- Scale Your Speaking by Mo Khalaf
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- I taped five sticky notes on my monitor.
I taped five sticky notes on my monitor.
Each one contains a business lesson from my days of collecting bad debt for a living.
Mo Khalaf
February 04, 2025
Collecting bad debt and unpaid rent is frustrating.
I know because I did it for a living.
And as annoying as it is to deal with relentless tenants who want you off their back and come up with the most absurd excuses just to flip you off… I’ve learned some of the best business and sales lessons at my job.
Every time I gained a new insight, I’d write it on a sticky note, and tape it on my monitor.
The first sticky note I added was this:
“No Complaining. It’s for the weak :)”
You see the ABC (Always Be Closing) for a collection agent is off by two letters.
It’s in fact AGR—Always. Getting. Rejected.
Getting rejected is brutal, but it builds a heart of steel and the unshakable resolve of Churchill during WWII.
My second, third, and fourth sticky notes? I wrote them all at once after a few painful lessons.
Like the time I got unnecessarily emotional during negotiations because of a simple miscommunication.
That’s when I wrote my second sticky note:
RULES:
Always call first (it’s all about the hustle).
Don’t get emotional, angry, or disrespectful. Ask questions—the right ones.
Be firm in your ask.
When it gets emotional, take a break.
That same day I realized my approach to the “collections” game was flawed. Instead of thinking, “I need to collect from bad tenants,” I shifted to:
“They want to pay. It’s a relief for them. I’m here to help them achieve that.”
That’s when I wrote my third and fourth sticky notes:
“MONEY COMES TO YOU. IT’S ATTRACTED TO YOU BECAUSE YOU PROVIDE VALUE.”
“They WANT TO GIVE YOU MONEY TO HELP THEM”
This is the mindset you need when you’re on a sales call or writing an email to your list.
But the most important lesson I learned was the last one.
I was being too soft with a tenant who was way behind on rent one day. So my manager hit me with a lesson, and I decided to write it down:
“Think of it as your money. The company’s money is YOUR money. If you lent someone $$ and agreed on a payment plan, but they kept postponing, what would you do?”
That lesson changed everything for me. It made me realize that:
Your clients' money, interests, and problems are YOUR money, interests, and problems. Solve them as if they were your own.
That’s how you gain their trust first, and their money later.
When I applied these “sticky lessons” to my work, I collected more than ever, negotiated from a position of strength, and felt in control of my accounts.
Now, what would happen to your business if you applied just one of these?