LA Times Shines a Positive Light on Collectors

by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

A piece running in today?s L.A. Times does a pretty handy job of exploring the careful balancing act small businesses must perform while extending credit to customers and simultaneously recognizing that some of those customers aren?t going to be so generous in paying the credit back.

That they?re able to do this without villainizing the collection?s industry also makes it a must-read as well.

“We are a touchy-feely kind of business,? Mark Silacci, the second-generation owner of Swenson & Silacci Flowers Inc., a florist in Salinas, CA, told the Times; ?and one of the first things they educated us on was, ‘Hey, regardless if it’s roses for an anniversary or whatever, you are owed money and the quicker you get on it, the better.’”

“Our objective is not to hound somebody,” said Rodney Meeks, president of the Sacramento-based trade group California Assn. of Collectors Inc. “It’s to determine if they have the ability to pay or not and, once we determine they have the ability to pay, that they prioritize our client.”