How a digital-first collections model delivered top-ranked recovery for a smart home technology provider

Overview

A major smart home technology provider in the United States was rebuilding its collections program after removing an underperforming vendor. The pressure was immediate: charged-off accounts were ageing, and every week without a fully operational recovery model meant revenue that would be harder to reclaim.

They needed an agency that could get up to speed quickly, perform inside a competitive multi-agency structure, and do it without a hand-holding period.

Rather than consolidating with a single agency, they ran a structured RFP and selected three simultaneously, a deliberate approach designed to reduce risk and ensure redundancy across their recovery program.

Firstsource was one of three chosen on the strength of the relationship and our delivery track record.

We were tasked with post-charge-off digital collections across email, SMS, telephony, and a self-service portal, operating in a directly competitive environment where performance rankings determined continued placement.

Success meant outperforming two other agencies working the same portfolio, while maintaining full regulatory compliance.

Challenges

The smart home technology provider was up against real operational and competitive pressure in recovering charged-off revenue:

• Multi-agency competitive model: The provider selected three agencies to manage collections across the same portfolio simultaneously, a structure designed for redundancy and risk reduction. Performance rankings determined future share of wallet. Every agency operated independently, which meant there was no margin for average results and no shared volume to fall back on.
• No single dominant channel: Charged-off customers were spread across communication preferences, requiring coordinated outreach via email, phone, and digital self-service to maximize contact rates.
• Strict regulatory exposure: All collection activity had to comply with FDCPA, TCPA, and FCRA requirements across every channel and every contact, with zero tolerance for process gaps.
  • Digital-first strategy: Where most agencies default to outbound calls, Firstsource led with email and SMS. This decision to sequence digital before telephony was the core of our competitive approach, concentrating human effort only where digital engagement had already failed to convert.
  • Coordinated omnichannel outreach: Consumers who did not engage digitally were routed to outbound calls, while those who preferred to self-resolve could do so through a branded self-service portal built and operated by Firstsource. Every channel worked in sequence, giving charged-off customers a path to resolution through whichever touchpoint they were most likely to use.
  • Governed compliance architecture: FDCPA, TCPA, and FCRA requirements were built into day-to-day operations across all three channels, with disciplined process controls maintaining the provider's regulatory position consistently across every contact.
  • Conclusion
  • Firstsource holds the top position among the provider's collections agencies, and the relationship is actively expanding. For any organization managing charged-off accounts at scale, how you reach customers is as consequential as how many you reach.

How We Made It Happen

Firstsource designed a focused, omnichannel collections model that prioritized digital engagement first, with telephony as a deliberate follow-through layer rather than the primary channel.