More than 50% of the companies who participated in a joint survey conducted by AccountsRecovery.net and Prodigal have thrived during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, out-performing several key performance indicators like right-party contact rates, overall agent productivity, and inbound call volumes.
A copy of the report can be accessed by clicking here.
One-quarter of the survey’s participants experienced a slight drop in their performance and 21% reported a steep drop in their KPIs.
The report segmented those companies that participated in the survey — representing 30 states across the country — into three categories from the book, “Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder.” Those categories were:
- Antifragiles, which represent companies that grew when exposed to stress or chaos
- Resilients, which represent companies that adapted to shocks and uncertainties
- Contenders, which represent companies that suffer from disorder and volatility
The top-performing agencies — Antifragiles — reported a 9% increase in agent productivity, compared with a 4% decline for those agencies in the Resilient category, and a 9% drop for Contenders.
About half of the companies participating in the survey laid off portions of their staff during the initial weeks after the pandemic shut down most of the country. But 80% of those companies said they planned on hiring employees back at some point in the future. Companies that fell into the Contenders category reported the highest number of layoffs.
Most companies that participated in the survey applied for loans under the Payment Protection Program and 95% of those who applied were approved.
Among the challenges that presented themselves during the initial period of the pandemic, maintaining agent productivity was the most common response from the survey’s respondents.
When asked about their outlook for the credit and collection industry for the remainder of 2020 and heading into 2021, 31% said they were optimistic. Not surprisingly, companies in the Antifragile category were the most bullish.
