Make a Record of Your Collection Calls - and Follow Up

Unless someone is tapping your telephone - which I think is very unlikely - there will never be any cast iron record of your collection calls. There should, though, be a record, made by you.

Unless you take shorthand, your record will be at best a bullet-pointed list, and at worst a scribble that will rapidly become an indecipherable scribble unless you transcribe it straightaway. In either event, it's best to transcribe your notes of your telephone conversations as soon as you can whilst your memory is still good enough to fill in the blanks.

It's important to make notes of your conversations with your debtors because:

• Your notes become the basis of follow-up conversations - about arrangements made, or promises broken.
• They allow you to decide what you ought to do next, and how urgent it is that you do it - i.e. is the situation getting better (arrangements made and complied with) or worse (a series of excuses and/or broken promises)?
• They are 'evidential' in the event that you decide to issue a Claim. If, for example, your debtor makes a series of promises to pay, but never complains about the goods or services supplied, then it would be very difficult for that debtor to formulate a Defence based on a complaint - or, indeed (having admitted the debt and promised to pay it!) any Defence at all.

It's also important to set out in writing - by e-mail or letter - your understanding of what the debtor has said or promised, and what you have said or agreed to. Your e-mail or letter will, of course, also be evidential if the worst comes to the worst, but there is another important factor to consider here - 'cherry picking'.

We all 'cherry pick' - make assumptions, and hear what we want to hear. By setting out your understanding of your conversations in writing, you can ensure that your understanding of your collection call is shared by your debtor and that there are no misunderstandings.