Our debt recovery effort begins with verifying the contact details provided by our clients and gathering additional information about the counterparty. Usually within one business day of receiving and acceptance of a debt recovery claim, we send the debtor an email, a fax and a letter of summons. However, the primary method of communication in our registration process is by telephone and – where possible – expansively by email. When we succeed in contacting the debtor via telephone, we can find out as to what the real cause is of the unpaid bills through a series of questions which we ask the debtor.
Determining the real cause can have a significant impact on which approach we ultimately choose. Just demanding the owed money does not always work. Instead, we often need to have a good understanding of the debtor’s business, current business opportunities, working capital, secured debt, personal guarantees, etc. Once we have received this information and understand why no payments have been made, we can create a strategy to get as much money as possible as quickly as possible.
We can make dozens of phone calls during the debt recovery process. However, with caller ID, automated telephone operators, answering systems and live callers, it is often a great challenge to manage to get a hold of a debtor over the phone. We are persistent and ruthless in this regard.
There are situations where we call several times a day, from early morning to mid-evening, trying to get a person on the phone. We do not use automated phone calls. We do not leave a message every time we call. Instead, as lawyers, we use our experience, intuition and specific debt collection expertise to decide when to call, how often and where. We can call people on their mobile phone and at their homes.
That means doing research to get working phone numbers, calling family members, neighbors, and neighboring businesses. We are discreet to speak concerning content to anyone other than the debtor, but at the same time, the debtor usually gets the subtle message that we are pursuing him. This approach makes debtors prioritize to pay that which is owed to Christopher Lincoln & Partners’ clients as soon as possible.
