Increase Your Collection Yields: A Guide to Optimising Collection and Recovery Returns

Part 4 of 4: Technology

In the last part of our series, we will look at technology and technological advances that can affect operational efficiency.

We have been spoiled with numerous technology advances in the last few years, which provide exceptional tools to the modern call centre in order to improve operational effectiveness.

Let’s look at a few of these tools:

Self-service bots

Incorporating self-service bots in the collections sector, while gradually gaining traction, remains a relatively untapped strategy despite clear consumer demand and its evident benefits. A significant shift is seen with millennials forming a large part of credit portfolios, showing a strong preference for text-based communication. This preference, along with the often sensitive and potentially embarrassing nature of collections conversations, makes an impersonal, bot-based platform highly suitable. Crucially, it's essential to integrate a feature for immediate conversational handover to live agents when necessary. This ensures a seamless and empathetic customer experience, vital for the success of each engagement and for maintaining the integrity of the customer relationship. The careful selection of the appropriate bot and technology partner is key, not only for upholding customer experience but also for mitigating potential reputational risks

Omnichannel platforms

An omni-channel platform is crucial in modern collections operations, catering to diverse customer preferences across various communication channels such as email, text, and calls. This approach enhances customer experience in collections by offering flexibility and comfort in communication choices, which can lead to more successful outcomes. Additionally, an omni-channel strategy provides insightful data on customer behaviour, aiding in personalised and effective collection strategies. It also ensures regulatory compliance through a unified view of customer interactions. Integrating such a platform not only demonstrates an organisation's commitment to innovation but also builds long-term customer loyalty and a positive brand reputation.

Agent coaching bots

?Adopting coaching bots or virtual assistants in call centres significantly improves agent communication, motivation, and call outcomes. These digital tools help agents make informed decisions by analysing and presenting complex data, leading to more effective customer interactions. They also boost agent morale through continuous feedback and rewards, enhancing customer service quality. Additionally, their ability to be customised to specific needs ensures relevant and productive customer conversations, elevating the overall customer experience. This integration marks a key advancement in achieving efficient and impactful customer interactions in call centres.

Speech analytics

In call centres, limited call analysis often leads to inaccurate assumptions about quality and compliance due to operational constraints. Speech analytics solutions address this by analysing all calls, identifying key words and phrases, and highlighting calls that require further attention. These solutions focus on actual spoken content, providing transcribed data for a more accurate assessment.

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In South Africa, scepticism about speech analytics has been prevalent due to the complexity of local languages. However, recent developments have led to tailored solutions for the South African market, capable of analysing multiple local languages. This advancement is paving the way for comprehensive speech analytics across all 11 official languages in South African call centres.

AI (Artificial Intelligence)

The recent surge in AI technology raises the question of the future role of call centre agents in the next 5-10 years. As millennials increasingly favour self-help services and AI-based call centre interactions, it prompts a debate on the potential redundancy of human agents. Nonetheless, it's not feasible to disregard AI even with a fully staffed call centre.

Despite the evolving call centre landscape and the integration of technology, the value of personal interaction remains irreplaceable. However, the nature of these interactions is changing. Routine tasks traditionally handled by call centre agents, like providing account balances or banking details, are shifting towards AI-powered self-service bots.

The incorporation of AI into call centre operations is redefining the roles of human agents. They are now transitioning to more specialised functions, such as handling complex default account queries, negotiating repayment terms, and educating customers on financial literacy. For a future-proof collections strategy, it's essential to integrate AI and human agents effectively. This hybrid approach promises to enhance collection efficiency, ensuring higher yields than ever before.

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?In our experience, focusing your efforts on optimising these aspects of your collections operation, will improve your returns and revenue and make sure you are getting paid first, consistently. Even starting to implement any one of these tactics will see you reaping the rewards not long after that.