Stages of Dunning Letters

   Stages of Dunning Letters

               Collection and Dunning letters are usually written in a series with the pressure increasing  from the first letter  to the last. Collection procedure falls into four stages.

      1)  Reminder
      2)  Stronger remisder
      3)  Discussion
      4)  Urgency

1. REMINDER:
                        Collection reminders are memory helps. They keep the bills  before the eyes of the delinquents. You assume that the customer has over looked the bill and will pay as soon as he reads the reminder.

2. STRONG REMINDER:
                             The strong reminder is a second memory jog put in strong terms. The phraseology becomes more definite, added pressure appears, and the request for the cheque is forthright.

3. DISCUSSION:
                              the aim of the letter of discussion is to get the cheque or the draw a reply from the customer. the customer has now ignored a simple reminder and a strong reminder of his obligation. So the request for a cheque or an explanation is insistent. The customer must pay. Although the letter exerts increasing pressure, itstone is coutteous. "Won't you tell us frankly what the trouble is".

4. URGENCY:
                       A letter of urgency  is a letter of force, delivering the ultimatum to the customer who has choosen to ignore two letters of reminder and third letter inviting discussion . The language of urgency is sharp and imperative . Leniency offered in previous  letter is now out of place. There is an insistence on immediate payment. It carries a threat og legel action , in case payment  is not  made by a fixed date.