In Focus Commercial Credit
A sharp edge
An experienced credit professional knows that technology alone is not the answer
Anthony Sharp Proprietor, Anthony Sharp Associates
asa.associates@
virgin.net
We have a New Year, a new decade, a new government, virtually a new prime minister, and plenty of new technology in the world of collections, but are we in danger of forgetting the basic principles of collections in taking on board every new ‘gizmo’ that comes our way, that is my question today? Are we in danger of letting technology ‘rule the waves’?
The human touch Over so many years, industries of various kinds – including ours – have given in, in part, to the belief that technology will sort everything. I can vividly remember when credit
scoring first appeared in the early 1980s many in the industry thought that it would then enable companies to dispense with the human touch (staff) with new applications, as the computer was always right and it would do the work for you. The industry learned the hard way. So what about collections: new technology
is coming on board almost daily and much of it is very valuable and useful in the collections arena, but do we then train our collectors to become even more like robots, as some are at the moment? What about the human touch?
Vulnerability Over the last few years, there has been a strong concentration on vulnerability – one word that has such a wide meaning – and yet I know companies who believe they
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have it sorted by laying down some sort of definition of vulnerability and ‘list’ of those who they consider vulnerable, then they train up a team of people to form a vulnerability department, who appear to be told what to do and say rather than to listen and spend time ascertaining the truth or otherwise of the vulnerability claim and handling the issue carefully and professionally. Please do not get me wrong; there are a
number of companies who have got the balance right and run a very efficient and worthwhile team to deal with such cases, but we need to be aware that technology is only and only ever will be an aid not a solution.
Collections Even if we lay aside the vulnerability situation for a moment and think of collections in general, I ask the same question: are we still so focussed on call- number targets that we forget that the person we are talking to on the telephone or face-to- face is a human being like us? They may indeed be a ‘will pay but
don’t’, a ‘won’t pay’ and need dealing with accordingly, or may actually be a ‘can’t pay but may like to’, or else a mixture of the three? This is humanity. This New Year, let us consider carefully
the whole picture; let us use all our assets as a company, working together and never forgetting the human mind, the need to care, and the need to help as well as to collect.
www.CCRMagazine.com
New technology is coming on board almost daily and much of it is very valuable and useful in the collections arena, but do we then train our collectors to become even more like robots, as some are at the moment?
This surely is the method of collections that the FCA is so keen to promote as we should be also. A very Happy New Year to all readers!
Do not forget: it is not too late to make New Year resolutions, both personal and business. CCR
January 2020
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