Page:Roy Ralph Hottman - Practical Collection Procedure (1923).pdf/80



How Soon Should Letters be Sent?

The most favorable time to send out the first letter is the afternoon of the day an account falls due, after the mail has been gone through and it is found the check has not arrived, or the day following. Promptness at this period is essential. It is the psychological time to ap- proach the debtor; he is reminded that the bill is due when he himself probably knows it is due; he still has a good recollection of having received full value in his pur- chase; he may even still be enjoying the purchase; and while he is in this state of mind, he is much more easily urged to action. If the account is allowed to run thirty or sixty days past the due date, it is correspondingly more difficult to collect without giving offense. The longer it is allowed to run, the more are the imaginary complaints a debtor can devise if he be so inclined, the more hazy becomes his idea of having received full value, and the more he is apt to feel that he is paying for a “dead horse.”

Some collection men in the early stages of an account, use statements altogether in reminding the debtor that the account is due. The second, third, and fourth state- ments respectively, are either rubber stamped, or written