesale construction supply, etc.
3. We have perks.
-We don’t get paid until you do. Meaning, if we don’t collect your money, than we don’t make money. Therefore, we work hard.
-We aren’t going to nickel and dime you with start-up fees. Our rates are straight forward and we have no surprises.
-We offer our clients 24/7 access to their accounts through our online client portal. We are proud of our work so we don’t hide it. We believe in open communication and transparency. After all, it’s your money.
-We have a Starbucks Referral Program. Should you refer new business to us, we will reward you with a Starbucks card, loaded and ready to spend!
4. We have an awesome legal team.
Our in-house legal team is ready to take action if we get to that point with your account. We have the ability to work accounts all over the country.
5. We’re Real.
We aren’t outsourcing our collectors. They work right here in our Oregon and Washington offices. We are also a family owned and operated business.
Do You Owe Money?
Have you been turned over to collections for a business debt?
If so, you probably have a lot of questions about the collection process. ICS prides itself on working with both sides. Many of our clients are simply looking to collect the debt, not ruin their business relationships. If you need advice on debt resolution please comment* below and we can get the dialogue started!
*The purpose of the comments are to help you, not attack anyone.
One Big Tip:
Offer to put down some cash and then make payments. Collectors are looking to negotiate a deal and work with you on your debt. If you can’t pay the whole bill upfront, at least try to negotiate a payment arrangement.
Collecting Debt: Your Attempt First
You’re not ready to call us yet for help. It’s okay, we understand. In the meantime, what are you doing to collect that debt on your own?
Here are a few tips to help you with your in-house collection efforts:
1. Get your ducks in a row
- Gather all relevent documents pertaining to your client, ie: personal guarantees, credit applications, invoices.
- Assign one person to communicate with your client. In doing this you can prevent the inevitable he said-she said.
2. Communicate with your client
- Instead of just sending letters, try picking up the phone or emailing
3. Increase assertiveness
- You have to gradually increase your assertiveness. The first time you try contacting your client should be different from the third time. After three or more tries and/or the account becomes 90-days old, contact us!
4. Evaluate your time
- After the account is 90 days into delinquency, ask yourself how much time you and money you think you’ve spent trying to contact a client who is ignoring you. Sometimes all it takes is one letter or phone call from a collection agency and your client is paying up.
5. If your client is ignoring you, call us
- At this point, you simply can’t pass up our 10-Day Free Demand Service. You can place the account with us and use our name for ten business days when corresponding with your client. Should payment be made in full within the 10 days, no fee will be charged. If you’re new to collections try this out, you will be happy you did.
Collection Fees: Get Your Money Back + Some
A few tips when writing your credit application and/or personal guarantee.
-
Add collection fees
-
Re-read your contract now and see if it is worded in a way we can add collection fees.
-
Instead of stating ambiguous terms, such as, “additional charges and fees,” explicitly say: “collection fees,” “agency fees,” or “collection agency fees.”
You could be cheating yourself out of extra revenue by not including these terms.
Online Client Portal: Your Account, Your Access
You know the feeling you get after you submit something online and there is no confirmation. You ask yourself, “where exactly did my information go to in cyberspace?” We are all familiar with that.
At ICS we offer a free online client portal, called At Client Services. This is a website that our clients can access 24/7 to look up their account information. Now you won’t have to worry about your files being out of your control and floating somewhere in cyberspace.
On At Client Services (@CS), you can upload documents, check out collection statistics on your accounts, submit payments, and much more Interested? Contact Brittany at bdohman@industrialcredit.com for more information.
Coffee Anyone?
It’s officially summer and you know you want a delicious blended coffee from Starbucks!
Tell a friend or colleague about ICS and you will receive a Starbucks Card in the mail once he or she places an account with us!
How could you resist?
What Do You Want to Know?
Leave a comment below or contact me via email, Twitter, or LinkedIn if you have ideas for the blog.
What do you want to read? What do you want to know about the collection industry and how we can help? Other topics?
Getting Tough-Why We’re Different
When the going gets tough, we get tougher.
However, not all debt is created equal. “Tough” is subjective in the collection process. Some of our clients want to keep their business relationships despite any outstanding debts. Other clients want to clear the debt and never look back. We are flexible when it comes to what our clients want. Ultimately it is your account and your business. However, we will get aggressive when needed. ICS prides itself on ethics. We have been in business since the 60′s and have held up a fantastic reputation.
Our agency is anything but stale. We have implemented new ways of tracking down debtors, such as following their social media sites, and not just using phone calls to get in touch with them, but also any provided email addresses. With all the personal information people post on their public profiles we are able to track spending habits. You would be surprised how many new car photos we’ve seen on Facebook. We are also mostly paperless now. We don’t send snail-mail paper reports and you don’t have to snail-mail in your accounts or even fax them. It’s really easy to just go to our website and place an account. We also offer our clients an online portal to track their accounts 24/7. On the portal you can look up account information, submit new accounts, post documents and payments, and also submit any questions.
Bottom line is that we certainly can’t throw your client in Debtor’s Prison, but we will get tough when needed and use new technology to do so.
Personal Guaranty Form: You Need This!
Ok I am really excited about this!
We are providing you with a free business personal guaranty form. We highly recommend that you have your client fill this out when starting a new job/sale. Click on the link above the form that says “view this document on Scribd,” you will be redirected and can download and print the form from there.
Now you’re sitting there at your desk scratching your head asking “We have never used personal guarantees, why should we start?”
In short: If you’re extending credit to an LLC or corporation then you want this assurance. A personal guarantee goes beyond what a business can or cannot pay. The individual who signs this document is personally responsible for paying any and all debts. You can even have your collection and/or attorney fees covered.
