We live in a digital world and it affects us in more ways than we realize, in both a good and bad way. You may not think this has any impact on your collections efforts, but I promise you, it most certainly does. Let me explain…
Since technology and digital communication has become so prevalent in today’s society, it’s easy to hide behind it. Think about how many people lie about their true identity because they can. The digital world in which we live today makes that possible. It also makes it possible for people to speak to other people in a way they wouldn’t normally speak over the phone or in person.
What’s even worse is that it’s also much easier now to ignore someone altogether! Our society has grown accustomed to this type of communication pattern, and they rely heavily on it when they don’t want to deal with a certain situation. It’s easy to ignore unpleasant situations today, and, guess what?
When someone comes after them in a collection matter, that’s one of the situations people tend to ignore. I’m sure you know all too well what I’m talking about. That’s why you’re reading this right now; you’re here to learn how to fix this problem, and I’m here to tell you.
The truth is… It’s way too easy for people to ignore their emails. We’re all guilty of it, so don’t feel bad about it—let it prove to you just how easy it is. You don’t even have to open an email if you don’t want to! You’ll continue to receive more emails, which will eventually bury the email you ignored until it’s no longer a thought in your mind.
Guess what? This is exactly what your debtors are doing with your emails attempting to collect payment. Odds are, your emails aren’t even being opened anymore. They’re either being completely ignored or your debtor is sending it directly into their “trash” folder.
Well, unlike an email, an actual letter has proven to be more intimidating and, therefore, much more effective in collecting late payments. However, this is ONLY true when following a specific formula when writing your letter. Let me explain why…
Ignoring or deleting an email is easy to do because most people don’t put much thought into it. If someone doesn’t want to read a particular email, they simply choose not to read it, and that’s that. There isn’t much thought beyond that, because there doesn’t have to be.
With a physical letter, however, it isn’t quite that simple. When people sift through their mail, they typically throw away a majority of the marketing pieces and keep the letters that are addressed to them. Most people would never just throw away a letter that is specifically addressed to them.
Sure, they could choose to throw it away after reading it, which is precisely why your first collection letter will ONLY be successful if you follow the specific formula I mentioned above. Using this unique formula makes it nearly impossible for your debtor to just throw your letter in the trash and call it a day.
He or she may choose not to respond to it right away, but it won’t be ignored as easily as an email and, odds are, it won’t be ignored for very long. That’s why this formula has been so successful for countless people in their collections efforts.
While phone calls are typically more effective than a letter (as a general rule of thumb), this letter-writing formula is the one exception that you’ve probably never put into practice. The reason I say that is because not many people know about it. But that needs to change RIGHT NOW, and I’ll tell you why…
My first collection letter to a debtor was almost always ignored, a challenge I’m sure you’re familiar with. So I decided to play around with it, since it didn’t really matter. I didn’t have much to lose by testing out different variations of my letter, because one of two things would happen: 1) my debtor would either continue ignoring it, or 2) a miracle would somehow happen and I’d actually get their attention on the first try.
I, of course, never actually expected the latter to happen… Until it did. I played around with the format, the wording, the order, etc. After a handful of failed attempts, I finally cracked the code. And when I did…
My collections efforts increased by 40%on the very FIRST attempt.
What shocked me the most is how SIMPLE this game-changing formula is. And, yes, it really is a game changer. Can you imagine getting your debtor’s attention on the first try? Think about how much time and energy would that save you. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head, which is why I had to at least attempt to fix this problem.
I know there are other people who are either attempting to do the same or have just accepted that their first collection letter will do next to nothing for them.
Well, here’s the good news…
I created this collection letter sample so that everyone else can stop banging their head against a brick wall the way I did for so many years.
I already went through the trial-and-error process and unexpectedly stumbled upon a winner, and this is it right here. This may end up being the most important piece in your collections arsenal, especially if you don’t have trained telephone collectors who know the proper way to communicate to a debtor.
When people discover this trick and perfect the art of letter writing by using this template, their collections efforts skyrocket almost every time. This is especially true when dealing with smaller businesses on their delinquent accounts.
Before I discovered this formula, I never expected to have much, if any, success collecting late payments with my collection letters (especially the first one). It was just part of the long and tiring process in getting debtors to pay; it was never anything I actually relied on to get their attention because I knew it wouldn’t.
You can imagine my surprise when it finally did. And guess what? It’s no more than seven sentences long. Yes, you read that correctly. The most successful first collections letter I’ve EVER written is NO MORE than seven sentences long.
You’ll be just as shocked as I was once you see how the simplest solution creates the most successful outcome. I guess it is true that the less you say, the better. That phrase has never been truer that it is when it comes to your first collection letter.
If you want proof, just check it out for yourself. There’s no better proof than creating the proof for yourself.
I don’t want to go into too much detail in this blog post, but you can learn the trick that I discovered and have been using for years, AND get a first collection letter sample that you can use in your own practice.
I wouldn’t have spent time creating a guide on how to write the perfect first collection letter if I didn’t see the results myself. I continue to see the results over and over again, so it only made sense that I created a how-to guide so that everyone else can benefit, as well.
I know how frustrating it is to deal with stubborn debtors, so I made it a point to discover a solution. This solution is comprised of a 3-part letter package, and the first collection letter is just the first part of this system. The other two parts include a final demand letter and the IRS advantage letter.
These three letters are the ONLY collection letters you will ever need, and I say that from personal experience. You can imagine how much easier it’s made my life. Not only am I spending less time writing letter after letter, but also, more importantly, I’m actually getting through to my debtors… FINALLY!
I believe that you “have to see it to believe it,” though, which is why you can check out ALL of these letter templates right here.