TELROCK SMART INTERACTIONS


The Analysis News & Opinions


‘Creditors must invest in their collections teams’


Lenders must learn to understand that investing in their collections operations will improve customer experience, according to a senior industry figure. Speaking at a round-table debate run


by CCRMagazine, in association with Telrock, last month, Sarah Watts, associate director, structured finance at Shawbrook Bank, said: “Credit does serve a purpose for every generation, but the collections piece has not necessarily caught up with this fact. “There are amazing fintec solutions


for new customer on-boarding, and so understandably customers now expect this in collections, but are not necessarily getting the same experience. “I believe investing money in the collections


part of businesses can provide a better- rounded customer experience, including use of customer portals to check their balance, or better use of communications channels to let customers engage in a way that they feel most comfortable using.” Meanwhile, Laura Harrison, head of


business development – Europe at Telrock, said: “There is software available to help service customers in arrears – collections agencies, in particular, are very well up on this and invest in their technology, as well as their data. From a credit-bureau perspective,


if you consider people accessing the collections data sets, it is the collections agencies who utilise data blocks available to them with the end goal of servicing both customer and creditor in the most efficient and fair manner. “For some creditors, the focus is all on


credit risk and affordability, so collections does tend to be placed on the back burner until there is a severe disturbance that hits the bottom line. DCAs approach a creditor portfolio with the right data to segment and


Utilities discussion due


A new round-table debate will consider the status of the utilities and telecoms sector, and how it can use the most appropriate options available to move forward. At a time when utilities companies are


facing a range of pressures, from regulatory to competition, the discussion, run in association with Callcredit, will look at how the best decisions can be made for the benefit of customers and creditors. Stephen Kiely, editor of CCRMagazine,


said: “The utilities sector always provokes extremely interesting debates because it is so fundamental to people’s lives, in our modern


April 2018


society. It matters, on a very basic level how our utilities providers are operating. So it is very pleasing to be working with Callcredit to continue the sharing of knowledge. “Professionals in the utilities and telecoms


sector take their responsibilities extremely seriously, so I am looking forward to a debate that will bring some important conclusions.”


www.CCRMagazine.com


treat, ensuring they look at customer-retention and journey; as well as recovering the debt. “Customer services and collections now


go hand-in-hand. So, with a key focus on vulnerability, if you can use data and technology to help your customer, then why would you not do so?” she said. “Rather than a customer calling up the


DCA and having to explain ‘I owe all this money, what can I do?’, arming your agents to be able to build rapport by being able to say that ‘I know you owe this money, so let us tailor our approach to you, we notice that you like to call or text in, so you can do that, or you want to interact over the web and not talk to anybody, so you can do that’. “Every person has an individual preference


on how they want to be contacted, so it becomes a customer-education piece to help mould the customer journey” Lindsay Smith, chief technology officer


at Telrock, added: “If creditors force companies to only compete on rates, then it is just signaling that the customer journey is not that important. “So it is just lip-service to say ‘we are really


worried about the customer journey, but, by the way, we do not care if there are any vulnerable customers, that is your problem and your cost to sort out’.”


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