There is a perception in the industry that compliance and empathy sit on opposite ends of a seesaw, and the ultimate goal for any collection operation is to find the balance between the two. But that is not necessarily the case. As Mary Shores and Judd Peak discuss in the latest episode of “Training Bytes,” compliance and empathy do not have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, dialing up the empathy can not only lead to more collections, but improved compliance as well.
“We need to create an environment where the the consumer and the collector are really allies for each other and not seeing each other as the enemy,” Shores said during the discussion.
Collecting with empathy has many benefits beyond connecting with consumers on a higher level and collecting more money. At Capital Accounts, for example, the company’s litigation profile has decreased and the number of complaints it receives has dropped since it has deployed a training program that arms collectors with more tools and skills to help them navigate calls with consumers. But beyond that, as Peak explained, the collectors are now more confident when they are on the phone.
“They know where the law, the lines have drawn, they know how to engage in a variety of different situations and a variety of different approaches from the consumer side, and navigate that successfully so that they’re handling the call successfully,” Peak said.
Check out all of the videos in the Training Bytes series, and get links to access the podcast version of each episode by clicking here.
