MOBILE, Ala. -

With my travels all throughout this nation, I have a unique opportunity to work with and train people from every walk of life — from the auto finance industry to the bail bondsman to the recovery agent.

No matter their line of work, the most common questions I am asked are: “When should we start working a skip? How far past-due should someone be before we start skipping them?”

The answer may surprise you: “At the point of sale.”

Early recognition at the beginning will save you in the end. Asking the right questions, so that your file is equipped with the right information up front lays the foundation for getting what you need later on.

Hopefully, the financial institution performed some of this groundwork for you. If not, you may be able to find it on your own.

As children, each of us heard our parents say “choose your next words wisely.” Those words from our childhood can help us greatly as hunters of man. How we choose our words now while framing our questions can determine our success.

There are two types of questions: open door and closed door.

The closed-door question is the one your father asked. It limits the response to a yes or no answer only.

Collectors unfortunately tend to use this default type of question. Examples would be, “Do you have my money? Can you pay me today?” These questions interrogate and inhibit rather than moving a conversation forward in order to extract valuable information.

You also have to remember that you are looking for someone who does not want to be found, and the people around them are aware of this and are perhaps on-guard. So if you come on too strong, you will lose valuable leads. Always remember you can catch more flies with honey!

The open-door question reverses the approach. It is the style of question your mother always asked you to somehow get you to tell on yourself without realizing it.

To illustrate, let’s first frame the question as a classic closed door query. “Is John home?” You may hear a pause and then simply, “No," followed by the on-guard, “Who is this?”

You have now lost control of this conversation.

Try the same query a different way. “Hey, let me speak to John.” This open-door, friendly approach requires a minimum of a sentence of an answer as the respondent tries to accommodate you. “He’s not in. He went to the store.” You now have at least the valid information that you have the correct location of the debtor.

Always remember that people like to talk. Humans are social creatures. Just look to the millions of Facebook users as proof that your task is not to prevent them from doing what they naturally want to do.

Alex Price is currently national sales and training manager with MasterFiles and has been a trainer to the American Recovery Association and former advisory board member to Time Finance Adjusters and the Society of Certified Recovery Agents. He can be reached at (251) 366-6779 or alex.price@masterfiles.com.