Sometimes, a company that cannot pay its bills may offer you stock, or equity instead of paying what is owed. If you have a personal relationship with the company, or truly believe that their financial problems are temporary, this can be a tempting option. It may seem that by accepting stock options, equity, or … Read more
As with almost any problem, the best way to stop debt collection problems is before they start. The second-best solution is to identify a problem early. Business owners are often unsure about when to turn a client over to a collection agency. Unfortunately, studies show that after seven months, the chance of collecting on … Read more
Being a collection agent means making a lot of difficult calls. Anything involving money runs the chance of becoming highly emotional. When you’re talking about debt, the potential for high emotions becomes increased. At The Kaplan Group, we’re used to making these phone calls and have some tips for how you can prepare yourself … Read more
In October, the New York Times published an article detailing decades of sexual harassment and abuse suffered by actresses at the hands of film mogul Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein was fired by his company and the scandal continues to grow and have far reaching implications for the company and the entire film industry. As important as … Read more
You might normally think of victims of business fraud as clueless consumers duped by a devious salespeople. However, business fraud exists at all levels, and many victims are actually other businesses. A surprising number of businesses fall prey to fraud, allowing non-existent, or otherwise fraudulent businesses, to establish lines of credit. It is almost always … Read more
Some of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to collect on unpaid debt is communicating in an unprofessional, impolite, or potentially illegal manner. Being in debt and collecting debt can both be stressful situations and there are numerous laws around debt communications. Learning best practices for communicating with those who owe you money is … Read more
At The Kaplan Group our goal is to try to recover your money without going to court. We do this on over 97% of our successful claims. However, sometimes litigation is necessary. Clients often wonder if they can add our collection fees, or attorney fees, to the amount to be collected. These costs can only … Read more
One of the standard pieces of advice we give to people creating credit applications is to make sure they require complete contact information, not just for the accounts payable department, but for other finance people and principals within the company as well. Complete contact information means email addresses, phone numbers, and a mailing address, at … Read more
Companies like United Airlines, Pepsi, and PricewaterhouseCoopers spend millions of dollars every year on marketing and advertising. As we’ve seen recently though, all it takes is one mistake or one ill-advised interaction and all that money is wasted. When less high-profile companies suffer from poor PR they may not have the same public nature … Read more
It’s a general truism that no one wants to go to court, especially over financial issues. Even if you win a court case, you’ve still lost valuable time and money. Litigation costs more and takes longer than negotiating outside of court, and winning a judgment does not guarantee payment. However, usually the threat of … Read more
