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This guide contains:

Background on collection agencies
Description of the collections process
Features to look for in collection agencies
How to find the best collection agency for you

This guide was written to help Credit Manages and Business Owners understand collection agencies, how they work, and how to help you find the best collection agency for you. We do offer any collection agency services but you can be confident that all of the information in this guide is independent and unbiased.

Background on collection agencies
Delinquent bills have a negative impact on any company's bottom line, and are an unfortunate cost of doing business. However, reducing this cost should be a goal of any business, and every company needs to have a process in place to collect unpaid bills. Some large corporations have departments that do nothing but try to collect on past due accounts, but most smaller companies can't afford the financial costs of a full-time collections staff. To recover money from delinquent accounts, many companies find that is more cost effective to hire a collection agency to try and recover their past due accounts. Not only do companies save time and effort doing this, but using a collection agency can induce a better response from the debtors who would rather avoid having to deal with a collection agency. A collection agency is a company that specializes in, and earns a profit by, obtaining payment of money by a debtor (either a person or a company) on behalf of its clients. Collection agencies are usually paid on a contingency basis as a percentage of the debt that they collect. However, some collection agencies will purchase the right to collect old debts at a certain value, and then will try to earn a profit on whatever is collected over the amount paid for the old debts. This scenario can be good for the company because they at least get some money on the delinquent accounts- as opposed to getting nothing. The most common tools of a collection agency are letters, emails and phone calls, and the individuals who work for the collection agency usually earn commissions on the amount they collect for their clients.

Important features and functions of collection agencies
Each collection agency has it's own unique set of services and expertise, but here are some of the more common features that you should be aware of as you try to find the right collection agency for you: Specialty- Collection agencies offer collection services against persons (also known as retail), businesses (also known as commercial), or both. Retail collections are generally more straightforward than commercial collections; if your debt is primarily

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