Leading edge IT strategy in the US includes using analytics and automation to increase workflow productivity. It also includes extensive use of skip tracers to scan multiple databases to find debtor contact details, and intelligent dialers to dissect debt books and present accounts to collectors based on the priority in which they should be worked. They might also inform the agency about the best channel for contacting the debtor. Using technology to continually monitor performance is also vital for enhancing productivity. The US industry makes widespread use of advanced management information systems to enable real-time and archived reporting of individuals' performances on easy to read dashboards.
UK agencies are starting to use some of these techniques, but they have been quite commonplace in the US for about ten years. US firms invest heavily in training their people in customer relationship management and how to advise debtors on paying off their bills more efficiently.
In most cases debtors do not plan not to pay; it is normally a case that they simply forget, or something else might have happened that prevented them from being able to pay, for example their internet connection might have been down, or they might have mislaid their cheque book. Talking with these customers in an empathetic and sympathetic way not only helps to collect funds but can also strengthen the relationship between the customer and the client brand.
Co-ordinated multi-channel customer contact strategies are standard practice in the US collections agency industry, and incorporate personal outbound calls, outbound voice recognition units, which help let a collector know if the contact called is the debtor, e-mail and automated letters. Multi-channel campaigning is one area where the UK is relatively well advanced - and one of the key UK contact tools is SMS or text messaging, a channel that is not permitted in the States.
However, US collections firms often extend the customer relationship through offering debtors creative payment solutions. For instance, retailers may offer debtors prepaid cards that can be used in their stores rather than taking a part settlement - the advantage of course is to bring the customer back into the store.
Building global delivery models going
offshore
Many US collections agencies have built relationships with specialist offshore service providers, typically in India, to leverage their offshore business process skills, their low-cost but highly-qualified talent pool, and their ability to rapidly deploy resources at scale.
Collectors have also included offshore strategies as part of broader business continuity plans to spread risk by positioning key processes across several locations.
India is the leading global hub for offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) and the market grew 34 percent in the last year to be worth $8.4bn, according to the Indian National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom). Many FTSE 100 financial services companies (as well as Fortune 500 companies) are already outsourcing some business process work to India.
By embedding their process improvement, technology and human capital strategies within the operations DNA of their Indian BPO partners, US collections agencies have generated transformational benefits. Global delivery models utilising India have enabled US collections agencies to increase the volume of funds collected, decrease the time to recovery and reduce costs: outsourcing to India can lower costs by around 30 to 40 percent.
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