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If you’ve made the decision to hire a collection agency to simplify your receivables so you can concentrate on other tasks, you may want to know how to choose the right one among thousands of possibilities. There are some signs that show you a collection agency is truly professional and therefore preferable to its competitors. Following are a few of them.

Collection agencies use two kinds of fee structures. Some of them send you a bill each month, while others take their money out of the funds they recover for you. The latter is clearly preferable, because it doesn’t cost you money upfront and it shows you that they have confidence in their ability to collect. There’s really no reason to pay fees up front to a collection agency when so many of them don’t require it.

The second thing you need to ask potential collection agencies is whether or not they belong to one of the professional collection associations. These two organizations are the Commercial Law League of America and the American Collectors Association.

Both professional collection societies insist on professional trade practices. This means not just the minimum (conforming to Fair Debt Collection Practices requirements) but also continuing education so their members understand the latest and best techniques in debt collection. Debt collection practices have changed radically over just the past couple of years so you don’t want to hire someone who’s behind the times.

You also want to pick a collection agency that will let you view your accounts online. Though you’re delegating the task to them, you need to be able to keep an eye on things for your peace of mind. An agency that allows you online access to your accounts is preferable to one that does periodic reporting in the mail.

Another thing to ask when you’re interviewing collection agencies is whether or not they make use of private investigation firms or software. Sometimes the hardest part of the collections process is locating the client. It’s absolutely imperative to pick a collections firm that will go the extra mile and hunt the debtor down if the current phone number and address you have for them isn’t working.

Ask your potential collection agency if they do all their own work or outsource it. If you’re hiring a company you want that company to perform the actual work. Some agencies outsource their calls, including to offshore call centers. Unless your collections are international, in which case you will want an international collection agency that is familiar with the local culture, this is not a good idea. Debtors tend to take these calls less seriously.

The final thing you should check on when hiring a collection agency is what their business hours are. This may seem like a small thing but with national collections, time zones can be a problem, and with local collections, you still want people working outside of normal business hours. Consumer debtors are more likely to answer the phone before 9 am or after 5 pm, because they’re more likely to be home, and also because they believe collections calls are less likely at those times. A collection agency which spreads out its work hours is beneficial to you.