Page:Roy Ralph Hottman - Practical Collection Procedure (1923).pdf/85

Rh implying that failure to pay is due to some oversight. However, the correspondent must use discretion in the frequency with which he suggests that the bill has been “overlooked.” How many debtors actually overlook pay- ing their bills when due? How often do you yourself overlook paying your own bills? Sometimes you do but more often you do not. When you make a purchase your sub-conscious mind tells you every now and then that you still owe so-and-so. Incidentally after a time, if your creditor does not remind you of it, and you have not paid it, it fails to tell you and you gradually forget. A letter suggesting oversight should be used sparingly and with discretion.

A debtor who is tardy with one creditor is likewise tardy with others, and in all probability is continually receiv- ing letters from the various creditors requesting a remit- tance. Now if each creditor sends out a letter intimating that the debtor has overlooked his bill, one may easily imagine how effective they will be. Of course, one has no means of knowing what letters other creditors are send- ing out, but here again, one is reminded of knowing one’s debtors. If the debtor has rather a poor rating, if the exchange of ledger information indicates that he is tardy, or if it has been repeatedly necessary to write him on for- mer occasions, then one can be reasonably sure that a letter suggesting oversight is not the one to be used. Such debtors feel, if they don’t actually know, that the creditor thinks it is about time to get after him for his tardiness. That if he doesn’t remit, a second letter will be sent him, and after that, others, each stronger than the preceding ones. If such debtors are honest but of rather poor abil-