Maximizing the Productivity and Effectiveness of Collectors

Collections is a key area of any credit granting organization, and it is common for organizations to invest in processes, technology and strategy in an attempt to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of this area. Unfortunately, it is also common for organizations to forget the most important factor in collections – the collectors who make contact with customers every day.

This series of tips will explore some aspects that have been found to be invaluable in improving the performance of a collections area by focusing on development of collectors.

Behavior Styles
A key aspect of collections relates to training in the correct behavior style. Broadly speaking, there are three styles into which collectors fall; passive, aggressive and assertive. Last month, we discussed how both the passive and aggressive styles are ineffective and damaging to the collections effectiveness and overall strategic value of an organization. We now focus on the third collections style and explain how it improves collections efficiency, effectiveness and customer service perceptions."

Assertive Collections
Assertive collections can broadly be described as being about the expression of ones needs openly and honestly, while at the same time maintaining good customer service by not infringing on the rights of the customer. An assertive collector will therefore be direct and communicate the exact set of circumstances of the collections call. He or she will also balance the needs of the customer with that of the organization.

An example of this would be the showing of empathy towards a customer if the reason for non-payment is associated with a tragic circumstance on the customer’s side. An important aspect of assertiveness in this regard, would be that an assertive collector can respectfully acknowledge the problem the customer has and at the same time not get personally or emotionally involved.

A collector who is assertive is confident, assured and always in control of the call, while always listening and building a trust relationship with the customer. The benefits of assertive collections is that the collector achieves both short-term and long-term goals of the organization, as trust will result in payment arrangements that are kept and relationships with customers that are maintained. As a result, assertive collectors feel an increased sense of self-confidence, satisfaction and accomplishment.

This tip has explained why an assertive style is the best approach in collections as it can lead to an overall increase in the strategic value of an organization by improving collections efficiency and effectiveness as well as customer service perceptions.

In next month’s tip, we will explore this style in more detail and discuss the different sub-types of assertiveness that can be used in collections.

Paul Shortridge is a Senior Consultant at PIC Solutions, the largest customer management solutions company based in the Southern Hemisphere. He has over 5 years experience in the financial services industry. Previously with Nedcor as manager – innovation in retail credit, he headed up a team that successfully rolled out projects to reduce risk, increase revenue and reduce costs across all credit and transactional products. In this role, he implemented initiatives that increased revenue by R100 million and introduced their 8-second home loan pre-approval process. As lead consultant at London Bridge Group, Paul was responsible for the business lead in large scale project implementations as well as assisting the sales team with expanding their market in South Africa. He holds a BSc and MSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town.