More Repeat Business

I have mentioned the importance of repeat business several times before in previous entries here as well as in my commercial debt resolution Business Plan System.  The most important part of gaining repeat business is ASKING.

Although landing clients is not especially difficult in this profession, it probably entails 50% of your time.  Gathering qualified leads, contacting the principal parties and following up with them until they retain your service takes some time.  Once you have a client it is much easier to simply ASK them if they have other problem debts you can assist with.

As an example, the same client with which I settled the judgment mentioned in my last post had another problem debt that was being pursued by a collection agency.  All I did was ASK my client if he had any other situations he would like me to work.  This case was successfully settled:
,
Debt:             $8,340
Settlement:   $4,670
SAVINGS:    $3,670

Of course, I earned a fair fee for my efforts.

Most clients have more than one problem debt so always ASK for more business.  You're already half way to earning another fee!

Scott F. Soape

Judgment Settlements

Every type of business debt is eligible for our settlement service, including judgments.

Monetary judgments are awarded to plaintiffs (creditors) if the defendant (debtor) either fails to prove their case or simply does not respond to a lawsuit.  These judgments can provide additional avenues for creditors to collect on the amounts awarded but they do not guarantee payment.  Additionally, creditors still face the extra time, effort and expense of tracking down debtor assets.  This means these creditors are often willing to accept less.

As an example, I just finalized a successful settlement on a judgment.  My client had a judgment issued against his company for $20,646.86.  Although I did not have access to the details, this amount probably included the principal debt plus attorney's fees, court costs and back interest.  I was able to convince the judgment owner company to accept a discounted settlement of $12,000 on a payment plan of $1,000 per month:

Judgment:    $20,646.86
Settlement:  $12,000.00
SAVINGS:   $  8,646.86

As usual, all parties were pleased with the outcome and I earned a handsome fee for my efforts.

Be sure to check your local jurisdictions for judgments issued against businesses.  I think you will find both sides responsive to your risk free offer of negotiating a settlement.

Scott F. Soape

Another Successful Settlement

Just last week, I finalized an extremely favorable settlement for a client. A commercial creditor had filed a lawsuit claiming over $11,300 to be due from a sign company (my client). They were also seeking over $3,700 in attorney's fees along with a couple hundred dollars for court costs.

I was able to negotiate this entire claim down to a lump-sum payment of just $1,500... saving my client more than $13,800.
As with all cases, this one had some specific considerations that impacted the final settlement amount. In the end, though, both parties found the settlement to be acceptable and the lawsuit is being dismissed with prejudice (which means it cannot be pursued in court again).

All parties benefited from this settlement, including myself with a nice fee earned for my skilled negotiations.  My program material provides all the information needed for anyone to do the same.

Scott F. Soape

A Busy Time of Year!

This is usually a very busy time of year as companies scramble to collect payment of past due receivables before year end.  You will probably notice an increase in lawsuits from now until mid December (when things slow down a bit for the holidays).

I encourage you to "make hay while the sun shines" and hustle to land as many cases as you can comfortably work during this busy time.

Scott F. Soape

Non-Payment of Fees

I have successfully negotiated settlements to hundreds of cases over the past 16 years.  Out of all of these cases, I have only had problems getting paid 4 or 5 times.

Non-payment of fees is extremely rare in this profession.  My complete commercial debt resolution Business Plan System provides information on ways to ensure you get paid your fee as soon as settlements are accepted, before the creditors receive a dime.

However, there still may come a time when a client accepts a settlement but does not pay your fee.  This occurred with a recent client of mine.  In this specific situation, I thought it best to allow my client to delay payment of my fee so that they would not lose the extremely favorable settlement I had negotiated on their behalf.  My client assured me payment would be forthcoming and even went so far as to email me a pdf copy of a check made payable to my company in the amount of my fee.

Unfortunately, the check was never mailed and this fee is now over 60 days past due.  I have mailed a demand letter for payment within 10 business days and I will file suit locally if it is not received.

Sadly, I have now become just another creditor to this client despite having assisted with a much larger debt.

The good news is that these situations do not arise very often and can typically be avoided in the normal course of business.

Scott F. Soape

UPDATE:  Within a few days of sending my demand letter for payment and threatening a lawsuit, I received a check for my $1,000 fee.

 

 

Negotiation

I recently attended a business group luncheon in Austin where the keynote speaker addressed the topic of negotiation.  This speaker's background was in an entirely different industry and it was good to get another perspective on this topic.

This speaker made the point that negotiations could be either:

1. Competitive, where one side wins and one side loses.
2. Collaborative, where both sides gain and therefore both sides are pleased with the results.

In this regard, our commercial debt settlement negotiations are almost always collaborative.  All parties benefit from our successful negotiations.   Otherwise, there would be no agreement on terms and no settlement.

Creditors must agree to settlement terms and so must our clients, the debtor companies.  If there is no agreement on terms, there is no settlement.

My program provides a number of negotiation techniques that have allowed me to reach successful results for my clients nearly 100% of the time over the past 16 years.  All of these settlements have been Win / Win scenarios for the parties involved, with no "loser" on either side.


Click the link below for a brief article in Entrepreneur Magazine on "3 Things Entrepreneurs Get Wrong When Negotiating"...

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228398

Scott F. Soape

Create a Web Site

My complete commercial debt resolution Business Plan System details way to market your business.  One of the most important things to do as soon as possible is to create a web site for your practice.

Inc. Magazine's online information provides some excellent tips on how to do this.  Please click the link below for a recent article:

http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/4-tools-to-create-a-website-by-the-end-of-today.html

Scott F. Soape