Data-Driven Collection Solutions: Helping Consumers Tackle Debt
You never expected that loan, line of credit, or credit card to get out of control. You had every intention of keeping your accounts in good standing, but life happened, causing you to fall behind. One missed payment turns into two; before you know it, the bill is months past due, and the balance is more than you can afford. Now you’re overwhelmed with intrusive phone calls, mailed notices, and email alerts from lenders and creditors demanding you resolve the debt.
Dealing with debt isn’t easy for consumers. Owing money is embarrassing, especially when you can’t afford to resolve the matter immediately. It’s also intimidating when the agency you owe uses repetitive, inconvenient, and overwhelming measures to resolve the account. As a result, you ignore the matter, hoping it will somehow go away.
Data-Backed Strategies Improve Borrower Experience
As traditional debt recovery practices proved ineffective, time-consuming, and expensive, lenders and creditors have shifted from in-house efforts to utilizing digital credit collection services. Such solutions have not only streamlined processes and saved organizations time and money, but they’ve cultivated a more positive experience for borrowers. Continue reading to learn more.
No More Overwhelming Calls
Data analytic tools enable creditors to evaluate consumer behavior to develop a more efficient strategy to initiate contact. They can review call histories to determine the best time to reach you, eliminating excessive phone calls throughout the day. Advanced collection platforms even enable agents to assess whether it’s better to communicate through emails, text messages, social media, or mobile app notifications.
For consumers who prefer to avoid communications, client portals make it easy to view their balances, select affordable repayment options, schedule automatic debits, and ultimately resolve their accounts.
Customer-Friendly Communication
You’re already stressed and overwhelmed by the consequences of your delinquent account. The last thing you need is to have an agent talking to you in an unprofessional, aggressive, or rude manner. It makes you feel small, hopeless, and even frustrated, prompting you to avoid reaching out altogether.
Data analytics help creditors improve their approach. Agents can use customer profile information to develop scripts that help them maintain the appropriate tone when speaking with customers. Call scripts cultivate a more personalized, targeted, and compassionate conversation that eases customer anxieties and frustrations, strengthens relationships, and generates better outcomes.
As you might imagine, it’s much easier to tackle your debt when you’re speaking with someone that understands your circumstances, views you as a human being (instead of a dollar sign), and makes a collaborative effort to help you find the best solution.
Flexible Repayment Options
There is no worse feeling than mustering up the courage to contact a creditor only to have them provide options you can’t afford. You realize you have to do something to prevent further collection efforts from disrupting your life and finances. However, when forced to choose between paying off a loan or credit card and covering everyday expenses, chances are you’re going to choose the latter.
Modern debt recovery solutions allow creditors to take these things into account and provide comprehensive options to accommodate various budgets. Using customer profile data, agents can view payment amounts and frequency, which can help provide insight into when it’s most convenient for customers to pay and how much they can reasonably afford.
Customers can settle their accounts with offers that eliminate or reduce late fees and interest rates or opt for monthly installments that pay the balance off over time. When collection agencies are more lenient and understanding, customers feel a sense of control that encourages them to tackle their debt.
No one wants to be overwhelmed by debt. When credit accounts get out of control, it causes emotional and financial hardships for consumers. Although the most effective way to resolve the matter is to repay what’s owed, traditional collection efforts often leave customers feeling embarrassed, intimidated, and hopeless. Luckily, modern advancements within the debt recovery industry have cultivated a positive experience that encourages consumers to dig themselves out of the hole and resolve their accounts.
