Don’t get bad Credit… By Rikki

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Don’t get Bad Credit, instead learnThe Best Ways to Prevent Overdue Accounts…

So, this blog is about getting good credit and what I wrote to someone whom I thought was a legit job offer from the well known Craigslist.org about a year and something months ago about “The Best Ways to Prevent Overdue Accounts.”

So, I was told by this guy whom I added on Yahoo Messenger that he worked for a company and he just needed a couple people from home to run “errands” for him and do some simple tasks from home for him as well and he will pay me.

Me being a stay at home Mom for so long thought this was a chance of a lifetime and plus the company was so awesome! He spoke with me for over a month daily on the phone making excuses as to why he didn’t send me a check and giving me reasons and stuff why I hadn’t seen a check.

He then asked me to write a 3 page essay on “The Best Ways to Prevent Overdue Accounts.” I agreed. I worked my ass off on this essay and here it is below. No, I didn’t copy it from another website, I did get ideas from other websites though… anyway, in my very own words in essay form, which I am copy and pasting from my own MSWord Documents you can find my essay below…. dun dun dun dunnnn…

Say No to Bad Credit, The Best Ways To Prevent Overdue Accounts… By Rikki

The best ways to prevent overdue accounts would be to avoid people and companies which have a bad credit history. A customer with bad credit history versus someone with a good or excellent credit history is that people with bad credit history most likely will not pay their bills on time or even at all. That may be the reason they have bad credit. If you run into the circumstance in which you must do business with a person or company with bad credit, make sure to lay out the credit terms and conditions in a contract so the debtor is aware of them and the debtor must sign the contract which states the debtor is promising to pay their bill on time or the debtor will have certain consequences that the debtors will have to deal with and that the debtors understand them. Also, keep in mind that you should only sell to iffy credit scored companies or people the minimum until they can prove themselves trustworthy of making payments. Let’s say for six consecutive months to a year or more. It is also a good idea to run a credit check on all customers.

It is best to make credit checking a standard part of your sales process. There are times in which credit checking becomes critical. When working with new customers granting credit can be dangerous with new companies you have never heard of. Credit reports can supply very vital information about companies like the reliability of the supplier. It would tell you if the supplier had troubles meeting its obligations, and if they had problems with its ability to ship orders on a timely fashion. If you see warning signs which suggest they are at credit risk, some examples would be noticing how their business treats financial resources during a conversation, or how the office has boxes full of important papers not filed in their appropriate places. These signs may make you want to be careful whether to sell to them because of their irresponsibility with their own things. Another would be to check out the stability if the company is experiencing revenue-related changes. They may not be doing so well. If you are a seasonal seller, be cautious and you may not see your money for a whole year until next season. Doing credit reports of buyers is definitely a good idea before selling them your product.

Once the contracts are signed and you and the debtor start doing business, make sure to date stamp all their invoices so the debtor knows when each procurement payment is due to you. Don’t assume that the debtor is going to think to look at the invoice and mentally add thirty days or whichever the payment terms are, to determine the payments due date. So date stamping is a great idea because you both will have that question out of the way in the future and no confusion or future arguments. Make sure you point out the date stamp to the buyer and make sure you know they seen it.

Tell the debtor about things such as credit terms or discounts your company offers for things such as early payments and added interest on late payments if made. Typically, credit terms and discounts are about two and three percent off of the amount due if paid within 10 days of the due date, for instance if the credit terms might be 2/10, net 30. This means the amount is paid in 10 days at discount of 2% will be permitted. Other terms might be net 10 days, due upon receipt, net 60 days, etc. The maximum amount of interest varies from state to state. Make sure your customers know you keep track of payments outstanding and will take action if needed to collect payments.

Call your customers and remind them of their balance due and outstanding balance a day after it is due. When speaking with the customer avoid making any accusations or judgments that may create an adversarial relationship. It is a good idea to defuse any tension by briefly conveying the assumption that they just may have overlooked this invoice. If they seem to be having a hard time with paying their bills and you notice this from past bills on the account, maybe asking them something like “If you have any concerns or questions about this invoice or relating to this letter then please do not hesitate to contact me.” Giving them a range of options of how to get ahold of you or the staff is a good idea as well. Do not do anymore business with them if they do not pay their delinquent bill, or wait for too long because the more time you give people to pay their bills, the less money you are most likely to recover. If you do decide to do business with them  even after they are delinquent on their bill, try to get them to pay a portion of the payment due and ask them to make a promise to pay the remaining balance within 15 days of the payment due date.  Keeping a record or recording of the conversation may come in handy in this sort of situation. If you are not the type to bend on this and don’t want to take the chance of causing more problems and any chance of collecting what you are owed: insist that any new products or services they receive from you they are c.o.d. – – cash on delivery.

If a customer’s check bounced there are several steps to take action so this does not happen. Firstly, subscribe to a check authorization agency. Check authorization agencies allow you to scan a customer’s check at the point of the sale to determine whether a customer has bounced checks recently. If they have, you can simply refuse their check. Secondly, you can ask your bank to notify you of the first time a check does not clear. If your bank notifies you of their check not clearing, you can call the customer’s bank and ask whether the funds are currently available. If they are, redeposit the check. Thirdly, another option would be to try electronic check re-presentment. Instead of only trying to clear the check twice, this option gives you a third time to try and clear the check with electronic re-presentment to get paid. This method checked is cleared through the Automated Clearinghouse Network (CAN), the computer network financial institutions use this to electronically exchange payments and remittance information. Check your bank to see if they offer this option or if they have a contract with an electronic-recovery company. Or you may do it yourself, by contacting the National Automated Clearing House which can give you more information. Fourthly, you can go to the bank the check is drawn. Once the check has bounced, simply take the check in person to the bank it’s drawn on and get paid if the money is in your customer’s account. Call the customer’s bank to check if they have any funds in their bank account then, when they are, you may collect.

If your company uses accounts for customers who are not required to pay for goods and services when they receive them, and instead they pay for the good or service after and agreed upon period of time, the same strategies can be used as above written. If you have chosen to write them notices in the mail before calling them by using a debt reminder letter there are steps you should make in order to get the most from the debtors. These letters are sent immediately after an invoice falls overdue. Their primary objectives are to recover the money owed while simultaneously preserving your customer relations. When writing the first letter it is essential that you outline all the details associated with the debt to minimize confusion and delays. Bare minimum you should always include what was purchased, the amount outstanding, when it was due, and your terms of payment. Don’t make assumptions as why the account was overdue. Clearly state what you want them to do next to settle the account. This includes how much should be paid and the due date. To make payments easy as possible, suggest several different ways they can make payments on their overdue account and full details on how to contact you to make these arrangements. Because people have different reasons as to why their accounts are delinquent like a) financial difficulties; b) they are disputing the invoice and/or the quality of goods/services received; and c) they simply don’t want to pay. With the first two scenarios you want to be alert of these reasons of the customer. Asking them if they have any questions or would like to discuss the matters and not to hesitate to contact you, and giving them ways to contact you, either via phone, or email, or getting a hold of a staff member to help them figure out some payment options. You should conclude your letter by thanking them for attending this matter in a timely fashion. Settling the account is another option to offer them to maintain an open account with your business and preserving your working relationship. At the end of the letter, personalization to the letter by signing it with your signature demonstrates your regard for the customer as well as the importance you place on payment. Being brief and personable is important when writing reminder letters.

By maintaining clear, accurate, and up-to-date credit files and payment histories on each of the customers is a must. To help in the process, business owners should use a good accounting software program. There are several free open source options that can be found online. Developing a thorough and clear credit terms and conditions is an excellent idea. Clearly stating the terms and conditions customers must abide by in order to receive credit from your company. In this document should include a rundown of the actions that will be taken when accounts are seriously overdue. Making sure a copy of this policy is given to your customers the moment they establish a credit account, and is present in the event of a delinquent bill. By stepping up your collection efforts from the beginning with a series of deliberate and assertive strategies, you will leave less wiggle room for your customers and ultimately protect your business’ bottom line. Businesses should make sure that their collection process is in line with the current economic and/or market conditions. Being assertive is a far cry from being aggressive. Business owners should think of ways to extend credit to customers who need, while at the same trying to minimize potential loss.

~End~

How was that for improving your credit with my The Best Ways to Prevent Overdue Account Report?!

If you stayed for that and read my credit essay on “The Best Ways to Prevent Overdue Accounts” then you love to read and thank you for reading it! I put a lot of work into it.

Anyway, so this guy sent me fake checks and I am not sure the legitimacy of the company. I do know that the company he claims he works for is a chance of a lifetime opportunity if it were real, and yes they have a website if he is really working for them and a FB page!

Obviously, if you want a legitamate job that pays 100% commissions then you came to the right page. Click any link and get started for real, non of this Craigslist BS…

See you on the greener side!

~Rikki

Here is one of my favorite songs… by Gotye Somebody that I Used to Know