Personalized collection letters are just another tool in the group of tools we have to obtain a contact and/or a payment. However, over the years I have witnessed Credit Unions of all sizes send out letters that were misdirected, poorly formatted and lacked basic grammer as well as some with handwritten barely ledgible, highly caustic notes on them! Any written communication to a member/debtor needs to be of a high quality for several reasons. First, the letter speaks for you when you are not around. It has to be clear. Second, the letter may end up being used in a court proceeding and someone else may have to discern the intent or meaning.

Typically, personalized letters may not be written until the 30th day of delinquency. That may change as we see consumers continue to struggle. There are many types of letters I will send. The format generally is a block format that I honestly borrowed from an attorney several years ago. Below is a sample letter that I would send to a member who may not have a good contact number and has not responded to other system generated letters..

Sample Guilt Letter

This letter is used selectively, but I have had to use it more often lately. There is a good response most every time with this letter. I also change the wording of the last paragraph ever so often and may bold an important phrase. On the bottom left corner of the envelope, I will write “Personal, Private”, in hopes that will cause them to open the letter…

Using personalized collection letters does take a little more forethought and planning. Also, before you use any letter make sure you have the correct approval to send it. The comments I have received over the years include statements like-”Your letters are so serious”, “Have you referred me to a collection agency, yet?”; “I knew I had to pay after reading your letter.” This type of collection letter does not reach everyone, but it does affect some members and they pay on time from then on.

If you have suggestions, letters or letter techniques that work for you; let us know. We are always open to what has worked for others. We will review them and share them in a later post.

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