B2B Markeplace

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) carried out a survey of 5,600 British organisations recently and has reported growth of between 0.6% and 0.7% for the three months to the end of June. They did have some worries though, for maintained recovery and also for recovery in the service sector. Manufacturing was doing better but many areas have suffered from an increase in raw materials costs, up to 80% in some cases, however manufacturing exports rose to their highest level for four years which was largely attributed to the favourable exchange rate.

If a small firm has been waiting for an overdue bill to be settled they might well see these figures and be hopeful that the large firm, which they have done work for or delivered products to, is now ready to pay the bill. If they make contact with the large firm to get to the bottom of and don’t get a positive outcome they might well feel that they are being used as free credit and need to take control of the situation. This might point them in the direction of Debt Collection, but this is when some difficult decisions need to be made. The small firm will have to find out about their Debt Collection strategies and will no doubt come across many accepted Debt Collection strategies such as lawyers and Debt Collection Agencies, but the present financial downturn seems to have seen an increase in their numbers and this might mean that some either inexperienced or possibly unprofessional Debt Collection Agencies or lawyers are touting for business. The risks for the small firm might range from excessive fees to tainting the business relationship the small firm might have nurtured with the large firm, which might lose them future business.

Their searches should, at some point, lead the small firm to a DIY option of Debt Collection Software. This will allow the small firm to take on the Debt Collection project with their available resources and so have control of communications with the large firm. However, they will have to set aside their own resources of members of staff and time if they are to make the Debt Collection Software package work for them. Their investigations into Debt Collection Software packages should extend to the documentation set or online resources as it might well be the case that the small firm has little or no experience of Debt Collection. Any documentation set based or online tuition should explain how the Debt Collection procedure works, especially the role of Debt Collection letters since these are at the centre of the Debt Collection procedure. The members of staff nominated to write the Debt Collection letters should have a good grasp of English and there should be no spelling or grammatical problems in any Debt Collection letters sent to the large firm as this might disrupt the Debt Collection procedure and put the small firm in a bad light.

The financial savings can be significant since Debt Collection Agencies and lawyers charge around 10% to 20% or more of the bill value, while a good quality Debt Collection Software package costs around £40. The Debt Collection Software will be available to be used for any future debts at little or no extra cost but lawyers and Debt Collection Agencies will levy their charges for each Debt Collection project they take on.