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

Repeat Business

Here is a prime example of multiple cases from one client.

The same client from the case I just posted on July 29th contacted me late last week to assist with another pending lawsuit.  Obviously, he was pleased with the outcome from the first settlement and we are both hoping for similar results with this new case.  Since my success rate is near 100%, I am highly confident I can negotiate an acceptable out-of-court settlement with this new creditor and their attorney.

The answer date deadline on this new case is imminent so I am working fast.  I am also requesting an extension from the creditor's attorney while we are in negotiations to settle.  I have never dealt with this attorney before but most are willing to grant short extensions or at least abate further action on a lawsuit if a settlement is expected.

The main point here is to always ask your clients if they have other cases you can assist with.  One successful settlement can often open the door for repeat business.

Scott F. Soape

A Recent Case

On July 16th a new client retained my services to settle a pending lawsuit.  Today, less than 2 weeks later, he accepted the settlement I negotiated.  Here are the numbers:

$10,205 Debt
$7,000 Settlement

$3,205 Saved

This 2 week settlement is about an average turn around time whenever a creditor is willing to respond to offers in a timely manner.  Thankfully, that was the case here.  I had never dealt with the attorney for this creditor before so I was not sure what to expect.  She held out for considerably more than my initial offer but, after some back & forth, all parties benefited in the end.

It is also important to note this $7,000 settlement is a TOTAL amount.  Had the creditor prevailed with the lawsuit, they could have been awarded attorney's fees up to 1/3 the amount of the debt or $3,400.  Plus, it cost them over $200 just to file the lawsuit and they could have required a separate reimbursement.

This means my skilled negotiation efforts effectively saved my client in excess of $6,800!

As you may imagine, my client was thrilled with the savings and they can now concentrate on making money rather than dealing with this legal matter.  In addition to earning a nice fee, I am also happy to have helped my client through a tough situation.

Scott F. Soape