November 17, 2025 • 13 mins
I will discuss a cash collection strategy that has a 40% success rate for those difficult collection situations and system of collecting that will improve your cash flow dramatically.
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Take some zany and serious journeys with The Pipeman aka Dean K. Piper, CST on The Adventures of Pipeman also known as Pipeman Radio syndicated globally “Where Who Knows And Anything Goes.”
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Click Here to Subscribe for PERKS, BONUS Content & FREE GIVEWAYS!
Follow @pipemanradio on all socials & Pipeman Radio Requests & Info at www.linktr.ee/pipemanradio
Stream The Adventures of Pipeman daily & live Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio & Talk 4 TV.
Download, Rate & Review the Podcast at The Adventures of Pipeman, Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, YouTube & All Podcast Apps.
Click Here to Subscribe to The Adventures of Pipeman for PERKS, BONUS Content & FREE GIVEWAYS!
Take some zany and serious journeys with The Pipeman aka Dean K. Piper, CST on The Adventures of Pipeman also known as Pipeman Radio syndicated globally “Where Who Knows And Anything Goes.”
Would you like to be a sponsor of the show?
Would you like to have your business, products, services, merch, programs, books, music or any other professional or artistic endeavors promoted on the show?
Would you like interviewed as a professional or music guest on The Adventures of Pipeman, Positively Pipeman and/or Pipeman in the Pit?
Would you like to host your own Radio Show, Streaming TV Show, or Podcast? PipemanRadio Podcasts are heard on Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and over 100 other podcast outlets where you listen to Podcasts.
The following are the different podcasts to Follow, Listen, Download, Subscribe:
•The Adventures of Pipeman
•Pipeman Radio
•Pipeman in the Pit – Music Interviews & Festivals
•Positively Pipeman – Empowerment, Inspiration, Motivation, Self-Help, Business, Spiritual & Health & Wellness
Click Here to Subscribe for PERKS, BONUS Content & FREE GIVEWAYS!
Follow @pipemanradio on all socials & Pipeman Radio Requests & Info at www.linktr.ee/pipemanradio
Stream The Adventures of Pipeman daily & live Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio & Talk 4 TV.
Download, Rate & Review the Podcast at The Adventures of Pipeman, Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, YouTube & All Podcast Apps.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi, you live don too. The Sensu Wow for you young.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe
Man W four c Y Radio. And this is the
Positively pipe Man segment where we have a resident expert
on powerful business strategies that and he represents an amazing
company that you have to check out called Next Step CFO.
(00:39):
So welcome to the show, Michael Barbarita.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Thank you for having me again, Dean. So this week
I want to talk about something that has happened about
three or four times and sometimes just comes in rushes
where people are having trouble collecting their receivables. Now, if
you want to be good at collecting receivables, which should
be every company you can think of, UH, if you
(01:02):
want to be good at collecting receivable is you really
have to have an account's receivable policy that's done consistently.
It can't you can't take a vacation from it. You've
got to stay right on it. And I'm gonna give
you an example of a of an account's receivable policy
that that has worked very well for my clients once
(01:23):
they establish it and actually put it into UH into
into finally implement it and execute it. So if first
of all, somebody and it might be it might be
the business owner, I prefer not to be more like
a bookkeeper. They need to review accounts receivable once a
(01:44):
week to determine if there are any past do accounts now, uh,
if you have terms and people are paying within terms,
I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about those past due. Uh.
With on the accounts receivable report that are that's not
to fade to the right. On the accounts you see
what report meaning they're over thirty days or there or
(02:08):
anywhere between one and thirty days, pass due over thirty days,
over ninety days. So once an account gets passed due
anywhere between three and seven days need you need to
call them. So you need to make a policy to
call those customers and see what you know if there's
(02:28):
a problem, or just make a courtesy call and reminding
them that their account is passed due. And by the way,
every month for any pass due, even if it's on time,
every month you should be sending statements to your customers
with the balance with the open balance. So that should
(02:50):
be happening in the background, and so the clients get
get a call, you'll leave a message if they're not there,
you don't get a return learn call. Three days later,
you make a second call, uh. And then if they
don't pay after the second call or they don't return
your call, what I recommend clients do is it's called
(03:14):
a ten day demand letter. And what I'm gonna do
is I'm gonna, i know, for the people who are
on the on the road listening, I'm gonna give it
a shot here and and share my screen uh and
show people a specific and I'm gonna walk you through
(03:35):
this ten day demand letter. So what it is. If
you went to a collection agency right away, this is
the first thing they would do. So what I'm doing
is I'm circumventing going to a collection agency and having
you prepare it. It's called a ten day demand letter.
And what it is, it's a letter that has your
(03:57):
company letter had the date, and then ten day demand
in big bold higher level font letters, and then attention
to whoever is the customer, and then you list out
the invoices that have passed to one by one, plus
(04:18):
make sure you put an interest line item in there
at one and a half percent a month because sometimes
they will pay the interest. Then you put down the
total due, and you write this will be turned over
to collection attorneys if payment is not received by ten
days after the date of the letter, and you could
put actually the date on there, and if you accept
(04:42):
credit cards, you put that you accept credit cards, and
then you write thank you and address it with your
with your typical whatever you are, maybe the president of
the company or maybe the CFO or whoever's doing it,
the bookkeeper, it doesn't matter who's ever doing it. And
you must send this letter out, return receipt, request it
(05:05):
because that gets their attention. Now people are gonna say, oh,
I don't want to give that to a to a
good customer. The point is is they're not a good
customer if they don't.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Pay, and if you let it go once, they're going
to do it all the time. I myself, like anybody
that's ever owed me money, whenever you're nice to them,
they don't pay you.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
That's right. And so all I'm saying is that they
owe the money, let's get let's let's tell them that
they need to collect it. Otherwise they're going to go
to a collection agency now after ten days if they
make another one last courtesy call, and then if they
don't respond, to that call. Then you take it to
(05:52):
the collection attorney. And the reason is it's very simple,
and I've done it. I do it all the time,
and I have I have threatened to repossess vehicles of companies.
I've actually repossessed a vehicle. Although they pay as soon
as as soon as the sheriff comes to take the vehicle,
(06:12):
that's it. Ball game's over. We're getting a check.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
See.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The problem is is that companies that are experiencing accountsel
receivable problem is it because the customer doesn't have the money.
They're just deciding to pay somebody else. That's all it is.
So all this does, especially you have to send it certified.
It reminds them to send the letter. Now, forty percent
(06:39):
of the time, in my history and my experience, forty
percent of the time they'll pay off of that letter.
Twenty percent of the time they'll pay it with the interest.
You can force the interest if you want. You don't
have to, but and make sure all your invoices say
that one and a half percent interest is do on
late on a late payment, that's very important to put
(07:02):
that in there. But even if you didn't, still put
the interest in there. On the demand letter SOUF and
so of the time you're getting paid faster, uh, and
you're getting paid sometimes a little more because of the interest.
But and then if they don't pay, then they're probably
(07:22):
they're probably going to be dead beats if they don't pay.
And that's when you put the collection agency on them,
and you make sure you have a collection agent who
is also also we'll go to small claims court for
you and all that they take a third. And that's
why I do the demand letter because it circumvents that.
(07:43):
But it always it works extremely well and it gets.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Because that's what you'll end up with is nothing now.
So and that's another thing I think that's important to
focus on because when people like, well, I'm not going
to use a collection agency because in I won't get
them all the money. Well, you're not going to get
any of the money otherwise, and they think these people
are going to pay them. I've had people that literally
(08:11):
tell me that they didn't get paid so they can't
pay me. I'm like, yeah, you're getting paid by your
client and your business has no bearing on whether you
pay me.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Like you can't say that to FPL, which is the
electric company here in Florida. You can't say that to
your you know, your car payment, your mortgage payment. They
don't care who doesn't and doesn't pay you. It's your
obligation to pay them no matter what.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
And that's the point the paying the pay. There's nobody
who has zero in the company bank account today. They
always have something and they're paying something. Yeah, and so
you know the reason why your account is passed due
or your client or customer is past due is because
they're paying something else and they're not giving you the priority.
(09:02):
And this demand letter puts you up above anybody else.
They will think it a pay before they paid you.
It simply does. And that's why it works so well.
But then, but there are clients, you know, sixty percent
of the time there were going to be dead beats
anyway that you have to take the collection uh, and
you'll let the attorney handle. It's in their hands from
(09:24):
then on. And then you know, sometimes people pay when
they get the collection letters from the from the attorneys.
But the attorney has to be both a bill collector
and go to claims us preferably an attorney a collection attorney. Yeah,
that's the best one to get. They'll they'll you'll pay
a third, but you at least get paid and then
(09:47):
you know, do business with that customer again. Because I
see people they're doing that as well. After somebody doesn't
pay them, they go back to the well and do
business with them again, and the same thing happens.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
So they and then the people hold a carrot out
is what happened, you know. I can't tell you how
many things people have done to me in my career
with the carter. I don't buy into it, but they
always think they're pulling it over on you, like they
they'll put something, Oh, I have a referral that's going
to be coming for you, and and he's big money,
(10:18):
blah blah blah blah. But I can't pay you my payments,
but I'm sending you this as something that will help out. YEA, yeah, no,
pay your bill exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And that's really that's what it comes down to. And
so I bring this up because a lot of business
owners lately with me that they say that they have
trouble collecting, and this is what I've been this is
what I've been suggesting, and the take and they and
they work, and they work, and they obviously get paid
to say, yeah, they paid me. Okay, good, there it is,
and you didn't go to a collection agent. When you
(10:51):
send the ten date to me, you know you've circup
ento the process. You've given yourself priority. You've given yourself
priority for future invoices too, by the way, because they
know the process. And by the way, here's one other
important point. If you're too afraid to do that, what
(11:12):
I'm suggesting is you go ahead and you do it.
And then if somebody says, hey, why did you do
that to me? You know, somebody who's maybe been a
customer a long time, you say, oh, you know what,
it's just a bookkeeping thing. This is just our process,
and it's somehow went through the cracks that your particular
certified mail went out. That's all you're saying. And it's over,
(11:35):
and it's over. It's a bookkeeping procedure, that's all you say.
And by the way, it is totally.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
How do they get more information from you about this
and many other powerful business strategies.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
So what I like doing, Dean is a book interviews.
This is where because my because business is constantly changing,
I like to keep my book updated with fresh new material,
and so I get that fresh new material from business owners.
And the way a book interview works is it's sixty
minutes on zoom. I present strategies from my book and
then I asked the business owner if the strategy they
(12:16):
were just presented, what the impact would be for a
business that would implement it in their industry, and then
I document it for the book. But the beautiful thing
about it is they get to learn business strategies that
competition isn't doing. And so to get a book interview,
to go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net, forward slash contact, fill
out the contact form in the message section, put the
(12:38):
words book interview, and then I'll send you a calendar
link so you can schedule the book interview and we
go from there.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Beautiful. Well, once again a great week of powerful business
strategies from you, Michael Barberina, and thank you for all
you do for businesses to help them out and everybody.
I implore you to reach out to Michael because he
even if you're successful, he can help you with strategies
(13:06):
I will make you more successful. And tune in next
week because we will have some more powerful business strategies
with Michael Barbarita. Thank you, thank you, Thank you for
listening to the adventures of Patemn.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I'm w for Cui Radio.
Hi, you live don too. The Sensu Wow for you young.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe
Man W four c Y Radio. And this is the
Positively pipe Man segment where we have a resident expert
on powerful business strategies that and he represents an amazing
company that you have to check out called Next Step CFO.
(00:39):
So welcome to the show, Michael Barbarita.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Thank you for having me again, Dean. So this week
I want to talk about something that has happened about
three or four times and sometimes just comes in rushes
where people are having trouble collecting their receivables. Now, if
you want to be good at collecting receivables, which should
be every company you can think of, UH, if you
(01:02):
want to be good at collecting receivable is you really
have to have an account's receivable policy that's done consistently.
It can't you can't take a vacation from it. You've
got to stay right on it. And I'm gonna give
you an example of a of an account's receivable policy
that that has worked very well for my clients once
(01:23):
they establish it and actually put it into UH into
into finally implement it and execute it. So if first
of all, somebody and it might be it might be
the business owner, I prefer not to be more like
a bookkeeper. They need to review accounts receivable once a
(01:44):
week to determine if there are any past do accounts now, uh,
if you have terms and people are paying within terms,
I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about those past due. Uh.
With on the accounts receivable report that are that's not
to fade to the right. On the accounts you see
what report meaning they're over thirty days or there or
(02:08):
anywhere between one and thirty days, pass due over thirty days,
over ninety days. So once an account gets passed due
anywhere between three and seven days need you need to
call them. So you need to make a policy to
call those customers and see what you know if there's
(02:28):
a problem, or just make a courtesy call and reminding
them that their account is passed due. And by the way,
every month for any pass due, even if it's on time,
every month you should be sending statements to your customers
with the balance with the open balance. So that should
(02:50):
be happening in the background, and so the clients get
get a call, you'll leave a message if they're not there,
you don't get a return learn call. Three days later,
you make a second call, uh. And then if they
don't pay after the second call or they don't return
your call, what I recommend clients do is it's called
(03:14):
a ten day demand letter. And what I'm gonna do
is I'm gonna, i know, for the people who are
on the on the road listening, I'm gonna give it
a shot here and and share my screen uh and
show people a specific and I'm gonna walk you through
(03:35):
this ten day demand letter. So what it is. If
you went to a collection agency right away, this is
the first thing they would do. So what I'm doing
is I'm circumventing going to a collection agency and having
you prepare it. It's called a ten day demand letter.
And what it is, it's a letter that has your
(03:57):
company letter had the date, and then ten day demand
in big bold higher level font letters, and then attention
to whoever is the customer, and then you list out
the invoices that have passed to one by one, plus
(04:18):
make sure you put an interest line item in there
at one and a half percent a month because sometimes
they will pay the interest. Then you put down the
total due, and you write this will be turned over
to collection attorneys if payment is not received by ten
days after the date of the letter, and you could
put actually the date on there, and if you accept
(04:42):
credit cards, you put that you accept credit cards, and
then you write thank you and address it with your
with your typical whatever you are, maybe the president of
the company or maybe the CFO or whoever's doing it,
the bookkeeper, it doesn't matter who's ever doing it. And
you must send this letter out, return receipt, request it
(05:05):
because that gets their attention. Now people are gonna say, oh,
I don't want to give that to a to a
good customer. The point is is they're not a good
customer if they don't.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Pay, and if you let it go once, they're going
to do it all the time. I myself, like anybody
that's ever owed me money, whenever you're nice to them,
they don't pay you.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
That's right. And so all I'm saying is that they
owe the money, let's get let's let's tell them that
they need to collect it. Otherwise they're going to go
to a collection agency now after ten days if they
make another one last courtesy call, and then if they
don't respond, to that call. Then you take it to
(05:52):
the collection attorney. And the reason is it's very simple,
and I've done it. I do it all the time,
and I have I have threatened to repossess vehicles of companies.
I've actually repossessed a vehicle. Although they pay as soon
as as soon as the sheriff comes to take the vehicle,
(06:12):
that's it. Ball game's over. We're getting a check.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
See.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The problem is is that companies that are experiencing accountsel
receivable problem is it because the customer doesn't have the money.
They're just deciding to pay somebody else. That's all it is.
So all this does, especially you have to send it certified.
It reminds them to send the letter. Now, forty percent
(06:39):
of the time, in my history and my experience, forty
percent of the time they'll pay off of that letter.
Twenty percent of the time they'll pay it with the interest.
You can force the interest if you want. You don't
have to, but and make sure all your invoices say
that one and a half percent interest is do on
late on a late payment, that's very important to put
(07:02):
that in there. But even if you didn't, still put
the interest in there. On the demand letter SOUF and
so of the time you're getting paid faster, uh, and
you're getting paid sometimes a little more because of the interest.
But and then if they don't pay, then they're probably
(07:22):
they're probably going to be dead beats if they don't pay.
And that's when you put the collection agency on them,
and you make sure you have a collection agent who
is also also we'll go to small claims court for
you and all that they take a third. And that's
why I do the demand letter because it circumvents that.
(07:43):
But it always it works extremely well and it gets.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Because that's what you'll end up with is nothing now.
So and that's another thing I think that's important to
focus on because when people like, well, I'm not going
to use a collection agency because in I won't get
them all the money. Well, you're not going to get
any of the money otherwise, and they think these people
are going to pay them. I've had people that literally
(08:11):
tell me that they didn't get paid so they can't
pay me. I'm like, yeah, you're getting paid by your
client and your business has no bearing on whether you
pay me.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Like you can't say that to FPL, which is the
electric company here in Florida. You can't say that to
your you know, your car payment, your mortgage payment. They
don't care who doesn't and doesn't pay you. It's your
obligation to pay them no matter what.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
And that's the point the paying the pay. There's nobody
who has zero in the company bank account today. They
always have something and they're paying something. Yeah, and so
you know the reason why your account is passed due
or your client or customer is past due is because
they're paying something else and they're not giving you the priority.
(09:02):
And this demand letter puts you up above anybody else.
They will think it a pay before they paid you.
It simply does. And that's why it works so well.
But then, but there are clients, you know, sixty percent
of the time there were going to be dead beats
anyway that you have to take the collection uh, and
you'll let the attorney handle. It's in their hands from
(09:24):
then on. And then you know, sometimes people pay when
they get the collection letters from the from the attorneys.
But the attorney has to be both a bill collector
and go to claims us preferably an attorney a collection attorney. Yeah,
that's the best one to get. They'll they'll you'll pay
a third, but you at least get paid and then
(09:47):
you know, do business with that customer again. Because I
see people they're doing that as well. After somebody doesn't
pay them, they go back to the well and do
business with them again, and the same thing happens.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
So they and then the people hold a carrot out
is what happened, you know. I can't tell you how
many things people have done to me in my career
with the carter. I don't buy into it, but they
always think they're pulling it over on you, like they
they'll put something, Oh, I have a referral that's going
to be coming for you, and and he's big money,
(10:18):
blah blah blah blah. But I can't pay you my payments,
but I'm sending you this as something that will help out. YEA, yeah, no,
pay your bill exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And that's really that's what it comes down to. And
so I bring this up because a lot of business
owners lately with me that they say that they have
trouble collecting, and this is what I've been this is
what I've been suggesting, and the take and they and
they work, and they work, and they obviously get paid
to say, yeah, they paid me. Okay, good, there it is,
and you didn't go to a collection agent. When you
(10:51):
send the ten date to me, you know you've circup
ento the process. You've given yourself priority. You've given yourself
priority for future invoices too, by the way, because they
know the process. And by the way, here's one other
important point. If you're too afraid to do that, what
(11:12):
I'm suggesting is you go ahead and you do it.
And then if somebody says, hey, why did you do
that to me? You know, somebody who's maybe been a
customer a long time, you say, oh, you know what,
it's just a bookkeeping thing. This is just our process,
and it's somehow went through the cracks that your particular
certified mail went out. That's all you're saying. And it's over,
(11:35):
and it's over. It's a bookkeeping procedure, that's all you say.
And by the way, it is totally.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
How do they get more information from you about this
and many other powerful business strategies.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
So what I like doing, Dean is a book interviews.
This is where because my because business is constantly changing,
I like to keep my book updated with fresh new material,
and so I get that fresh new material from business owners.
And the way a book interview works is it's sixty
minutes on zoom. I present strategies from my book and
then I asked the business owner if the strategy they
(12:16):
were just presented, what the impact would be for a
business that would implement it in their industry, and then
I document it for the book. But the beautiful thing
about it is they get to learn business strategies that
competition isn't doing. And so to get a book interview,
to go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net, forward slash contact, fill
out the contact form in the message section, put the
(12:38):
words book interview, and then I'll send you a calendar
link so you can schedule the book interview and we
go from there.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Beautiful. Well, once again a great week of powerful business
strategies from you, Michael Barberina, and thank you for all
you do for businesses to help them out and everybody.
I implore you to reach out to Michael because he
even if you're successful, he can help you with strategies
(13:06):
I will make you more successful. And tune in next
week because we will have some more powerful business strategies
with Michael Barbarita. Thank you, thank you, Thank you for
listening to the adventures of Patemn.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I'm w for Cui Radio.
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