In Focus Collections
The road to recovery
The credit and collections industry has long had customer vulnerability at the heart of its thinking, but how can this continue into the future?
Denise Crossley Chief executive, Lantern
Denise.Crossley @
lanternuk.com
At Lantern, we do not have a vulnerable team, or a department, instead we have an entire business which is built around this ethos. Dealing with customers in vulnerable circumstances means you need to be prepared to take the time to understand at what stage in their journey are they and then support them; and while Covid-19 has brought the subject to the forefront of everyone’s mind, in the industry vulnerability is not new, it has always been there. But the reality is that the uncertain world we now live in means vast amounts of people will be placed into a position of instability – so we all have to continue to be ready. Of course, simply moving customers
into a more appropriate environment or department in the business, or in fact onto a third-party, is better than nothing, but then what happens to them after that strategy? We need to look at what has changed in our customer behaviour during lockdown: l Customers are engaging more, having more flexibility on their time to look at their finances in finer detail.
l Holiday savings and less social outgoings are enabling customers to clear down debts faster and set up new or increased payment arrangements. l Customers are preparing for life after forbearance, in readiness for potential redundancies as furlough is phased out or a return to work where time again becomes precious.
Keys to success We define the keys to our own success, in this period, in three distinct variables: l Training and empowering our people. l Understanding different vulnerabilities. l Investment in our systems.
Training, coaching, and support All our Trainers and Leaders have attended courses run by expert charities like Samaritans and Mind to enhance in-house training. They are equipped with all the tools to identify vulnerability and categories and are empowered to do the right thing for the customer. Vulnerability levels and types are
Vulnerability levels and types are discussed and reviewed monthly to ensure correct decisions are being made across the team. Every agent is equipped to handle vulnerable customers with specialist team members trained in handling severe or long-term circumstances
34
discussed and reviewed monthly to ensure correct decisions are being made across the team. Every agent is equipped to handle vulnerable customers with specialist team members trained in handling severe or long-term circumstances. Equally, to support our colleagues, we
have trained mental health first aiders and all employees have access to an Employee Assistance Programme.
Understanding and managing different vulnerabilities We categorise customers on level of impact in order to assess appropriate forbearance:
www.CCRMagazine.com
l Fin Diff l L1 – Short-term impact l L2 – Long-term but able to pay l L3 – Severe or long-term impact
Systems Vulnerability requires flexibility outside of robotic process-driven strategies. Communications are geared around the customer vulnerability level with signposting where suitable. We review accounts in each vulnerability
type, including where customers may have been classified as vulnerable on more than one occasion (this triggers an individual review to determine any bespoke action required to assist the customer). Customers experiencing long-term
impact are individually reviewed by specifically trained agents, to determine appropriate outcomes.
Single customer view This has proven to be our biggest piece of work over the last three years: l Any customer, with more than one debt line, is consolidated into a true single customer view. l This means the customer receives one communication, one call or has one webchat relating to all their Lantern accounts. l Each customer is given a unique, one-time reference number with Lantern irrespective of the number of debts we hold for them. l Each time a new debt line is added, the customer receives a friendly and bespoke Notice of Assignment, relating to their current status with Lantern. l Any new debts can be absorbed into existing payment plans if the customer is
August 2020
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52