obtain first-hand and reliable information regarding an account, and can quickly ascertain what circumstances, if any, are responsible for non-payment. The creditor who has no travelers, but has debtors either locally or in other cities, whom he has never seen, frequently is non- plussed when his letters are completely ignored. He has no means of knowing whether the account is being neg- lected deliberately or through carelessness, or whether there is some valid reason for it. If debtors would only tealize how important it is to advise the creditor when payment cannot be made, collection procedure would be greatly simplified.
When no response is received to the first letter, the proper step is to inquire as to what is the trouble. If there is any reason to believe that there are grounds for dissatisfaction, the correspondent asks the debtor to make his complaint known. At the same time he has a good op- portunity of impressing upon himi the desire of the house to give absolute satisfaction at all times, to all of its customers. If the creditor believes that the debtor lacks the ability to enforce his own collections he has a wonder- ful opportunity for cementing the debtor’s good-will by offering assistance along this line. The woebegone efforts of some of the merchants to collect from their debtors is
“surprising. It is astonishing how little a great many men know about collections, and an offer to a debtor to aid him along this line is received with open arms. Should there be any temporary conditions preventing payment, then the creditor may ask for a frank explanation and declare the willingness of the house to assist him, through suitable arrangements, in tiding him over his difficulties.
