to this request until such time as you may be in a position to favor us. Thank you very much for your business."

The customers who receive this kind of a letter represent the best trade that this dealer enjoys. If they were not of this type, the letter would fail in its purpose, for there are always customers of the less desirable type who would take advantage of the offer that the letter carries and put off paying their bills as long as they possibly could.

Tying up collections with the transportation situation is at the bottom of another collection method which a Massachusetts business man is successfully using. This executive believes that if the "dunning" part of the collection letter is covered over with a friendly inquiry as to whether or not the customer is receiving his goods regularly, the customer will be in a more friendly attitude than if he received a formal statement or letter asking him to settle up his account.

So he begins his letter by telling the man that he has recently shipped him some merchandise. He then goes on to say that if transportation were normal, the customer would have received his goods by now, but, owing to the fact that freight conditions are bad, the shipment probably hasn't reached him as yet. He then asks the customer to let him know when the goods arrive. Right below this he adds, "If you can send a check we shall appreciate it."

This last sentence contains the only reference in the whole letter to the fact that the man's bill is due. The letter isn't really a collection letter-from the customer's point of view. But it produces the same result and gets the account settled.

Personal Contact Need Not Be Confined to Small Concerns.

Some executives say that this human-interest idea in collection plans can only be put to work when a collection man knows the customers personally and it is usually impossible for the collection man to have this advantage. When the concern has thousands of accounts, the collection manager cannot begin to familiarize himself with every one of his customers. But he can come somewhere near that if he takes the time and trouble to do what one Cleveland business man is doing.

This executive has had every salesman in his concern instructed to make out a "personality

report" on every customer with whom he regularly comes in contact. On the face of it this may seem to be a lot of unnecessary work. But it only means writing a brief, personal note about the customer some time after he has been in the store. The note may only give a comparatively unimportant fact about the customer; but that is likely to be sufficient. With this information, the collection manager can sit down and write a really personal letter to the customer and get better results than if he did not know about the likes and dislikes of the person with whom he is dealing at long distance.

"Of course, in a large concern where there are a great number of changeable accounts," adds the man who uses this method, "the salesman may not get a chance to write these notes about every one of his customers. But he can at least jot down a little about some of them in his spare time, between sales. Then, when the time comes for the statements to be mailed out, the collection man will have some definite information to work with instead of a mere list of names, addresses and ledger balances."

Another plan, similar to this one, in that its basis consists of getting personal information about the customers, works out in this way: The collection manager finds out the different paydays of the concerns for whom most of his customers work-his is a retail organization. He sends his collection letters to reach the customers the day he gets his pay. It is comparatively easy for the customer, therefore, to send the concern enough to cover the amount he owes. The success of this plan depends, in a large measure, on the kind of letter the manager sends out. To make the letters effective he usually finds out some pertinent facts about every one of his customers before he writes to them. The following is a sample of one of his letters: "Hurrah for Tuesday; what a welcome day! It would be hard to get along without it, wouldn't it? Yet my payday comes but once a month. My records show that you owe a small account. Don't you suppose that you could take enough out of your pay check today to settle your account? It's just a matter of good business that's all. Thank you."

The executive who uses the next plan believes that the main thing for a collection letter to accomplish is to get the attention of the customer. "There are a number of different ways to do

WRIGHT WILLINGHAM

LEON COVINGTON

BARRY WRIGHT

WILLINGHAM, WRIGHT & COVINGTON

Attorneys and Counsellors at Law
Rome, Georgia

Organized Collection Department

LEIN OF
MILWAUKEE

KI

this," he explains. "One can do it by sending with the collection letter, or separate, a small card, or notice of some kind, that will appeal to the human side of the customer."

This collection manager has by the 11th of the month a list of all customers who have not paid their bills. When this time comes around he sends out the notices, printed in red ink. The card is sent out in a plain envelop. The card calls attention to the fact that the customer has not paid his bill and that the firm-a public utility corporation-would appreciate it very much if he would do so right away.

The attractiveness of the notice-it is artistically designed and printed-gets the customer's attention the minute he opens the envelop. He naturally wants to know what the notice is about, and he takes the time to read it. He usually sends in his check after he reads it, but if he doesn't, he gets a blue notice a few days later.

This is a card, about the same size as the overdue notice, bearing the following message: Blue. This is how I feel after not having heard from you in response to my overdue notice. And I shall feel even more blue when I have to instruct my linemen to disconnect your service on the 23rd, unless you make a settlement of your ac

count before that time."

"This plan can easily be applied to other business as well," is the opinion of the man who uses it. "By changing the phrase 'instruct my linemen to disconnect your service on the 23rd,' to discontinue extending the liberal credit I have given you in the past,' the plan can be fitted to almost any collection series."

Another attention-getting plan that is producing good results consists of a small slip of paper about two inches long and an inch wide. It is sent by itself in a special envelope. The message on it, printed in yellow ink on a black background, has these words across the top of it: "Past due." Underneath this there is a hand pointing to the following message: "This account has no doubt escaped your notice. Will you please favor us with a remittance by return mail? We will appreciate it very much if you do.”

This usually gets the bill paid. If it doesn't, the collection manager takes up the account with a Credit Association. In comparatively few cases, however, is this necessary.

In talking about attention-getting cards and notices, one collection man says that they do not

necessarily have to be separate from the collection letters. He says they can be included right with the letters themselves. As an example of this, he encloses with the personal letters he sends out to his customers a slip of paper with the word "Paid," printed in large letters across the face of it. The paper is attached to the top of the letter in such a way that it gets the customer's attention the minute he begins to read the message.

The letter he sends with the slip says, "I would like to send you a slip like this one, but I am afraid I can't because you haven't paid your bill. I can, though, if you will send me a check. Don't you want to do this? I am sure it will make you feel a lot better and I know you would much rather get a "Paid" notice than a statement of your account. May I expect a check from you some time soon?"

The man who uses this plan says it does more good than anything else he has ever tried in collection letters.

Getting the customer's interest in the first collection letter-and holding the interest throughout the rest of the letters-is also the basis of for its dealers by the Brownstein Louis Company. another successful collection plan, that provided The letters are well worth describing here because they illustrate, remarkably well, the pulling power of collection letters that have, as their main object, the idea of getting the customer's immediate attention.

The first letter of the series goes out with a statement attached to it. A small piece of string holds the two together and gets the customer's attention the minute he sees it. The letter reads as follows:

"Do you remember when you were young and the good folks sent you down town after something-they were very likely to tie a string around your thumb to make certain you would not forget?

"Those were happy days, were they not?

"But-there's no reason why the days of now should not be just as happy, and it's just as certain that some of us are likely to forget the little things of yesterday.

"Because of that we are sending you this little reminder-not to forget to pay the enclosed state

ment.

"We hope you enjoy the smile in our letter,

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