Collectors: Learn how to stop your Ego, Judgement & Frustration getting in the way of a good customer call.

There are usually 3 parties in any collection call: the creditor, the customer, and the debt. All too often a collection call can be perceived like it is either the Organisation and the debt versus the customer, or the Organisation versus the customer and ‘their’ debt. This automatically creates a negative starting point. A preparation for battle.

A shift in thinking is required.

Instead, a call should always be approached as the Organisation and the Customer ‘working together’ to solve the debt.

In this instance, there is a show of solidarity, support, and commitment from both parties to solve the debt, and to reach an improved outcome, for all. Both parties have essentially the same goal: provide the customer with an amount they can commit to that takes into account their financial situation and vulnerability profile, reduce the debt, and empower the customer to reach an improved financial position.?

Sounds easy? Not so.

For many of us there are 3 key things that get in the way of having a genuine and effective collections call. That stop us from approaching the call with a fresh mindset to work together with the customer. They are? Ego, Judgement and Frustration.

Let’s have a look at how these 3 elements can affect us on a collections call and what may be going on in our ‘thought bubble’ as each one kicks in:

Ego:

“I would never try and get away with not paying my debts.”

“I have always paid my way, why should they get away with it?”

“They can’t try that sob story on me, I see straight through it.”

Judgement:

“Well they can afford to buy smokes, why shouldn’t they pay off their debt first?”

“I’ve heard all the excuses under the sun.”

“They have a big house, of course they can afford to pay.”

Frustration:

“We keep going around in circles here….”

“I will have to terminate the call……..”

None of the above approaches will result in a positive interaction with the customer.

Alex Daniel, Operations Manager and Communications Specialist at eMatrix has many years experience of handling difficult conversations, heading up Ombudsman and Hardship Teams. He?offers the following practical techniques to overcome ego, judgement and frustration and to achieve more harmony when working together.

The Building Blocks for Better Customer Outcomes (Alex Daniel)

Mindset - Being aware of our own ego, judgement and frustration and understanding that it is a very normal human reaction is the first step. Leaders can share and discuss with staff how mindset gets in the way of a productive conversation and/or outcome and how this is the number one workplace risk as it negatively impacts staff emotional wellbeing.

There are practical techniques to sidestep thought clouds and negative headspaces by employing ‘mental gymnastics’ as a way to protect ourselves emotionally, reduce the level of conflict and stress in the role, and go home with more energy. This is critical for a long lasting career in a challenging role. Compassion fatigue and burnout are very real dangers in a role where we support vulnerable customers and hear a large amount of difficult stories and life experiences, let alone the conflict that can happen between customers or with colleagues.

So, what are the 'mental gymnastics'?

Internal Curiosity

When things get heated, the other party says something that triggers us or we have a values clash, rather than leading with a reaction, we talk about ‘internal curiosity’ about the person – this avoids the bite back. What does that mean in practice though?

Collector to Customer:

“I wonder why the customer is so angry over a bill, they must have a lot of stressful things going on”

OR

“The customer must have a lot in their emotional backpack and it’s not personal”

Collector to Work Colleague:

“I wonder what’s happening for them that they sound quite abrupt and uncompassionate?”

OR

“What challenges are they having in their job or outside of work?”

OR

“Why would they be getting frustrated with me when we have the same goal?”

This is much easier said than done and requires effort each day to perform these gymnastics and form a habit but from a selfish point of view, it’s worth caring about this to have a better level of well-being in a really challenging role – there is a positive knock on effect from this approach on the other parties involved and from a performance perspective.

Setting & Controlling the Energy

Niceties are what sets a human and engaging interaction apart from a transactional scripted conversation. They are the emoji of verbal communication where you can set the energy of a conversation which engages the other person.

There are many examples of where niceties are used with customers, colleagues and managers which help with getting a better solution or with getting a request prioritised, and makes the interaction much smoother as this influences a person to be in a more positive state. We call it likeability which when coupled with trust building is a very powerful combo and we think this should be top of mind in every conversation we have.

What are some examples?

“Hope you are doing well…

Thanks for taking my call…

Hope you had a nice weekend…Thanks for the recent payment/communication…

I know you’ve got a lot on at the moment…”

What gets in the way of using niceties?

• We are in a rush
• We move to problem solving prior to trust building
• We may not be conscious of this as a strategy
• The other person sounds stand-offish
• Compassion fatigue
• Judgement towards an organisation or person based on past experience

The Reset Technique

The reset technique is when a customer is getting personal or abusive instead of doing the 3 warnings about terminating a call (which in our experience generally don’t work too well), we use:

“I know the call hasn’t been productive for both of us so we can either reset and I’d really like to help resolve this, or you could call back another time”

OR (with empathy)

“I know it’s a frustrating situation and the call hasn’t been productive for both of us so we can either reset and I’d really like to help resolve this, or you could call back another time”

In conclusion, we face a lot of challenges within Collections departments on a daily basis, juggling KPI’s, commercial targets, regulations and compliance, with customer vulnerability, hardship and difficult conversations. With all of this to navigate, it is vital that Collections Managers and their teams know how to have more positive interactions with customers that protect their own emotions and result in improved outcomes all around. Recognising how ego, judgement and frustration can get in the way of a positive customer interaction is the first step. Only then can you apply the practical techniques to eliminate ego, judgement and frustration in your collection calls:

Change your mindset. Be Curious. Control the Energy. Reset when necessary.

Jodie Bedoya is Director of eMatrix Training, Collections and Vulnerability Training Specialists. If you would like to know more about practical techniques that can be employed for improved outcomes in your collections team, you can contact her on 0438 391 500 or [email protected].

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