Are you in the fitness industry? Are your account receivables affecting your business cash flow? Well, it’s time to hire a fitness gym collection agency.
For your fitness gym, using a collection agency is an investment. Accumulating delinquent accounts can drain your business’ resources, patience, and time. Also, your account receivables make up one of your largest assets, and you want to ensure you get all that is owed.
If your business is grappling with delinquent accounts, it’s time you learn hiring tips to pick the best collection agency.
If you’ve tried all the ways to shun the debt collection process without success, hiring a professional is invaluable. However, the wrong choice of a collection agency can have dire consequences for your business. You lose more money than you collect and damage your customer relationships and brand reputation.
The best debt collection agency will maximize the amount of debt recovered and help maintain a positive relationship with your customers. Also, they use transparency in collection and reporting.
But how do you find such a collection agency? To help you out, here’s a guide on what to look for when choosing a fitness gym collection agency.
Check on Experience
When choosing a debt collection agency for your fitness gym, experience is the utmost consideration. Only work with a company that has been in the business for years for quality services and maximum returns.
An inexperienced collection agency might use exorbitant methods in the collection process. This ends up damaging your customer relationships.
In choosing a collection agency for your fitness gym, view it as an extension of your business. You want a highly experienced agency with in-depth knowledge of the process. Such an agency has already helped numerous clients clear their delinquent accounts.
They understand the best and most successful methods to use. Also, they know the tips and tricks to get clients to pay what they owe without having any complaints filed against your business.
Before making your final choice, conduct a background check of the agency to know how long they have been operating. Also, don’t forget to confirm they have been serving in the fitness industry for the years they have been in business.
Review Their Reputation
Before hiring a collection agency, always get to know what other clients are saying. This can offer crucial insights about what to expect from the potential agency and whether to hire them or not. Using the internet, you can learn more about an agency’s reputation.
The first method, which may or may not be available, is checking on client testimonials on their website. This could be informed of videos, stories, and quotes. Pay attention and read the testimonials to evaluate whether the agency can be the best fit for your unique needs.
However, read client reviews from other review websites such as Yelp for unbiased feedback. Here, you’re likely to come across both positive and negative reviews based on the client’s actual experience. However, if the negative reviews outdo the positive ones, avoid them completely and look for another.
Also, consider asking for references from the potential debt collection agency. They should provide you with a few contact details of other fitness gyms they have worked with or are working with.
Reaching out to these customers and asking them a few questions can help you gauge if the agency is the best option for you. Are they still working with the collection agency? If not, why did they stop, and can they work with them again if the need arises.
Check Their Core Values
While it’s easy to overlook this aspect when hiring a debt collection agency, check on your collection partner’s core values. The core values are the overall philosophy of the business, and it highlights their collection strategy.
Emphasizing core values is key to avoiding hiring an agency that uses intimidation tactics on clients. Picking a partner who shares your core values and services will make a world of difference. They will guarantee customer retention and positive collection results.
Check the Cost
Before signing that dotted line, you want to know how much the collection service will end up costing you. Different collection agencies will use different pricing models when charging their customers. However, regardless of the agency you pick, be sure you won’t be spending more than you are going to get.
Most collection agencies will use either upfront payment or contingency based on either age or size.
For upfront payment, the agency will ask for a down payment or upfront fee prior to starting working with them. After you pay the minimum fee, they will start collecting and charging based on the number of hours worked. Also, this could be based on the total number of accounts collected.
However, you might want to avoid companies charging an upfront fee as they might not be sure about the services they are offering.
On the contingency based on size, the agency won’t charge anything until they collect money from one of the accounts. This means you won’t spend any money on collection unless you are making money. Depending on how much they collect, you’ll agree on the percentage the agency will get before the collection starts.
The contingency based on age is similar to contingent based on size. However, on a contingency based on age, the agency will charge depending on how old the invoices are. The older the invoice, the larger the collection agency’s portion will get.
Use the Above Hiring Tips for Fitness Gym Collection Agency
Hiring a collection agency for your fitness gym can help settle your delinquent accounts. However, for the best returns without damaging your brand reputation, it’s key to hire a reputable agency.
Here are key hiring tips for choosing the best fitness gym collection agency.
Are you looking for a collection agency? At First Federal Credit Control, we got you covered. For over 50 years, we’ve partnered with clients in healthcare, technology, and other industries to help with debt recovery.
Contact us today for a free consultation.
