On September 12th, I contacted a business owner who's company had been recently sued. After explaining my offer to negotiate an out-of-court discounted settlement on a no results / no charge basis, he agreed to let me try. I quickly faxed him a contract.
This case involved a worker compensation insurance company suing for past premiums that were due. Since I deal with the attorney for this company on a regular basis, I knew going in what to expect in the way of a settlement. However, I always start my negotiations with them low just in case they're not paying attention. You never know!
The principal amount of the debt was almost $19,000 (plus court costs, attorney's fees and back interest on the debt) so I initially offered $8,500 as a lump-sum payment. I also indicated any higher amount would require at least a two year payment term. They rejected this offer and countered at $15,000 payable with a down payment of $1,000 followed by 24 monthly payments of about $633 each. There would be an 8% interest rate applied to the outstanding balance and the settlement would be secured by an Agreed Judgment (please see previous blog entry of July 4th). My client would also have to pay the court costs of $272 but no attorney's fees (these could have amounted to over $6,300 or 1/3 the principal). This counter offer was comparable to other settlements I had worked with this same creditor and I knew it was their best deal... approximately a 20% discount with some standard provisions.
I presented these terms to my client on September 25th and they accepted on the 29th. As usual, the plaintiff's (creditor's) attorney is preparing all the documents and sending them to me. I will forward them to my client upon receipt of my fee. For this case my fee was set at 30% of the savings and came to over $1,100. The entire process only took a little over 2 weeks and involved a couple of phone calls and one settlement offer letter but ALL parties benefited.
As I have previously stated, the negotiation process need not be complicated or difficult. A simple offer to get the ball rolling is all it takes once you land a client.
Scott F. Soape
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Referrals From Bankers
As I have mentioned before (and in my Business Plan System), building a good referral network for new leads is essential to building a strong commercial debt resolution practice. A regular stream of referrals from several different sources can enhance and perhaps even exceed your court case leads.
When you think of the type of business or professional that might come into contact with companies experiencing financial difficulties, bankers should quickly come to mind. Loan officers deal directly with local business owners and are often the first to know when a company is having a problem. It is part of the banker's job to help their commercial loan customer figure out ways to resolve their cash flow problems... primarily so they won't default on their loan(s) with the bank.
Make a few phone calls each week and find out the names of branch managers and / or presidents of banks in and around your area. Send these bankers a short letter offering your service to their commercial customers that might find themselves in financial difficulty. It is important that you let the bankers know you will not be trying to negotiate discounts on the bank loans. Rather, you will assist their customer with their other obligations making more funds available for loan payments.
As with most other marketing efforts, a follow-up phone call will greatly increase your odds of developing a good relationship.
There are many different sources for referrals you can tap into that can help you build a thriving practice. Make a point of contacting these folks on a regular basis and you will soon see a difference in your revenues.
Scott F. Soape
When you think of the type of business or professional that might come into contact with companies experiencing financial difficulties, bankers should quickly come to mind. Loan officers deal directly with local business owners and are often the first to know when a company is having a problem. It is part of the banker's job to help their commercial loan customer figure out ways to resolve their cash flow problems... primarily so they won't default on their loan(s) with the bank.
Make a few phone calls each week and find out the names of branch managers and / or presidents of banks in and around your area. Send these bankers a short letter offering your service to their commercial customers that might find themselves in financial difficulty. It is important that you let the bankers know you will not be trying to negotiate discounts on the bank loans. Rather, you will assist their customer with their other obligations making more funds available for loan payments.
As with most other marketing efforts, a follow-up phone call will greatly increase your odds of developing a good relationship.
There are many different sources for referrals you can tap into that can help you build a thriving practice. Make a point of contacting these folks on a regular basis and you will soon see a difference in your revenues.
Scott F. Soape
Monday, September 1, 2008
Helpful Websites
There are dozens of great websites that can assist you with your commercial debt resolution practice... locating people, calculating loan payments, identifying company owners, finding phone numbers, identifying referral sources, etc.
Here are just a few FREE sites I use on a regular basis with my practice:
www.ZabaSearch.com lets you plug in a name and state of residence to get all possible listings of past addresses and phone numbers.
www.YellowPages.com will give you phone numbers based on input of an individual or company name & city or an address. It will also give you an address if you input a phone number.
www.Calculator.com will help with calculating payments for payment plan settlements.
www.USPS.com can provide a 4 digit zip code for a specific address.
Of course a simple Google or Yahoo search can provide websites for companies and information about who the owners are. All these free sites make our job easier and ensure we are presenting our service to the right people and providing the right information. Please feel free to leave your comments here for other sites you find helpful in your own practice.
Scott F. Soape
Here are just a few FREE sites I use on a regular basis with my practice:
www.ZabaSearch.com lets you plug in a name and state of residence to get all possible listings of past addresses and phone numbers.
www.YellowPages.com will give you phone numbers based on input of an individual or company name & city or an address. It will also give you an address if you input a phone number.
www.Calculator.com will help with calculating payments for payment plan settlements.
www.USPS.com can provide a 4 digit zip code for a specific address.
Of course a simple Google or Yahoo search can provide websites for companies and information about who the owners are. All these free sites make our job easier and ensure we are presenting our service to the right people and providing the right information. Please feel free to leave your comments here for other sites you find helpful in your own practice.
Scott F. Soape
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