Any business that extends credit to its customers is always going to struggle with the ones who fall behind on their payments. But in a shipping industry business where random fluctuations in gasoline prices can mean the difference between turning a profit and packing up the office, each and every outstanding account receivable needs to be collected in a timely manner.
Because keeping all of their open accounts current is essential to any shipping company, partnering with an experienced commercial debt collection agency can be the exact solution that many companies are looking for. Let’s dive in and take a closer look at six reasons that partnering with a debt collection agency can be a big help for a shipping company.
1. Improve Collection Rates
One of the simplest ways that partnering with a debt collection agency can help a shipping company is by increasing the number of accounts they are able to collect. Even if you are doing a solid job of managing your outstanding debts on your own, passing those tasks off to a debt collection agency will almost always increase the success rate of those collections.
As long as you are working with a quality agency, their debt collectors are going to have extensive training on how to get the job done as quickly as possible without upsetting the customers in the process.
2. Increase Cash Flow
Once a company is able to see an uptick in the number of successful collections they are able to make, it is only a matter of time before that additional revenue shows up in the company’s cash flow statements.
And since cash flow is the lifeblood of any successful business, partnering with a collection agency that is able to add positive numbers to the accounting statements is always going to be a massive benefit for shipping companies.
3. Focus on Core Business
Debt collection is an extremely labor-intensive process. If a company is attempting to handle their own debt collections, they are likely dedicating a significant amount of resources to the effort.
However, by partnering with a commercial debt collection agency, your company can pass off all of that work and direct the people who would be focused on collections to work on something more appropriate for the core business.
4. Rules & Regulations
There are also a constantly changing number of rules and regulations that must be followed by anyone attempting to collect an outstanding debt.
Partnering with a quality debt collection assures that your business is going to be operating inside the scope of those laws throughout the entire collection process.
5. Preserve the Existing Customer Relationship
In some cases, outstanding debts that fall into delinquent status can create some hard feelings between shipping companies and their customers.
But by passing off the interaction with those customers before things get to that point, many shipping companies are finding that they are able to salvage a relationship that would otherwise be ruined.
6. The Price is Right
If you aren’t convinced by now that partnering with a commercial debt collection agency is a good move for any shipping company, consider this one last fact: it doesn’t cost the company anything.
Because most debt collection agencies charge contingency fees, the shipping companies that they partner with aren’t on the hook for any additional costs unless the collection agencies deliver the goods. And if an agency is able to come through for your company, you’re going to be more than happy to pay them a small percentage.
When you consider all of the advantages of hiring a commercial debt collection agency and contrast that with the fact that your company doesn’t have to pay them unless they are able to produce results, it is obvious why a great collection agency is such a perfect fit for a successful shipping company.
