Call Center Debt Collection Booms In Eastern Europe
In Romania only, the debts with more than 30 days overdue are reaching 4.459 billion LEI (more than 1 billion EUR) this year
. This is +60% than in 2009. Today, more than 714,000 people have overdue debts in this country (1500 EUR per debtor as an average).
As the financial crisis plunges many people into debt, in Romania as well as in Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, more and more creditors are turning to outsourced debt recovery via call centers, making the debt collection business one of the fastest-growing sectors in the call center industry in the region.
We"d like to take this opportunity to respond to some of the most common questions we have been receiving about the expansion of our debt recovery services for Eastern clients.
Who are your clients and what services are you performing?
For collections, most of our clients are banks and financial institutions. Our two largest customers for collections are a leading French consumer finance company and one of the largest European banks. For both clients we provide soft debt collection services: payment reminders over the phone, mostly in Romanian, Bulgarian and soon, in Hungarian and Russian.
Do non-financial/banking companies tend to outsource debt collection as well?
Yes, indeed. Not only banks and credit players need collection services: more and more industries "" and first and foremost: utilities, cable, and telecom operators "" have to deal with large numbers of clients not paying their overdue amounts. Most of these companies start looking for a call center because they do not have the necessary personnel and know-how or the correct infrastructure in-house to manage large debt collection campaigns by themselves. We are here to help them.
How is CallPoint different from its competitors for collections?
Call center debt collection is a very specialized job, which requires the right technology as well as experienced people. We have recruited a skilled team of managers who have significant experience in both soft and hard debt collection. Their experience includes nearshore and offshore debt collection campaigns (UK and the USA mostly). Thanks to their know-how, we are now using the best international practices to reach high recovery rates.
How do you track down debtors who evade your calls?
We have formed a specific department called "Skip Tracing". This department is devoted to finding the debtors who change residence or phone numbers without notifying creditors in order to evade payment of bills. We search city and telephone directories, street listings, and perform inquires at post offices. CallPoint"s "Skip tracing team" begins with any known information such as the name, last known address, previous addresses, last known and previous phone numbers, employer"s phone number etc. The more identifiers our skip tracers have, the easier it is for them to complete a skip trace.
With the help of our skip tracing department, the quality of information has expanded dramatically and with the correct information in hand we are increasing our efficiency in debt collection by up to 20%.
What is the profile of a debt collection officer and how do you retain them?
Being a collector is not an easy job. Therefore, the selection process is an important step. For early-stage collection, we see that students or young graduates have better results (from 20 to 30 years old), while for late-stage collection, the best profile is women between 30 and 40. The main traits which make a good collector profile are: strong personality, flexible, always being in control, "straight to the point" attitude and good communication skills.
The training process is important as well. The collection officers have to understand the scope of the collection, they have to understand their role in the collection process. They have to be taught how to be firm and strong without being impolite or disrespectful.
Another important aspect is the use of incentive schemes. Our collectors receive bonuses based on their recovery rate. The collector must understand the Key Performance Indicators, and be aware of their performance on a daily basis.
What do creditors expect from a call center like CallPoint?
Our clients expect different things, including transparency, constant focus over performance, and flexibility. But most important, I think our clients are working with us because we are a reliable partner for a long-term relationship, as we provide constant results at the right price:
Continuous performance. We do our best to deliver steady results all year round. Our clients do not like ups and down in monthly results as this will blur their estimations for revenues.
Pricing is an important aspect. The business relationship between CallPoint and its clients must be a win-win one. Therefore, we align our prices with performance. The higher the recovery rate, the more we earn.
Is CallPoint also offering other services to banks and financial institutions besides debt collection?
We are performing large telesales campaigns to improve our clients" market share. We have good know-how on selling both credit loans and credit cards over the phone. Inbound customer care (both inbound calls and email management) is also an important service we are offering to our clients in order to improve the client"s interaction with their customers.
by: Gregoire Vigroux
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