Know Your Customer: Good Business Tips
Running a business can be difficult. Sometimes it is necessary to call upon a debt collection agency for assistance collecting money that is owed. However, if businesses take a plan of prevention, they may not need to use the help of a third party collections agency. Knowing the client or customer can be extremely useful for filtering out potential problems.
First, a business should determine the full legal name of the customer that it plans to do business with. Find out the type of business structure. Is it a corporation or a partnership? The names, addresses and titles of the principal members should be collected.
It is key to find out the federal employer tax identification number. The telephone number, ship to address, name, fax number and email address of the main contact should be established as well. Also, the bill to address, fax number and telephone number of the accounts payable contact is a useful piece of information to know. Individuals authorized to submit orders should be listed.
Bank references should be inquired about. What is the banks name? The branch address, fax and telephone numbers, account types, account numbers and dates opened can be useful information. The name of the bank representative should be collected as well.
Finally, the conditions and terms of sale should be acknowledged and accepted by the customer’s signature. The client’s signature, printed name, date of signing and title should be collected, and always have the company’s attorney look over any documents before use.
Know the customer’s credit history and keep good communication via phone calls or personal visits. Keep a timely delivery of goods and services, and up to date records and accounts receivable information. Send out memos and letters to remind the client about the money owed and keep them up to date.
Join an industry credit group and participate actively. It is crucial to know the laws in the state that the company is in regarding collections and business proposals. To protect the company, it is crucial to collect references. Bank references, including the bank name, branch, account type, account number and trade references are important to know. Collect three trade references at least that include the name, address, telephone number and email addresses.
Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. She also composes articlesabout finance and business, consumer spending and debt collection.