Good Business Tips: Know Your Customer
February 20, 2010 by Takara Alexis
Filed under Management
Running a business can be hard. A lot of the time it is necessary to hire a debt collection agency for help collecting money that is owed. However, if companies take a position of prevention, they may not require using the assistance of a third party collections agency. Knowing the client or customer can be extremely useful for filtering out potential problems.
First, a business should figure out the full legal name of the client that it wants to do business with. The business structure should be known. Is it a corporation or a partnership? The names, titles and addresses 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 terms and conditions of sale should be acknowledged and accepted by the client\’s signature. The customer\’s signature, printed name, date of signing and title should be collected, and always have the company\’s lawyer look over any documents before use.
Find out the client\’s credit history and keep great communication via personal visits or phone calls. Have a timely delivery of goods and services, and up to date records and accounts receivable information. Send memos and letters out to remind the client about the money owed and keep them up to date.
Join an industry credit group and actively participate. It is important to know the laws in the state where the company is doing business regarding collections and business proposals. To protect the integrity of the company, be sure to collect references. Bank references, including the bank name, branch, account type, account number and trade references are important to know. Collect at least three trade references that include the name, address, telephone number and email addresses.
Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection company. She also composes pieces about finance and business, consumer spending and debt collection.
