However far you are along the road of financial/debt problems,
the same principles apply to dealing with your creditors.
However rude, intrusive, threatening the
correspondence/telephone calls FROM your creditors, your
correspondence/phone calls TO your creditors must be:
* Calm
* Brief
* Factual
* Relevant
* To the point
You must create the impression that you are efficient,
knowledgeable and trustworthy. The person dealing with your
correspondence is merely doing their job, which is acting on
behalf of their employer -- to whom you probably owe money. This
person probably has the opposite point of view from you, but it
is not personal and you must not let it become so.
Just as you would, this individual will respond better to a
person who appears to be calm, and believable, and know what
they are doing.
How can you appear calm and believable, efficient, knowledgeable
and trustworthy, when you possibly owe more than you can afford
and have probably made past mistakes? The answer is that your
past history is less important to the person dealing with your
account than your present attitude and what that promises for
the future.
That is not to say that what you have done in the past has no
relevance, or that you can go on to make promises you don't keep
- far from it. However, if you acknowledge your current
problems, explain your past mistakes if required, and most
important of all, do everything you say you will do from now on,
you CAN improve your relationship and situation with your
creditors.
If you react with anger, if you are agressive, if you fail to
keep your promises, you will merely make your problems worse.
Be calm, be prepared, and make these all-important first steps
work in your favour.
Look out for How To Get Rid Of Debt Problems Step 2, where we
look at 'How To Prepare A Financial Statement'
Rob Hawkins is the owner of
Debt Consolidation UK. His company Chiltern Debt Management UK has helped more than 50,000 people to get rid of debt problems, and won the coveted
'Debt Counsellor of the Year 2004' award.
Read the full story here.
