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Your collection agent most days talks to more customers than any one of your sales people. They ask for payments, inquire about missed invoices, clarify credit memos, reconcile debit charges and handle lots of other issues necessary to resolve sales disputes. They can also help increase sales opportunities in some of these discussions. Here are a few suggestions to consider.
Methods how your collection agent can help increase sales:
- Credit line increase: When a customer pays their invoices promptly over time, the collection agent tells the customer’s accounts payable person they are paying so well that the customer’s credit line is now increased. This happy accounts payable person will inform their buyer the credit line with this vendor (your firm) is increased, both departments are happy and the good paying customer most likely will buy more.
- Good payment pattern: Once your collection agent tells the accounts payable person they pay well, they most likely will continue paying in a timely manner if they get to make any decisions as to which checks are cut and mailed first. AP people rarely get thanked or receive any direct positive feedback or recognition. Find a reason to compliment them and they will respond like most people do.
- Distribute sales catalogs through AP: The collection agent contacts the AP person to resolve a payment issue and at the same time asks that person electronically forward a current sales catalog to the buyer. Use the excuse that the price list changes with new products, specials, sales and other changes in price that you do not want the buyer to miss.
- Distribute sales catalogs to buyers directly; The collection agent sometimes has to contact buyers for payment problems. At this point after problems are resolved, he can offer a most current electronic catalog or product line card. The collection agent can tell the buyer he does not want him to miss the specials, sales, new products and reserved sales for preferred customers the buyer may not know about. This helps to keep the most current catalog in front of the customer which may lead to more sales. Note: Catalogs should be updated constantly and should show a revision date. This is a good excuse to talk to the buyer and tell him you want him to save money and be aware of sales. Naturally everyone wants the newest catalog version.
- Electronic catalogs emailed may be ignored: Most of email now is ignored, put into spam, saved and ignored. If all of the beneficial changes can be explained to the buyer before receiving it, he is more likely to use it knowing there is a benefit for him and his company.
- Sell to other divisions of current customers: The collection agent gathers all of the vendor numbers assigned to the seller by customers. These customer vendor numbers are found on customer purchase orders or on remittance advices attached in incoming checks. These numbers help the seller’s sales personnel when they approach new sister divisions of current companies. Most buyers normally do not like to set up new vendors because of the hassle (i.e. system restrictions, layers of approvals, corporate contracts are expensive to negotiate, etc.). Those buyers will find it much easier to do business with the sales person if the seller’s vendor number is already set up and approved within their system.
- Sell to other divisions of current customers through current buyers: Tell your current buyer he can earn more discounts as he brings on board other divisions using the current vendor ID already setup in the buyer’s procurement system. Tell him it is more than justified to offer higher discounts to current known customers when higher sales are involved because of certain cost savings (i.e. packaging, freight costs, handling, collections costs, etc.) This should motivate him to solicit more sales in your company’s behalf. If he does not do it, his boss will.
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