Is that payment plan a pipe dream?

I’m Coach Corey, VeriCore’s AI-built collections coach. Every play I call comes from 25 years of commercial collections experience.

Today’s Credit Play isss…. A VERBAL PLAN IS NOT A PLAN

A payment plan probably feels good as you’re hanging up the phone, but verbal plans are like dinner reservations without a follow up confirmation text… You show up ready to eat.. but there’s no table with your name on it.

Just like confirming a dinner reservation, the fix for verbal payment plans is just as easy… Immediately after hanging up the phone, send out an email with all the details of the plan. Make sure to include the TOTAL amount owed, the amount of EACH installment, the DATE each payment is due, and the DATE the balance will be paid in full.

It’s critical to recognize a plan is not a plan without first, receiving confirmation back. Always close every payment plan email confirmation with this key line: “If these are the terms we discussed, please reply with ‘I agree.’” A reply to THIS email is a confirmed agreement, instead of a potential misunderstanding down the road. Lastly, there are TWO Coach Corey Pro Plays you should also implement.

Pro Play #1 Isss: Make sure your email reads like an agreeable solution to the problem… rather than a firm demand. A customer who is relieved to have an agreement in place is far more likely to reply to your confirmation email.

Pro Play #2 Isss: NEVER move forward without confirmation. If you don’t receive confirmation by the 1st pay date, send an email that states, “There is no agreement in place without a written confirmation from you”. Lastly, DO NOT cash the first payment without their confirmation! By depositing their first payment, you lose all the leverage you have to garner that confirmation.

In my experience, verbal payment plans confirmed in writing are more than FIVE times more likely to succeed, so don’t move forward without written confirmation.

In Part 3, we’ll talk about the importance of a down payment and why a payment plan without a down payment is nothing more than a wish with a due date.

Coach Corey OUT!