“Collections: How to Select the Right Agency?”

Looking at your accounts receivable, there are some accounts that need to be sent to a collection agency.  You know it is wise to partner with an agency; however, you do not know how to select one.

“So, how do you select the right collection agency?”

There are a number of aspects to consider when choosing a collection agency:

• Licensing/Bonding: Is the collection agency compliant with all State and Federal Laws?  Is the collection agency bonded in all the states that you need collection assistance?  What National Trade Associations is the collection agency active in?
• Services offered: When selecting, consider the tools available for the specific agency and the needs that you currently have.  Some services include: pre-collecting, skip tracing to locate customers, courtesy calls, credit reporting, legal action.
• References: The reputation of a collection agency is very important, so contact references who have used the collection service as well as the Better Business Bureau
• Professional Culture: The collection agency that you choose is going to reflect on your business, so choose an agency that meets your needs and reflects your current culture.
• Reporting: Find out from a collection agency all the policies and procedures that they use to collect on your accounts.  Make sure the agency is compliant with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which regulates the collection industry.
• Recovery: Discuss recovery percentages and rates.  The net return on money collected is the key, so the contingency fee may be less important.

“What is the Xact! Way?”

Xact! Resources represents your company with responsible and professional collection services.  This involves collecting on outstanding balances, skip tracing, pre-collect services, credit reporting, legal action as well as courtesy calls and friendly reminder letters.  We follow The Xact! Way:

1. Client Discovery: We identify all the needs of our clients and set-up expectations so that we can measure and exceed them.
2. Client Set-up: Our technology allows clients to be set-up smoothly and efficiently.
3. Accounts Added: At Xact! Resources, we can accept electronic files or hard copies of your accounts. 
4.  Acknowledge: When your accounts are entered, we send an acknowledgment of the accounts to balance with your records. 
5. Contacts: Xact! Resources documents every contact to ensure that we are staying within the guidelines of the expectations.  With all of our verbal and written communication, we are compliant with the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) and all federal and state laws.
6. Reporting: We communicate at least monthly with our clients on the status of your accounts and we also offer custom report services.

Remember both you and the collection agency have the same goal; to recover as much money as possible. Money recovered back to you is more important than the contingency fee the agency charges.  Working together and building trust will form a win-win relationship with your agency and your stakeholders.

Terri Shepherd is CEO of Xact! Resources, Inc--25 years of providing collection solutions.   Contact her for more information or questions about information in this article.  952-808-0880 or terris@xactresources.com