How Are Holiday Sales Affecting Collections?

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For most businesses, good sales during the holiday season are vital, and a great season can be instrumental for a company to turn a profit for the year.  However, even if holiday sales are exceeding expectations, old debt must still be recovered.  If sales aren’t meeting goals, it is even more important that the process of collecting old debts continues.  Businesses carrying a large percentage of uncollected debt won’t be turning much of a profit for the year, regardless of great holiday sales.

That being said, it is typically harder to be successful with collection attempts during the holidays, as people tend to spend all of their expendable income in addition to running up more debt on credit cards.  Even customers who have been honest in their communications with you may be less likely to answer the phone or respond to written correspondence during the holiday season.  Those who do answer may be full of excuses for making late payments.  While your goal shouldn't be to ruin your debtors’ holidays, you shouldn't feel like Scrooge for trying to recover a debt that is owed to you. 

After the holidays, the number of accounts that are outsourced to collections tends to sky rocket.  Individuals who have spent more than they could afford to during the holidays often find themselves without enough money to pay their household bills and debts.  Overspending during the holidays can take months to recover from, which means you could be waiting a long time for your money if you don’t outsource to collections in an attempt to recover the debt.  An account that was already in arrears may be turned over at the beginning of the new year.  In addition, some customers may have accounts that were in good standing before the holidays, but they may fall behind after the new year.  Despite the holiday season, collection attempts must continue so that your business won’t suffer.