Commercial collections is the process of collecting money on business-to-business debts. In commercial collections, we are collecting from corporations, LLC’s, partnerships and proprietorships. In most cases, we are dealing with small businesses. Collecting from a small business is very different from collecting from individuals on past due credit card bills and other types of personal debt. The Kaplan Group only does commercial collections, we do not provide what is known as “retail” collections (e.g. individuals).
Our debt collectors are experts at commercial collections. If we are dealing with a small business, we try to go directly to the business owner. This is the person who is the ultimate decision-maker. We may talk to other employees to get a better understanding of what is really happening at the business as well as insights into the owner’s personality and behavior. However, we want to get our commitments from the owner so that there is no excuse down the road that the owner did not approve a promise made by an employee.
In commercial collections, we typically need to develop some level of understanding of the debtor’s current business situation. Our debt collectors are trained in business debt collection and many of them have extensive experience running businesses. This enables them to be far more effective than the average debt collector.
Many of the largest claims we handle are with bigger corporations or extremely sophisticated professionals (law firms, hedge funds, Fortune 500 companies, etc.). Dean Kaplan typically handles these claims personally. His professional consulting experience puts him on the same level as these debtors. He understands their business, can talk their language, knows how to navigate throughout large organizations, and knows how they think, negotiate, and get authorization to pay debts. He can quickly ascertain when he’s being told the truth vs. a story, and excels at setting up debtors so they run out of excuses and realize they need to pay or suffer unpleasant consequences. When it comes to large commercial collections, we do not believe you can find anyone better.
