Late payment has long been a problem for businessowners, but the Covid-19 pandemic seems to have compounded cashflow concerns. If getting what you're owed is getting you down, it may well be easier than you think to get professional help
According to a study by Pay UK and the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) more than half of the country’s smaller businesses said they experienced late payments in 2020, amounting to a collective UK debt burden of £17.5bn. The pandemic has undoubtedly hit business hard and, arguably, the full impact on company liquidity is yet to be seen with many commentators predicting a debt tsunami’ that may lie in wait in the months ahead.
So, what should you do if monies owed are piling up? Is it wise to come up with your own debt recovery strategy or is there merit in getting some professional help?
At independent law firm for business Muckle LLP we often hear from clients that their own debt recovery efforts can prove to be a significant distraction from the day-to-day running of their business. Many also find it hard to adopt the appropriate tone, at the appropriate time, and gather the intelligence that may help provide rationale as to why payments are not forthcoming and inform the approach. When it comes to debt recovery, the team at Muckle LLP have been helping businesses get paid for over 30 years, recovering 92% of B2B debts. And that wealth of experience is crucial when it comes to determining the best strategy to get the results clients need.
Julie Parr, director of Business Improvement explains “Debt recovery is a crucial part of making sure any business survives, and we have very experienced debt recovery staff, but we also understand that technology can help make the whole process easier for clients and the recommendations more intelligent too.”
And that’s the thinking behind Muckle Collect. The new online tool makes it easier than ever for clients to log the details of a debt with the team, agree a strategy for recovery and track progress – either for a fixed cost or on a no recovery, no fee basis’. As Julie explains: “We know that people expect always-on service delivery and with Muckle Collect clients can now set up cases at a time to suit themselves, with no fuss, keep track of progress online and have the reassurance that comes with our total upfront transparency on fees.”
The tool really comes into its own by allowing the team to get far greater insight on probability and predictability. In short, it helps determine the approaches that get the best results for a range of clients and this can help inform the team’s advice. This not only helps speed up the debt recovery process it also makes for better outcomes.
As Julie explains: “Ultimately, the data analytics and scientific aspect of what we’re doing marks us out as being very different in debt recovery – it strengthens processes further and helps us become even better at debt recovery for clients.”
And the team have big plans for Muckle Collect using robotic processing technology to sift through data, suitably anonymised, to further improve the intelligence of debt collection strategies.
But for all the innovative technology, it’s human connections, expertise, compassion, and transparency that are at the heart of the service the firm provide. So, if you’re struggling with debt recovery, perhaps it’s time to talk to the team?
