The collection call: handling the five objections you hear every day
Almost every chasing call ends in one of five answers. Each has a reply that keeps the call moving towards a date, an amount and a name.
On Business Training · 4 August 2026 · 6 min read
A credit controller can make dozens of calls a day and hear the same few answers on most of them. That is good news. If the objections are predictable, so are the replies, and a controller who has practised them gets further on every call.
The aim of a collection call is never just to remind. It is to leave with three things: a date, an amount and a name. Every reply below is built to get back to those.
Before you dial
Two minutes of preparation saves ten on the phone. Know the invoices you are calling about, their numbers, values and due dates, and what was said on the last call. Have the invoice copies to hand so you can email them while the debtor is still on the line. If you are calling on behalf of a financier, know whether the facility is disclosed, because that decides how you introduce yourself.
1. “It’s in the system”
This usually means the invoice is somewhere in the debtor’s process but nobody has looked. Don’t accept it as an answer; treat it as the start of one.
“Thank you. Can you tell me where it is in the system? Has it been approved for payment, and which payment run is it in?”
If the person can’t see it, ask who can, and arrange to speak to them. Note the answer and the name.
2. “We never received it”
Sometimes true, often not. Either way, the fix is the same: send it now, while they are on the phone, and confirm it arrived.
“I’ll email a copy to you now. Can you confirm the address? … Has it come through? Good. When will it be approved?”
Then ask what else they might be missing. A debtor who has lost one invoice may have lost several. If the same debtor says this often, check the address you have on file and whether they need a purchase order number on every invoice.
3. “There’s a problem with it”
A dispute is the objection most worth taking seriously, because it changes what the debt is worth. Find out exactly what the problem is: the price, the quantity, the quality, a missing delivery?
“I’m sorry to hear that. Can you tell me exactly what’s wrong, and which lines it affects? Is the rest of the invoice agreed?”
Get the undisputed part paid now. Then pass the dispute to the right person at your client the same day, and agree when you will call back. On a funded ledger, a dispute also needs recording, because a disputed invoice may not be one the financier will lend against.
4. “We can pay some of it”
A part payment is better than none, but agree it properly or it becomes the new normal.
“Thank you. How much can you pay, and when? And when will the balance follow?”
Agree two dates, not one: the part payment and the balance. Confirm both in writing after the call. Watch for a pattern of round-sum part payments, which can be a sign of a debtor in difficulty.
5. “Call back next week”
The most common of all, and the easiest to accept without noticing that nothing has been agreed.
“Of course. So that I’m not calling at a bad time, which day suits you, and who should I ask for? And can you tell me now whether there’s anything stopping this being paid?”
If there’s no reason for the delay, ask for the payment date now. If there is one, you have found the real objection.
The promise, and what happens next
A call that ends with a promise is only half done. Repeat the promise back: “So that’s £4,860 on Friday the 14th, paid by bank transfer, and I’ll speak to you again if it hasn’t arrived.” Then confirm it by email the same day, and put a note in the diary to check on the day after.
If the payment arrives, thank them. If it doesn’t, call that day and refer to the promise. Debtors who learn that promises are followed up keep more of them.
Leave every call with a date, an amount and a name. Anything less is a conversation, not a collection.
Keep a record
Notes are part of the job, not an extra. A short, dated note of every call, with who you spoke to and what was agreed, lets anyone pick up the account, shows a pattern when promises keep slipping, and is evidence if the debt ever has to be escalated.
Effective Credit Control practises each of these replies in Handling Excuses and Objections, with call scenarios built on a fictional client’s aged debt report, and follows up in Confirming and Chasing Promises and Writing Chasing Emails and Letters.