Here at eMatrix we are a little quirky in a good way, we love the art of debt collection, hardship and anything where we are talking about money or financial difficulty.
This is a really big topic as we started the business 13 years ago because the art of talking about money is such a complex art form – most people underestimate this yet there are levels, layers and the devil is in the detail.
Talking about money can be really awkward for most if not all people, it’s a taboo topic in Australian culture, most people communicate by the seat of their pants with default language where we are reacting versus being intentional and the mere act of asking for the money is where we often miss the mark.
Because we love this topic and always want to provide value to people who also live in this world, here are 10 concepts which combine our headspace, strategies and pro tips – welcome to the ‘Debt 10’.
1. It’s all about capacity to pay… if you don’t know it, you’re collecting in the dark
Too often, collection conversations start without a clear understanding of a customer’s capacity to pay and circumstances. By not asking the right questions and negotiating, we risk placing the customer in further vulnerability.
What happens when collectors go in blind:
Risk we ask for the minimum without assessing capacity and on the other hand, push for payments that aren’t sustainable.
Miss signs of vulnerability or financial hardship as we aren’t assessing current and future capacity.
Lose the opportunity for first call resolution through a sustainable outcome that fits the customer.
Pro Tip: Ask the vulnerability and capacity question ‘For me to best support you, help me understand how that is impacting you managing bills and other expenses?’
2. The customer is the expert in their own story
Commonly we move to problem solving before understanding the customer and this means the solution is based on assumptions and bias which is usually far from the reality.
What happens when we don’t leverage the customer’s expertise in their own life:
Risk: We disempower the customer and either under or over negotiate
Miss: Signs of vulnerability and financial difficulty which prevents the right solution and support
Lose: The ability to build trust with the customer as we are controlling rather than informing ourselves
Pro Tip: Ask a basic yet powerful question with a pause to get the conversation rolling ‘So that we can work together to take some stress away with the account, what’s making it difficult to pay?
3. Earn the right to ask the questions
We make too many assumptions that the customer already trusts us, likes us and perceives that we have a positive intent. This couldn’t be further from the truth and results in us not being intentional about building trust to reduce the ‘stranger danger’ effect.
What happens when we assume a customer trusts and likes us:
Risk: The customer telling us what they think we want to hear as there is an implied power and control element when dealing with organisations.
Miss: The opportunity for the customer to freely and safely communicate with us.
Lose: The chance to gain important elements from the customer that would inform the most balanced payment outcome.
4. Make it brain friendly for the customer
We often assume that a customer is as savvy as us with our own internal processes, jargon and technical language, literacy (Both generally, financially and digitally) when in reality there is a wide range of capability in customer understanding. By making this assumption we are building more disconnection, we sound less engaging and less human which is one of the qualities that really makes a difference.
What happens when we assume:
Risk judging the customer that, they should know, they should have done X, Y and Z when life is actually quite complicated
Miss the opportunity to adapt to the customer so we add value, education and help a customer navigate the complicated world we work in
Lose our connection with a lack of likability and trust which means the customer never feels truly comfortable to safely share their circumstances and needs
Pro Tip: Increasing our awareness given we are often in a hurry to satisfy both process and compliance as a human default which then means our pace is too fast, we don’t stop and check for understanding and we lose our ability to adapt our conversation to the customer which means our outcome is never fit for purpose or sustainable. Technique: Invite a two way conversation through using open ended questions with a pause where you don’t fill in the answer.
5. If they trust you and like you, it’s harder to fight you
Intentionally building trust and likability reduces the chance of conflict proactively and is a protective factor for staff wellbeing. We often communicate ‘by the seat of our pants’ which means we rush into problem solving before building those emotional credits required to talk about the money.
By lacking an intentional approach to trust building we:
Risk: Moving too quickly before we’ve built the right foundation which is engagement with the customer.
Miss: The opportunity to have open conversation and in the future when they need our help.
Lose: Landing on the right outcome where the customer is connected to us meaning there is a lower chance of them paying as agreed
Pro tip: Being able to set our purpose or intent with the right language allows us to shortcut the trust building process which extinguishes ‘stranger danger’: ‘My role is to work with you to find the best outcome that takes a little bit of stress away with the account, how does that sound?’
6. If you don’t ask you don’t get
Given money conversations are a learned skill and it is a taboo topic in Australia there’s a level of discomfort in negotiating. This means we are missing out on the highest potential outcome which is influenced through our ability to negotiate.
What happens when we are uncomfortable with negotiating:
Risk: We start negotiating from a lower point in the hierarchy.
Miss: Landing on the largest amount, in the shortest time, within the customer’s capacity to pay
Lose: The opportunity to resolve the debt in the quickest way which helps take stress from the customer and from the organisation’s debt book
Pro Tip: Take a leap of faith to prove your worst fears wrong, ask for a ‘payment in full’, if no, ask for ‘how close could you get to that?’ and let the magic happen… don’t forget to pause and don’t fill in the awkward silence, or, opportunity lost.
7. Don’t assume customers do the maths on the peril ahead
When a customer is proposing a very low amount or under paying, we tend to think they have calculated the result or impact of that. Financial literacy and vulnerability challenges along with the chaos of life, means customers don’t necessarily apply logic to their offer and will not see the negative impact ahead.
What happens when we assume the customer has done the math linked to what they are offering:
Risk: Creating a false sense of security and hope when the result is likely to lead to more pain
Miss: The opportunity to educate with positive intent
Lose: The chance to empower the customer with the understanding of the impact of the proposed arrangement.
Pro Tip: Acknowledge the customer engaging with us and share the reality of how long this will take to pay off OR if underpaying, how much the debt will grow to in a set period of time.
8. Customers prioritise based on your likeability
We often don’t consider the impact of building likability in relation to the customer prioritising paying our debt versus the other 10 organisations that may be chasing them.
When we don’t lean into likability with the customer:
Risk: If the customer perceives your orgnisation as an entity, it’s faceless without a sense of connection so your debt may be the last on the list.
Miss: The chance to influence a higher level of prioritisation
Lose: The payment as the customer’s debts compete with their capacity and you are last in line.
Pro tip: To gain a better level of influence in a customer making the agreed payment, lean into making the customer feel a certain way through techniques like, strategic empathy, intent statement and seasoned language which influences a customer’s perception and mood.
9. You are not the problem solver, your role is to discover and offer the solutions.
Our human nature is to problem solve and this is compounded by those of us who are attracted to debt collection roles. We often problem solve based on shortcuts which leverage assumptions, bias and past experiences.
What happens when we problem solve too early and without the facts:
Risk: Disempowering the customer who is the expert in their life
Miss: The mark in finding the most balanced outcome for the customer and the organisation
Lose: Critical intel which guides a more sustainable outcome and other circumstantial and vulnerability factors that matter
Pro Tip: Asking a great discovery and accountability question like ‘What can you do to get the account back on track?’ puts the customer in the driver’s seat while we help them navigate our options.
10. How language carries power and influence
Too often in a work setting, we start to adopt corporate, overly formal and jargon-based language which starts to take out personality away and disconnects the customer. Being intentional with our language influences the mood of the customer which is important when talking about a negative topic like debt.
What happens when we adopt this disconnected language:
Risk: Having a barrier between us and the customer which perpetuates their negative perception of your organisation
Miss: Creating an environment where the customer feels at ease and connected with us to freely communicate with the risk of being judged
Lose: The customer having a sense of connection with us as another human that drives prioritising payment of our debt.
Pro tip: The eMatrix mantra for this is, we want your personality from outside of work, just without the swear words as this is part of the magic of connecting with others – authenticity.
Interested in having your cake and eating it through a balanced payment outcome while protecting staff wellbeing and receiving positive customer feedback?
