Archives for August 2022

Create an Empathetic Path to Cure in Collections

Emotional intelligence and making connections are at the heart of empathy. An empathetic approach to debt collection relies on the ability to recognize customer triggers. We teach this as having the awareness to understand someone’s emotions. Once you understand the emotions, you adapt your communications style to make a connection.

A stepped approach to teaching empathy includes tapping into behaviors, using a pragmatic call approach and monitoring calls for continuous improvement. Here are the three elements of training for an empathetic approach to collections:

  1. Success profiles and behaviors
  2. Call modeling to recognize triggers and investigate root cause
  3. Practice and ongoing coaching

“But being fully empathetic also means being able to regulate your own emotional responses, care about how others feel, understand what they need and respect differing views. —BBC Science Focus Magazine”

Success Profiles and Associated Behaviors Drive Connections

Adapting a conversation based on customer emotions is far easier when face-to-face. Phone agents don’t have the luxury of seeing non-verbal cues.

Start with success profiles and associated behaviors necessary to recognize the need for empathy. Once you understand the competencies your team needs to possess, you can teach those behaviors.

Sample Success Profiles and Behaviors

  • Customer Understanding (Listens intently to ensure full understanding of Customer needs) – Understands what the ‘right’ questions are and when digging deeper is needed to achieve the information you need to provide the best solution.

  • Effective Communication (Communicates with appropriate emotion with every Customer) – Can match the Customer’s communication level (e.g., pacing, calming tone if upset, volume of speech if they cannot hear you).

  • Business Acumen (Demonstrates excellent knowledge in all aspects of the business) – Demonstrates a clear understanding of the tools and programs to help the Customer (qualification, escalation, paperwork accuracy).

  • Balancing Customer and Client Needs (Anticipates the Customer’s needs with what the client can offer) –Proactively looks for ways to match the Customers’ needs with offers/programs that can help and respectfully communicating when we cannot help.

  • Critical Thinking (Ability to review Customer data, understand policies/procedures and deploy sound judgement to help) – Thinks things through thoroughly and uses common sense to reach workable solutions that balance efficiency and exceptional Customer experience.

  • Conflict Management (Takes action to resolve conflict)- Recognizes unfavorable Customer tone/speech patterns and adapts to try to avoid potential escalation.

Using Success Profiles with Your Team

Identify the success profiles and corresponding behaviors that your team requires and then assess individuals based on who best meets the profile. Not every employee will have every item listed but they can be taught behaviors. Teach agents how to recognize when empathy is needed by recognizing how people sound and what they say.

[article_ad]

Finding an Empathetic Approach in a Call Model

The four components of the call model framework balances assessment of the customer’s financial situation—which is incredibly important—with providing sustainable solutions. The framework provides a consistent customer experience and effective agent habits throughout the call.

“The call model flow ensures that administrative elements are handled, but also that the call has an appropriate flow to cover all those elements. It’s all about the balance: Achieving the right balance of empathy, regulatory and technical execution of a call. Remember, everyone wants a piece of your call: QA, regulators and customers.”

Four Components of a Call Model

  1. Opening – We teach repetitive behavior ensuring that we’re verifying the customer, talking to the right party, reading the mini-Miranda and building rapport with the customer through scripting and role playing. This is where you acknowledge the caller’s situation.

  2. Assessing – We teach here to understand the reason for delinquency and discover how much the customer can pay. You assess the customer’s financial situation by asking open-ended questions until you understand the customer’s ability, stability and willingness to pay. This activity uses root cause analysis. The key to communication here is to avoid duplicative questions and a condescending tone.

  3. Resolving – Here we explain how to match the customer’s circumstances with the available options (customized to your organization) such as payment treatments or payment programs.

  4. Closing – We teach the importance of how you wrap up the call. Confirm the customer’s understanding of next steps and set expectations for what the customer is to do and what your company will do. It is important here to thank the customer, even if only for their time and making them feel valued as they leave the conversation.

Call Model Framework info Graphic

Throughout the call model, you can find opportunities to recognize customer triggers via the tone, pacing, word choice and level of engagement in the conversation. This is where communications skills become even more important.

Building Communications Skills for the Call Model

While there are four specific stages to the call model, calls cannot be fully scripted. Agents must learn how to adapt during the call based on the customer’s cues.

We do this with tone, pace, avoiding negative language, and demonstrating active listening by reflecting what you’ve heard. Listening intently and saying “I understand” authentically can go a long way to building trust with the customer.

Effective Communication Techniques:

  • Maintain a tone that is calm and confident. Keep your pace steady and not rushed.

  • Be selective with word choice: Use “I” and not “you” when speaking to customers. Some suggested phrases are: (a) I have helped others in a similar situation… (b)I understand…(c) I know it can be upsetting when…

  • Use open ended questions to gather information. For example: “How are you handling your other bills?” or “How did that impact your ability to pay?”

  • Keep control of the call. This requires an ability to avoid getting emotional, using silence effectively and avoiding judgmental tone or words.

Training and Monitoring for Success

Part of teaching empathy requires an understanding that this is not a ‘one and done’ endeavor. Using our methodology, we start by teaching why empathy is important. Then we listen to examples of successful calls that are managed correctly with an agent showing empathy. Finally, we have the team practice and take part in role play using actual customer scenarios.

We suggest you identify the top call types and develop realistic examples for each scenario to practice with your team. Common scenarios can be modeled for role play and training to the specific call types.  Below are five scenarios we often leverage in our training:

  1. Medical Hardship
  2. Death / Bereavement
  3. Incarcerated Borrower
  4. Fire in the Home
  5. Homeless Borrower

Listening to calls and providing feedback is crucial to sustainability. Though every customer situation is different, similarities occur in recognizing when empathy is needed and how to make a connection with the customer. Here you can identify when calls are handled the right way and share those instances with the team to model the appropriate behaviors.

Expectations should be assigned for every call. That way, each person being trained has standard guidelines based on success profiles. Each agent’s handling of a scenario can be assessed during training, practice and role play. We recommend intensive coaching after the training because coaching cements learning and supports sustainability for the long term.

While you cannot script empathy, you can have a guide until the team can get there on their own—just like training wheels. Each of the elements outlined above help develop empathetic behaviors and the ability to listen and communicate with empathy. We’ve seen this work to improve collections rates and customer satisfaction scores.

Create an Empathetic Path to Cure in Collections
http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048421-create-empathetic-path-cure-collections/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance

ConServe Lends Support to Ibero-American Action League, Inc. (Ibero)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Continental Service Group, Inc., d/b/a ConServe, together with its team of dedicated employees, proudly supported the Ibero-American Action League, Inc. through their ConServe Cares program in July.  Additionally, the funds raised by the employees’ generosity is supplemented by the organization’s “Matching Gift Program.”  This ongoing initiative symbolizes ConServe’s commitment to its corporate mission of helping to improve the human condition.

ConServe Cares is a program in which ConServe employees can elect to “give back” to their local communities by donating to a diverse group of organizations throughout the year.  George Huyler, ConServe’s Vice President of Human Resources said, “This collaborative effort is a priority and reinforces that the ConServe team is empowered and gratified when they help individuals and neighborhoods in need.”

“We are grateful for the continued support and collaboration ConServe has provided Ibero throughout the years,” said Angelica Perez-Delgado, President & CEO of Ibero.  “This year we are honored to be the July recipient of the ConServe Cares program financial award. Their financial support is critical to achieving our mission of uplifting, empowering, and advocating for those we serve. Thank you for your support.”

About ConServe

ConServe is a top-performing accounts receivable management service provider specializing in customized recovery solutions for their Clients. Anchored in ethics and compliance, and steadfast in their pursuit of excellence, they are a consumer-centric organization that operates as an extension of their Clients’ valued brands.  For over 36 years, they have partnered with their Clients to provide unmatched customer service while simultaneously helping them achieve their accounts receivable management goals.  Visit us online at: www.conserve-arm.com

About Ibero-American Action League, Inc.  

Established in 1968, Ibero is a dual-language multi-service agency that uplifts, empowers, and advocates for Latinos and the underserved to achieve equity and become fully valued community members.  Visit them online at:  https://www.ibero.org/

ConServe Lends Support to Ibero-American Action League, Inc. (Ibero)
http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048477-conserve-lends-support-ibero-american-act/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance

County of Santa Clara Launches CSS IMPACT! Financial Cloud

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The County of Santa Clara, the home of the “Silicon Valley”, has officially launched phase-one of the implementations of their new Cloud Collections Financial Ecosystem, a major milestone in the consolidation and integration of three disparate legacy systems to “CSS IMPACT! HD™ 2.0”. CSS, Inc., the developers of “IMPACT! HD™ 2.0,” is the leading provider of “NextGen” Cloud Financial Ecosystem platforms for enterprises and government.

A major hub for world renowned technology companies, the County of Santa Clara is known as “the Silicon Valley”. As such, it is not surprising that the County is a leader in innovation and digital transformation, continuously adopting cutting-edge digital tools to digitize and automate its business processes. 

“The County’s successful implementation and launch to production of our new IMPACT HD 2.0 Enterprise Collection platform will enable the county to consolidate, streamline, digitize and systematically automate many of our critical business workflows, all of which will translate to a much more efficient debt-recovery process. We anticipate that these new efficiencies will translate into increased revenues for the county, all while providing us with an unprecedented level of control. We very much value our partnership with CSS,” said Margarita Rodriguez, Director of the Department of Collections at Santa Clara County.

“All of us here at CSS are truly honored to have been selected by the County of Santa Clara for this implementation. The deployment of our “NextGen” HD 2.0 Collections Ecosystem will allow the county to consolidate and centralize disparate legacy systems, empower its users to deploy streamlined automated processes and make services much more efficient, effective, and transparent, all of which will lead to greater revenues to the County. We are very excited about this new partnership, and we look forward to a long-term relationship with the County,” said Carl Briganti, President and CEO of CSS, Inc.

CSS’s financial cloud architecture removes and resolves prohibitive costs of acquiring new collections and receivables “NextGen” cloud technology and workforces to overcome fundamental day to day processes. Metropolitan Municipalities, like the City of San Francisco, CA, the City of Norfolk, VA and now the County of Santa Clara, are leveraging intuitive, agile new fintech to engender turn-key automation with CSS’s Cloud Financial Ecosystem platform, enabling them to cost-effectively leverage cutting-edge Fintech technology with the added benefit of a streamlined workforce. This in turn enables County operations staff to focus solely on revenue management and customer care.

For more information, download our brochure at http://brochure.cssimpact.com or visit us http://www.cssimpact.com or call 877.277.4621. 

County of Santa Clara Launches CSS IMPACT! Financial Cloud
http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048476-county-santa-clara-launches-css-impact-fi/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance

Your Problems Come on Two Legs: Managing Consumer Complaints [Podcast]

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his guests, fellow Partner Alan Wingfield and special guest Tom Kline, as they discuss effective consumer complaint management. They’ll touch on the CFPB’s position on complaint management, the elements and benefits of an effective complaint management system, as well as the potential consequences of not having a complaint management system in place. They conclude the podcast by providing practical tips for handling consumer complaints.

Alan Wingfield helps consumer-facing clients navigate compliance, litigation, and regulatory risks posed by the complex web of state and federal consumer protection laws. He is a trusted advisor and tireless advocate, helping clients develop practical compliance and dispute-resolution strategies. Alan has represented banks of all sizes, bank and nonbank mortgage servicers, auto finance companies, consumer finance companies, credit card issuers, specialized lenders, franchise and independent automobile dealers, and national retailers in many individual and class-action litigations under federal and state consumer protection laws, and he has counseled these types of entities in numerous state and federal compliance issues.

Tom Kline is the founder and lead consultant of Better Vantage Point, specializing in risk mitigation by preventing and solving automobile dealership problems through risk transfer remedies, compliance, and dealership dispute resolution. He is a former franchise dealership owner with over 30 years of experience in the industry.

Transcript: Your Problems Come on Two Legs: Managing Consumer Complaints (PDF)

Your Problems Come on Two Legs: Managing Consumer Complaints [Podcast]
http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048471-your-problems-come-two-legs-managing-cons/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance

Phillips & Cohen Associates Hires Saima Hassan as Director of Operations for The Estate Registry UK.

WILMINGTON, Del — Phillips & Cohen Associates, Ltd. (PCA), the global leader in deceased account care servicing and technology solutions, servicing clients in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and Germany, is pleased to announce that Saima Hassan has joined as the UK Director of Operations for The Estate Registry UK (TER).

Launched in 2021, TER currently provides three innovative solutions, LegacyNOW, NotifyNOW, and InheritNOW offering digital, deceased servicing solutions in areas of life planning, executor support, and beneficiary support. 

A key pillar of PCA’s global expansion for 2023, Saima will lead TER’s operations and growth strategy in the UK. Saima joins The Estate Registry with over ten years’ experience working in the financial services market as a senior leader within outsourcing and operations management. She has a proven track record in building strategic partnerships, synergistic alliances and driving transformation. Most recently, Saima served as Head of Outsourced Collections at Arrow Global, where she led the establishment of a new business function to drive growth and innovation in the external recoveries proposition.

Adam S. Cohen, Co-Chairman/CEO commented, “We are excited to have Saima join The Estate Registry’s senior leadership team. TER’s launch in the UK is another major milestone in our mission to offer solutions that simplify deceased account servicing for everyone involved. Saima’s thought leadership and track record for success are the perfect combination to lead us into the future.”  

Hassan commented, “PCA has a long-standing reputation for exhibiting compassion and driving innovation.  When coupled with my passion and experience in delivering customer centric strategies, whilst driving transformation, PCA is a perfect fit. I look forward to working with PCA’s leadership to strengthen its customer led propositions, introducing new products, and entering new markets. I am so excited for the times ahead!” 

Amy Perkins, Chief Strategy Officer added, “Customers having access to The Estate Registry suite of services globally and the addition of Saima to the leadership team are two important steps in executing our corporate growth strategy and realizing our vision of being a leading technology provider in the compassionate care industry. We’re excited to add Saima and her dynamic leadership to our team.”

About Phillips & Cohen Associates, Ltd.

Phillips & Cohen Associates, Ltd. is a specialty receivable management company providing customized services to creditors in a variety of unique market segments.  Phillips & Cohen Associates, Ltd is domestically headquartered in Wilmington, DE, with additional offices in Colorado and Florida as well as international offices in the UK, Canada, Spain, Germany, and Australia.  For more information about Phillips & Cohen Associates visit www.phillips-cohen.com. PCA provides Equal Employment Opportunity for all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, genetic information, and any other basis protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Phillips & Cohen Associates Hires Saima Hassan as Director of Operations for The Estate Registry UK.

http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048470-phillips-cohen-associates-hires-saima-has/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance

FTC Seeks Input for Potential Data Privacy and Security Rulemaking

On Aug. 11, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking input that will shape potential rules “to crack down on harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security.” 

The focus of the ANPR overlaps in part with recent state consumer data privacy laws and federal legislation, but the definition of “commercial surveillance” is extremely broad and “refers to the collection, aggregation, analysis, retention, transfer, or monetization of consumer data and the direct derivatives of that information.”  

By that definition, receiving information from a consumer who applies for a loan and, using that information with permission to obtain information of their creditworthiness, would be considered “surveillance.” 

Note that the definition in the ANPR differs from the definition in the FTC’s Fact Sheet on the FTC’s Commercial Surveillance and Data Security Rulemaking where commercial surveillance is described as “the business of collecting, analyzing, and profiting from information about people.”

The ANPR provides a summary of the FTC’s history of enforcement actions related to data privacy and security and then turns to its reasons for the rulemaking, explaining that its “experience suggests that enforcement alone without rulemaking may be insufficient to protect consumers from significant harms.”

The ANPR states that part of the issue is the fact that “the FTC Act limits the remedies that the Commission may impose in enforcement actions,” since “the Commission does not have authority to seek civil penalties for first-time violations [of Section 5 of the FTC Act].”  However, trade regulation rules would remedy that issue and “incentivize all companies to invest in compliance more consistently.”

The ANPR includes 95 questions spread out among the following topics:

  1. To What Extent Do Commercial Surveillance Practices or Lax Security Measures Harm Consumers?

  2. To What Extent Do Commercial Surveillance Practices or Lax Data Security Measures Harm Children, including Teenagers?

  3. How Should the Commission Balance Costs and Benefits?

  4. How, if at All, Should the Commission Regulate Harmful Commercial Surveillance or Data Security Practices that Are Prevalent?

  • Rulemaking Generally
  • Data Security
  • Collection, Use, Retention, and Transfer of Consumer Data
  • Automated Decision-making Systems
  • Discrimination Based on Protected Categories
  • Consumer Consent
  • Notice, Transparency, and Disclosure
  • Remedies
  • Obsolescence

The deadline for submitting comments will be 60 days from the date the ANPR is published in the Federal Register, and there will be a virtual public forum on Sept. 8, 2022.

FTC Seeks Input for Potential Data Privacy and Security Rulemaking
http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048463-ftc-seeks-input-potential-data-privacy-an/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance

Collect Rx Joins Healthcare Revenue Cycle Leader Wakefield & Associates to Deliver Out-of-Network Solutions.

AURORA, Colo. — Wakefield & Associates, a leading healthcare revenue cycle solutions company, announced today that Collect Rx has joined the Wakefield organization. Together, the two companies will leverage combined capabilities to provide a full spectrum of revenue cycle solutions, including Out-of-Network Claims resolution to healthcare providers across the country. 

Founded in 2006, Collect Rx provides a tech-enabled Out-of-Network (OON) payment integrity solution platform, assisting customers with appeals and negotiations. Combining complex claims, medical account resolution expertise, collaborative customer services, and proprietary databases, Collect Rx serves over 5,400 healthcare companies across the country. 

“Collect Rx is thrilled to bring its market-leading and provider-centric claim resolution services into the Wakefield & Associates family”, said Ike Brenner, President of Collect Rx. “Our customers and partners will be the biggest beneficiaries of this highly synergistic combination. Together, we bring to market an exceptionally comprehensive RCM solution set.”

As one of the leading revenue cycle solutions companies in the nation, Wakefield & Associates makes vital contributions to the financial health of medical providers through innovative and proven Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) solutions. 

“With its depth of expertise and being a pioneering industry leader of complex Out-of-Network claims, Collect Rx allows Wakefield & Associates to expand our service offerings”, said Matt Laws, CEO of Wakefield. “Going forward, we will be able to deliver a full suite of RCM services to the thousands of healthcare service providers with whom we partner.” 

About Wakefield & Associates

Established in 1933, Wakefield & Associates specializes in Revenue Cycle Management Solutions, which includes System Conversions, Call Center Partnerships, Insurance Billing, Process & System Workflow Design, Eligibility Assistance Programs, Primary & Secondary Bad Debt Collections, Legal Solutions, and working with Debt Purchasing providers. Wakefield & Associates has and continues to make significant investments in people, processes, and technologies that allow us to develop and implement quality solutions that accelerate cash flow and A/R liquidation. Wakefield & Associates has developed effective recovery techniques and partnership collaborations that result in a positive patient experience.

Collect Rx Joins Healthcare Revenue Cycle Leader Wakefield & Associates to Deliver Out-of-Network Solutions.

http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048464-collect-rx-joins-healthcare-revenue-cycle/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance

CFPB Enters into Consent Order with Fintech Company to Resolve Alleged UDAAP Practices Arising From use of Algorithm

The CFPB announced that it has entered into a consent order with Hello Digit, LLC (“Digit”) to settle the CFPB’s claims that Digit engaged in deceptive acts and practices in connection with an automated savings tool it offered to consumers.  The settlement requires Digit to pay a $2.7 million civil money penalty and at least $68,145 in consumer redress.

Digit is a fintech company that offers a personal-finance-management app that includes an automated savings tool.  When signing up for the service, Digit requires consumers to grant Hello Digit access to their checking accounts.  Using its own proprietary algorithm, Digit analyzes consumers’ checking account data to determine how much a consumer should save.  It then initiates automatic electronic fund transfers (“autosaves”) to transfer money from consumers’ checking accounts to interest-bearing “for the benefit of” accounts held in Digit’s name at third-party institutions (“Digit Savings Accounts”).  Consumers are charged a $5 monthly subscription fee for this service.

The CFPB found that despite using “messaging themes to consumers” that the automated savings tool saved “the perfect amount” and that there were “no overdrafts,” Digit knew from its inception that (1) its algorithms had limitations that hampered Digit’s ability to precisely predict an appropriate amount to withdraw from consumers’ checking accounts, and (2) the autosaves routinely caused overdrafts, resulting in overdraft fees charged by consumers’ banks.  Digit also represented to consumers that if it did cause an overdraft through an autosave, it would reimburse any overdraft fees a consumer incurred.  However, Digit did not reimburse consumers for all overdrafts and received complaints about overdrafts on a daily basis.  It also retained significant interest income earned on the funds held in the Digit Savings Accounts but represented to consumers that it did not collect interest revenue.

The CFPB found that Digit engaged in deceptive acts or practices in violation of the CFPA by misrepresenting that its service would save the “perfect amount” and have “no overdrafts,” that it would reimburse consumers for all overdrafts fees caused by autosaves, and that it did not collect revenue from interest earned on Digit Savings Accounts.  The consumer redress that Digit is required to pay under the Consent Order is intended to reimburse consumers for all unreimbursed overdraft fees caused by autosaves.  The Consent Order also prohibits Digit from continuing to make misrepresentations about its automated savings tool.

In addition to serving as a reminder to companies of the need not to “over promise” in their marketing materials and to be responsive to consumer complaints, the settlement highlights two ongoing CFPB themes: a focus on overdrafts and reservations about algorithms.  With regard to algorithms, the CFPB has previously expressed concerns about fair lending risks created by the use of algorithms.  The CFPB’s prominent and repeated references to Digit’s use of algorithms in its press release appears intended to paint the use of algorithms in a negative light even outside of the fair lending context.

CFPB Enters into Consent Order with Fintech Company to Resolve Alleged UDAAP Practices Arising From use of Algorithm
http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048456-cfpb-enters-consent-order-fintech-company/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance

4 Vendor Management Best Practices for Collections and Recovery

Finding, vetting, and on-boarding a new collections and recovery vendor is not easy or fast. You go through the trouble of wading through all of the potential vendors, assessing them, eliminating those with any red flags, and finally committing to onboard a vendor. So, whether you are outsourcing debt collections or adding new debt collections techology, you want to make sure those hard-won vendor relationships work well for you and last a long time.

Want strong vendor relationships? You need to have strong collections and recovery vendor mangement skills. How you manage those vendors will have a direct impact on how successful and lasting those relationships will be.

Good vendor management isn’t an easy job. Creditors who are too prescriptive can damage their relationships with vendors. Those who are not prescriptive enough can find themselves at risk for regulatory or reputational damage. That’s why it’s critical for collections and recovery executives to open their channels of communication, keep those channels open, and keep an open mind if they want to strike the right balance.

Here are four best practices for debt collection vendor management you can use to set up your vendor relationships for long-term success.

1. Communicate Clear Expectations to Vendors Early and Often

Collections & recovery vendors should understand exactly what their creditor-clients expect from them from the onset of the relationship.

If you’re using multiple vendors for the same process (e.g., a collections agency), it helps to standardize your MSAs/SOWs/SLAs, says Jeremy Ruth, Sr. Director of Default Account Servicing at Arvest Bank.

But don’t just hand over those expectations and expect them to be met. Collections & recovery executives should work with their vendors to create those expectations, Ruth adds. This way, you and your vendors are on the same page.

Another simple way to express expectations is to create and share a deliverables calendar, says Bekah Luebcke, VP of Operations at Crown Asset Management. Collections & recovery vendors should be able to understand performance and compliance expectations – and whether or not they’re meeting those expectations – at a glance from their scorecard, she adds.

2. Your Collections and Recovery Vendors Have Expertise – Use It

It’s critical that collections & recovery executives treat their vendor partners like experts, says Carri McQuerrey-Funk, Head of Vendor Management & Initiative Execution at Citizens Bank. She tells her vendor partners to “tell her where [she’s] being stupid,” and cautions collections & recovery vendors against feeling like they “know it all.”

“You need an expert, and they are an expert,” McQuerrey-Funk says, so when a vendor partner gives you advice, you might want to take it.

It’s also a mistake to try to off-load risk to your vendors. Not only is it no longer possible for creditors to outsource their risk, but also, trying to do so will only sour your relationship with your vendors.

The best approach is a “shared risk/shared success” approach to vendor management, advises Ruth. “You can’t look at it like you’re going to transfer risk to [your vendors]. That’s a one-sided relationship.”

3. Expand the Conversation, Connect the Experts

An ongoing collections & recovery vendor relationship typically runs through two parties: the client services manager at the vendor, and the creditor-client’s vendor manager. This is a great way to keep the relationship organized, but sometimes it’s not enough.

Connecting business units and SMEs can help you make sure that nothing is lost in translation, Luebcke explains. Some problems can only be solved by communication between business units instead of through the appointed relationship manager. It will save time and resources if the vendor’s SME can speak directly to the creditor-client SME, so don’t be afraid to take challenges out of their silos and get the real experts’ opinions.

4. Get Back to On-Site Audits

In the past, this would have been obvious. But after more than two years of a global pandemic and a major shift to remote work, many companies have fallen out of the habit. In fact, the number one question from the audience during the iA Strategy & Tech Vendor Management Masterclass webinar series was whether or not creditors were making onsite visits.

[article_ad]

McQuerrey-Funk, Ruth, and Luebcke, as well as T.R. Brown, VP of Consumer Finance at SmileDirect Club (all speakers on that aforementioned webinar series), all agree: If it’s safe, collections & recovery executives should be performing audits on site.

On-site audits allow you to gauge your vendor’s preparedness in a way that remote audits do not. If you’ve provided the agenda early enough, your vendor partner should have no trouble getting all the pieces in order, including getting the appropriate staff in the office prior to your visit.

If your vendor partner is disorganized during an onsite audit, for example, if they don’t have the right staff available to answer questions, it’s a signal that you may need to take a deeper dive into whether or not they are operating as prescribed by your SOW. It’s especially important to get onsite when you’re planning to audit new policies.

No vendor is perfect, but by following these four tips, collections & recovery executives can have a better chance at motivating vendors to be successful and in extending the success and the lifespan of any vendor relationship.

For more on how to successfully manage your vendors, check out The Vendor Management Masterclass II.

Bonus read: Creditors: Can You Outsource Risk by Outsourcing Collections? Not Anymore.

———–

Are you interested in Digital Collections and Recovery Strategy Best Practices? If so, you can find the (free!) iA Strategy and Tech Short Guide Digital Collections and Recovery Strategy Best Practices in 2022. You can find resources like this as well as the latest trends in collections and recovery strategy, digital debt collection, vendor management, and compliance in the iA Strategy and Tech newsletter. To get these insights delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here

4 Vendor Management Best Practices for Collections and Recovery
http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048420-4-vendor-management-best-practices-collec/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance

DNF Associates Employees, Vendors, and Neighbors Answer the Call for Donations

GETZVILLE, NY – DNF Associates LLC, one the leading Asset Management Firms and purchaser of Delinquent Receivables, has answered the urgent call for more blood, by hosting a blood drive in conjunction with ConnectLife Blood and Organ Donor Network. 

On August 9th, the ConnectLife Mobile Donation Bus set up shop in DNF’s parking lot for people to participate in the three (3)  hour event. Prior to the event, DNF Associates reached out to employees, vendors, and neighboring companies to boost participation.  By doing so, the blood collected was enough to save 39 lives according to ConnectLife. 

Dan Mendez, DNF President and CEO said “We are extremely proud of all our personnel and the all the businesses that took part in this event. Giving blood is one way where people can have a positive effect on their community and actually save a life by doing so. This blood drive reinforces the notion that Buffalo truly is the city of good neighbors and we all come together at a time of need.”

The donations made to ConnectLife from this blood drive will go directly to helping people in Buffalo, New York, and the surrounding suburbs. ConnectLife is Western New York’s only organ, eye, tissue, and community blood center, so donations stay in the immediate area.

Employee involvement in this event is just another example of the DNF Associates’ philanthropic focus. 

For more information concerning this release or other information regarding DNF Associates LLC please contact twilcox@dnfassociates.com or visit www.dnfassociates.com.

DNF Associates Employees, Vendors, and Neighbors Answer the Call for Donations
http://www.insidearm.com/news/00048452-dnf-associates-emploees-vendors-adn-neigb/
http://www.insidearm.com/news/rss/
News

All the latest in collections news updates, analysis, and guidance