Refocus your approach to debtors as your new year resolution for 2012.

1.       Don’t Stop Thinking!:  This is the first and most important rule to follow.  Don’t fall into a rut, and don’t stop thinking, about your own technique, about your successful calls, your unsuccessful calls, and information that will make you better at what you do.  If you assume you know everything you need to know about collections, whether you have been doing this for one year or twenty, you are limiting yourself.  There is always room to grow and improve.

2.       Don’t Cross The Line: Make sure you stay within the bounds of collection laws, make sure you don’t act outside of your agency’s rules, or the guidelines set down by the client.  Don’t make inaccurate or false notes on a debtor file, don’t try to ditch files without an honest attempt to collect them, and certainly don’t tell tales to your supervisor or manager.  Don’t kid yourself – you will get caught, and cost yourself and your agency in the long run.  Be honest.

3.       Check Your Ego at the Door: A sense of self-confidence and authority carries over the phone, and will generate more payments, but you are not too good to do your own trace work, work files under $5,000, communicate with your team, follow the rules everyone else should follow, or listen to your managers.  By letting your ego run rampant, you are actually breaking rules #1 through #3.  This is a dangerous pitfall for the “experienced” collection agent.

4.       Keep Your Cool: No matter what, no call, no individual file is worth damaging your calm and your mental well-being.  If a debtor starts yelling at you,  frustrating you with broken promises, or with bounced payments, take a deep breath and relax.  This is just one file of a hundred that you will work today, and one of three hundred to a thousand in your personal portfolio, and one of millions of files at your agency.  Is this debtor going to pay?  Make a dispassionate decision, and process the file accordingly.

5.       Don’t Waste Your Time: If you have spent 30 minutes on the phone with a debtor over a $100 payment, you may be wasting your day.  The best use of your time is arranging payments.  Again, take a deep breath and decide – is this debtor going to pay?  Make a dispassionate decision, end the call with consequences if you can, and process the file.

6.       Listen!: Do not railroad debtors with your pre-packaged dun (letter cycle).  Yes, you have a message to deliver, but the debtor will often say things that will assist you in collecting the file.  If they are venting, let them vent to some point, and if they are offering to make amends on their debt, work with them, and keep track of key things they offer you on the phone.

7.       Take Your Time: Collectors make this mistake all the time.  Especially those who have been doing the job for a long time.  Slow down.  Speak in a calm, even, well-paced voice. You will carry more of a sense of gravitas and authority, your phone messages will be clear and well-understood, and you will perform more effectively.

8.       Speak With Feeling: Yes, this is the fiftieth answering machine message today, but don’t ramble through it in a monotone.  If the debtor has not returned your last five calls, make sure your tone carries a sense of urgency, your discontent at being ignored, and your authority.

9.       Understand Your Job: The role of a collection agent is working file after file, but understand the big picture.  What liquidation does the client expect?  What are you doing compared to the other agents at your agency, or the competing agencies also working the same client portfolio?  How much gross revenue is necessary to achieve the clients’ expectations?  As well, if you are not one of the best collectors in the office, watch and listen to what they do.  Often key phrases that motivate debtors, a specific tone or approach may be necessary to succeed.

10.   Help Your Co-Workers: If you can, offer advice and experience to other less-skilled agents in your office.  Your agency will only succeed through teamwork, and it is not “every man for himself”.  Friendly competition is one thing, throwing your co-workers under the bus is another.

The best collectors out have a motley assortment of skills that make them successful – intelligence, intuition, the ability to be objective, quick thinking to adapt to new situations, good diction and communication skills, a memory for numbers, the ability to problem-solve, and some charisma.  However, collectors with these skills will not succeed unless they constantly strive to be better, and learn.  Anyone can be an excellent collector, as long as they have the ability to listen and take direction.

Blair Wettlaufer