Collection Letters
That Work
How To Get Paid With Letters
TrueAccord
What’s In This Book?
Introduction: Why Letters?
Do Letters Still Matter? 3 Reasons To Use Letters
The Top 3 Tips For Mailing
Letter Samples
With Behavioral Cues From TrueAccord’s Experts
Bottom Line: Getting Paid
What’s TrueAccord?
TrueAccord is turning your losses into
opportunities with data science and
expert treatment.
Our system allows you to stop
handling late payments, get paid
faster, and retain more customers you
thought you lost.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE
www.trueaccord.com/business
Introduction
Many small business owners dislike dealing with
collecting money. It’s a difficult task, causing
stress to both the debtor and the creditor. The
collection process often becomes aggressive and
confrontational, and can result in a lost customer
as well as lost revenue.
This situation makes business owners feel so
uneasy that many don’t try to recover money they
owe. Not collecting means that the owner is hurt
twice, losing both their time and the money the
should have been paid.
At TrueAccord, we help business owners like you
assert your right to be paid. Before using our
services, though, you may want to try collecting
money yourself. This is when you need proven
communication tactics that are used by experts.
This eBook includes some tips and examples for
collection and demand letters that work, and how
to use them. Read through it, get a list of debtors
and their addresses, and go recover some lost
money!
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Do Letters Still Matter?
3 Reasons To Use Letters
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Do Letters Still Matter? 3 Reasons To Use Letters
In an increasingly digital age, it seems as though sending letters has
gone out of fashion. We use email, text, IM, social networks and
more to communicate on a day to day basis. Who uses letters?
Letters have great effect in getting paid. Indeed, a single letter will
most likely not turn a delinquent debtor into a paying one. However
letters have several advantages that make them highly effective:
• Letters are harder to miss
• Letters convey urgency and formality
• Letters provide a paper trail
Let’s look at these reasons more closely.
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Letters Are Harder To Miss
Do you think people disregard letters more often?
A recent research reported by
Hubspot reports letters’ open The TrueAccord Edge
rate at 56%. That’s more than Optimizing open rate in emails is
twice the open rate for emails. difficult. TrueAccord customers see
How’s that for getting noticed by more than 50% open rate on emails
your customer? we send, thanks to our rigorous
testing and optimization framework.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE
www.trueaccord.com/business
Letters Convey Urgency And Formality
The average letter is perceived as much more serious than the
average email. The Direct Marketing Association reports that letters
get an average 4.4% response rate, almost ten times that of email.
For the same reason, we will use
more formal language when
composing letters.
The TrueAccord Edge
Getting debtors to respond is part
art, part science. TrueAccord’s
content department works diligently
to find copy that will resonate with
different kinds of people, resulting in
incredibly high response rates.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE
www.trueaccord.com/business
Letters Provide A Paper Trail
When pursuing litigation or the help of a collection lawyer, a
documented history of demands made and information sent is
necessary.
Many businesses aren’t set up to
create an auditable paper trail The TrueAccord Edge
with emails. Letters provide an TrueAccord’s proprietary system
easy way of doing so. keeps track of sent and received
communication. This way, you get a
fully auditable paper trail for all of
your collection actions – no matter
which channel is used.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE
www.trueaccord.com/business
The Top 3 Tips For Mailing
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The Top 3 Tips For Mailing
There are a few key principles to sending letters, that our sample
letters follow. Here are the three most important ones:
• Keep your mailing cadence
• Define a deadline and call to action
• Escalate your demands
The TrueAccord Edge
Keep Your Mailing
In order to get great responses,
Cadence TrueAccord’s system uses
probabilistic sending methods to
Getting paid is a process, and a message debtors when they are
process requires persistence. most likely to act on the message we
send them – whether it’s an email,
Don’t give up after your first text or letter.
letter, and don’t flood your
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE
debtor without giving them a
chance to pay.
We recommend 3-4 letters over a period of 30 days before sending
your customer to a collection agency.
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Define a Deadline And Call To Action
A bad letter will state a demand
for payment, but will state no The TrueAccord Edge
course of action nor a defined Our automated system lets debtors
timeline. If you make these pay you directly from an email or letter
mistakes, you will not get paid. with just a few clicks.
Make sure your letters state by Debtors can use a card, a wire transfer,
or schedule a payment plan that will
when you expect to be paid and
be automatically followed up on.
how you expect to receive
payment.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE
www.trueaccord.com/business
Escalate Your Demands
You have 3-4 letters to drive your
debtor to pay. Escalating your The TrueAccord Edge
demand from letter to letter TrueAccord’s customers see more
allows you to control your tone, success with pre-placement
but at the same time show the notifications. Delinquent accounts
debtor how far you’re willing to receive a notice indicating that
go to get paid. without a reply, the debtor will be
sent to collections.
The third letter should serve an
Using TrueAccord as the “bad cop”
ultimatum. Most commonly, that
in this scenario improves collection
would be sending the debtor to
rates even before you start using our
a debt collection agency, but you services.
may also choose to go directly
to litigation. CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE
www.trueaccord.com/business
9/12/13
9/26/13
8/28/13 John Smith
John Smith 3844 Kinney
Street
John Smith 3844 Kinney Street Agawam, MA
01001
Street Agawam, MA 01001
3844 Kinney
Agaw am, MA 01001 RE: SECOND REM
INDER - OUT
STANDING ACC
RE: FINAL DEMAND FOR PAYMENT - OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT OUNT
ACCOUN T
DING
RE: OUTSTAN John Smith,
John Smith,
John Smith, I have recently cted
sent you a writt ent was expe
I am following up oncom mypany
previous of $2,5
letter dated68.3
enover
8 is
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lettedue.
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. nce
bala your overduepayment for your
your account Only 1% of our customers your reference. balance of $2,5
remind you that for receive this late
t you 68.38 to our
I am writing to outstanding amount onoftime
$[debt
. amount].
osed is
Unfortunately,
Encl a
I state
have men
sent several requests for
paym payment.
ent This account is
notificatio
our agreement. you choose to n since they insis
] according to be within this t on not payin
by [debt date now severely delinquent, and you have made no actions to remedy that.
1%,You
andarenotforcing me to escalate
with the
g
regularly payin
g 99%.
my efforts. If you are unab
le to make a paym Total
ent at this time
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regarding , wish to discu
ss a payment
statement, plea plan, or have
Item se contact me
at [pho any questions
Please contact me at [phone] immediately to pay this outstanding ne] orinatfull.
amount theIfaddr
you fail to do so
ess below.
within the next three
Othe(3) days,
rwise you will
, plea Gra force me tol refer your account to a collections agency.
nd Tota
se orga nise for the settl
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remaining bala Youimm
w.nce
address belo ediately.
a check to our
Your accountamount today by mailing
outstanding is late beyond acceptab
payment for thisnot e. le grace periods and
Please make Regards, continue ent over the phon is materially dam
to arran ge a paymseein g this acco agin g our cash flow.
me at [phone] unt unpaid with
may also call Robert J. Friesen repercussions
. Plea your
I will
y me of se remit payment
(3) days to notif immediately.
4773 Sunny Day Drive ne] within three
se reply at [pho rding this acco
unt.
attention is required. Plea er inquiries rega
Your prompt Tustin, CA 92680 Regards, ible with any furth
as soon as poss re this reminder
.
se contact me
payment. Plea Robert J. Fries se accept my thanks and igno
made, pleaen
recently been
If payment has 4773 Sunny Day
Drive
Tustin, CA 9268
0
Regards,
en
Robert J. Fries
Drive
4773 Sunny Day
0
Tustin, CA 9268
Letter Samples
With Behavioral Cues
From TrueAccord’s Experts
www.trueaccord.com/business
Download this template: http://go.trueaccord.com/ebooklettersamples
8/28/13
John Smith Frame It
Setting up a frame and reasoning
3844 Kinney Street
for why you’re contacting your
Agawam, MA 01001
customer is important. They have
violated an agreement. You are
RE: OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT also providing information to
prevent future excuses.
John Smith,
I am writing to remind you that your account balance of $2,568.38 is overdue. Payment was expected
by [debt date] according to our agreement. Enclosed is a statement for your reference.
Item Quantity Total
Grand Total
Please make payment for this outstanding amount today by mailing a check to our address below. You
may also call me at [phone] to arrange a payment over the phone.
Your prompt attention is required. Please reply at [phone] within three (3) days to notify me of your
payment. Please contact me as soon as possible with any further inquiries regarding this account.
If payment has recently been made, please accept my thanks and ignore this reminder.
Regards,
Robert J. Friesen Create Urgency
4773 Sunny Day Drive Instilling a sense of urgency and a
Tustin, CA 92680 timeline from the first letter is
important. It also sets you up for
reminders. You can choose more
than 3 days.
Download this template: http://go.trueaccord.com/ebooklettersamples
9/12/13
John Smith
3844 Kinney Street
Agawam, MA 01001 Social Proof
Nobody wants to be in the “bad
guys” group. You’re implying
RE: SECOND REMINDER - OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT
they’re worse off than everyone
else (and playing on “the 1%” while
John Smith, you’re at it)
I have recently sent you a written letter to remind of your overdue balance of $2,568.38 to our
company. Only 1% of our customers receive this late payment notification since they insist on not paying
on time. Unfortunately, you choose to be within this 1%, and not with the regularly paying 99%.
If you are unable to make a payment at this time, wish to discuss a payment plan, or have any questions
regarding the statement, please contact me at [phone] or at the address below.
Otherwise, please organise for the settlement of the remaining balance immediately.
Your account is late beyond acceptable grace periods and is materially damaging our cash flow. I will
not continue seeing this account unpaid with repercussions. Please remit payment immediately.
Regards, Make It Real
Robert J. Friesen Explaining what tangible damage
is caused to you keeps the
4773 Sunny Day Drive
discussion factual, and also
Tustin, CA 92680
includes a veiled threat that
doesn’t go beyond asserting your
rights.
Download this template: http://go.trueaccord.com/ebooklettersamples
9/26/13
John Smith
3844 Kinney Street
Agawam, MA 01001 Drive Them To Action
Putting the blame on the
delinquent customer drives many
RE: FINAL DEMAND FOR PAYMENT - OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT
to action, and reinforces your
position: they need to pay.
John Smith,
I am following up on my previous letter dated 9/12/13, since I have not received payment for your
outstanding amount of $2,568.38. I have sent you several requests for payment. This account is now
severely delinquent, and you have made no actions to remedy that. You are forcing me to escalate my
efforts.
Please contact me at 972-657-5176 immediately to pay this outstanding amount in full. If you fail to do
so within the next three (3) days, you will force me to refer your account to a collections agency.
Regards, Clear And Concise
Robert J. Friesen A credible, clear threat. You are
using TrueAccord as the “bad cop”
4773 Sunny Day Drive
to encourage the customer to talk
Tustin, CA 92680
to you (or else…)
Bottom Line: Getting Paid
Letters are an effective way to
communicate with debtors in the Take control of your late
pre-collection stage, and often have great payments and unpaid bills
results. This manual explains how to use Businesses of all sizes use
them in a collection strategy that will get TrueAccord to get paid more, and
your debtors to respond and pay, and for retain relationships with customers
those who don’t, set a clear trail of they thought they lost. No matter if
demand letters that lead to any legal you're big or small, we can help you
action or 3rd party collection activity. recover more. TrueAccord services
any debt from $3 and up, even if
At the end of the day, if you’re unable to only one customer owes you
collect, TrueAccord is here to help you money.
protect your cash flow and bottom line.
Special offer for our readers: We'll
collect your first $500 in debt free
of charge.
START GETTING PAID TODAY!
