Our Diplomatic Approach to Debt Collection Is Crucial Right Now

With over 7,000 debt collection agencies working in the United States, businesses of various sizes have many choices when it comes to partnering with professionals that can help them recover their hard-earned revenue.

Yet, countless small, medium, and large-sized businesses choose to work with Summit A*. There are several important reasons why businesses turn to us regularly for our services and professional insight:

• We have over 28 years of experience recovering debt across many industries
• We have an excellent track record with a recovery rate that’s twice the industrial average
• We’re known as a highly resourceful nationwide collection agency because we can recover debt from any part of the country
• We offer complete transparency to our clients with through timely reports and an online portal where our debt collection efforts can be followed
• We don’t have any mandator minimums and don’t demand a certain number of accounts before starting work
• We don’t ask for payments upfront and only take our fair percentage after the debt has been recovered

Finally, we take an ethical approach to debt collection to help preserve the reputation and relationships that our clients have carefully cultivated. During these difficult times, our methods are especially important.

We also continue to stay up to date with all local, state, and federal mandates and guidelines as we work with the highest level of professionalism, sensitivity and compassion. Our thoughts and prayers go out to anyone affected by the situation nowadays in any way. We can be contacted at any time for questions and concerns regarding our approach in the current situation.

Maintaining Relationships

You want the money you’re owed, but you don’t want to burn any bridges. Collections can be a delicate issue, especially when they need to do something like recover employee reimbursement debt. This situation arises when an employee quits after they’ve completed education or training that your company has paid for. There are other reasons an employee may owe the company money, such as overpaid salary, unauthorized travel expenses, commission recalls, etc. You want to handle the situation as compassionately as possible. 

P.H.D. Philosophy: (Preserve Human Dignity)

As our clients know, at Summit A*R we use an approach we call our “P.H.D. Philosophy” (Preserve Human Dignity). This means that we collect debt diplomatically. We treat debtors, whether they’re consumers or businesses with dignity and respect. Not only is this good for karma, but it works, as evidenced by our outstanding recovery rate.

We adopted this philosophy because we believe that most people are good and want to pay their debts. We help them find a way by using our skilled negotiation strategy. There are numerous positive reviews on our website. While some are from our clients, many are from debtors who were happy to pay what they owed in a manageable way.

A long time ago we realized that our industry was getting some negative feedback from a minority of debt collectors who resorted to unethical tactics. They would either use threats, harassment or misrepresent themselves as law enforcement to pressure debtors. Others would use robocalls, sometimes in the middle of the night, to deprive late-paying customers of rest.

We decided to bring humanity back to debt collection by doing things differently. We don’t use robocalls nor do we speak to clients aggressively or try to humiliate them. Our approach is good for your bottom line, ethics, and legal standing. Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that prevents a minority of debt collectors from shady behavior and actions. Those found breaking this law have been successfully sued by debtors, fined heavily by the FTC, and even blacklisted.

Partnering with such agencies can ruin a business’s reputation. In an age where a single negative story can go viral and tank the value of a large business overnight, it’s important to avoid risks.

Further evidence of our ethical approach to debt collection is our A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Many businesses strive to achieve this score because it’s only given to those with a reputation for excellence. We have a no-complaint policy at Summit A*R and actively work to minimize complaints or resolve concerns.

We’re also happy to be affiliated with esteemed membership organizations like ACA International and the International Association of Commercial Collectors (IACC). These organizations have been active for a long time with many members from the debt collection industry. Their goal is to promote positive values, encourage debt collection agencies to take an ethical approach, and to have debtors treated with respect.

One of the reasons why our philosophy has been effective for us as a personal debt collection agency is that shady tactics are usually counterproductive. Communication is one of the most important tools in the debt collection industry. When customers are threatened or harassed, they usually avoid talking.

Nowadays, our diplomatic approach to debt collection is especially important. While some sub economies may be experiencing challenging times, the uncertainty will go away as it always does. Although it’s crucial for your business to collect revenue and maintain a healthy cash flow to meet operational costs, it’s equally important to keep your reputation and relationships intact. These virtues will come in handy as the situation improves.

For these reasons and more, partner with a debt collection agency like Summit A*R that has a history of successfully collecting debt diplomatically. As stated above, there’s no risk to working with us. We don’t demand any payment to start the recovery process. This way, you’re not throwing good money after bad debt. Learn more about what we do and check out our FAQs about the debt collection process.

When you partner with the experienced and licensed professionals at Summit A*R, you also free up valuable resources. Your in-house collection department won’t have our expertise. Instead of fruitlessly chasing after customers with phone calls and emails, they could improve your business’s profitability in other ways.

Unlike your in-house team, we also have a powerful skip tracing department led by a private investigator. We can find your debtor and their assets even if they’re in another part of the country. Our find-rate is higher than most debt collection agencies due to our wealth of resources. Once we locate your debtor, we can quickly start the revenue recovery process.

Instead of watching your accounts receivable turnover ratio decline every day, use our pre collection services by letting us handle your “busy-work” jobs. We will represent your business with the professionalism it deserves. So, get in touch with Summit A*R today and let us help you convert those unpaid invoices into money that you can use.