Various Collection Approaches

Personal relationships are the key to successful business partnerships. These relationships were not built overnight, but they can certainly be destroyed that quickly. IRG recognizes that not all clients need or want an extremely aggressive approach. For this reason we have developed three unique programs that will meet your needs and expectations for continued business with your problem accounts.

Audit Approach

This approach should be used when the relationship is an especially sensitive issue and the prospect for future business should be preserved. Many principles of companies get personally offended if they have been "placed for collections." The Audit Approach allows us to contact your past due customers as an extension of your accounting or credit department. They are not told that they have been placed for collections, but that IRG has been retained to perform an audit of your accounts receivables. No collection letters or field investigators are sent. These accounts are handled with "kid gloves" in order to maintain the relationship you have with your client. While this approach is gentle in its demeanor, the mere fact that a third-party is calling them often insinuates collections. By doing more research, your customer can very easily ascertain that IRG is a dominant force in commercial collections and fear that the matter would be escalated. This approach should be reserved for accounts less than 90 days of age or for those accounts where maintaining the relationship is just as important as recovering the past due monies.

Standard Approach

This is the most commonly used, but most often abused approach in the industry. Other agencies may feel that the key to collections is rude and unprofessional behavior. At IRG, integrity and professionalism is always maintained when contacting your debtors. Negotiation is a fine art and collections is often times a unique type of "sale." People generally "buy" from people they "like" and are able to effectively communicate the impact it will have on their business. In this case the "sale" needs to be the severity of the situation and the ensuing ramifications if it is not resolved.

Accounts are escalated quickly and fairly. If the debtor makes it clear that he has little or no intention to resolve the past due balance, IRG immediately communicates the fact that "this will not go away." Through a vast network of attorneys, we will use a local firm to notify them of impending legal proceedings. This step is deliberate in nature and tells your debtor that we have local representation should the issue remain unresolved.

Aggressive Approach

Time is money. When using this approach, IRG employs the use of a private investigator as the initial contact. This call will inform the debtor that the investigator has been retained to perform a pre-trial asset and liability investigation. The purpose of the call is to create urgency in the debtor and propel your debt to the top of the accounts payable list. During the call your debtor will be informed that the investigation may include contacting his bank(s), vendors, landlords and other concerned interests. The debtor is given a case number and a phone number to call for more information. In this case, the collection process becomes a science and the psychology of the debtor plays an important role in his decision to pay. No company wants or needs a formal investigation and will generally cooperate to stop the investigation and ensure the aforementioned parties will not be contacted. The only way to cease the investigation is to pay the account in full or to make reasonable arrangements that are in the agreed interest of IRG and our clients.

Should the investigation need to continue, IRG incorporates the use of licensed, industry-trained field investigators who will visit your debtor at their primary place of business. This visit will include taking photographs of the building and any assets that surround the premises as well as requesting a formal meeting with the responsible party. Again, this is used to communicate the severity of the matter and the steps that are being taken to ensure our client has all available information necessary to effectively pursue the matter through the judicial system.