Credit Management September 2019

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ASK THE EXPERTS Collections Clinics In this new series of ‘Ask the Experts’, we focus on collections, and in particular the issue of customer commitment. AUTHOR – Pam Thomas FCICM Pam Thomas contacted the customer and they tell me they’re going to pay, but how can I trust them when they’ve broken promises before?’ Does this ‘I’VE sound familiar? I think every collector, no matter how long they’ve been doing the job will experience frustration at some time because a customer hasn’t kept to their word. Sometimes, this can simply be due to unclear communication (yours or theirs), the relationship or the customer’s financial situation. But, could you do anything differently to avoid disappointment? Credit controllers from a range of companies were keen to share their knowledge when I asked the question: Q. What tips do you have to persuade a customer to stick to a commitment to pay? Tip 1. Make it easy for them – offer to do something to help the customer e.g. diarise the date they said payment would be made and offer a follow up phone call or email. Tip 2. Don’t be vague – never ask the customer ‘when’ payment will be made as it allows them to choose their time frame. They’ll choose the lengthiest time and make it harder for you to negotiate. Tip 3. Be specific – tell the customer the day, date, method of payment you want. You can negotiate from this point. Tip 4. Give them options – simple things such as saying ‘if you make the payment today then your account won’t go on stop’. Tip 5. Save them time – ‘I can take a card payment over the phone from you now’ or suggest direct debit set up in the future to smooth the process (yours and theirs). Tip 6. Get them to tell you – summarise the call but ask the customer to confirm the date, amount and method of payment. You stand more of a chance of receiving the money if they say it. Tip 7. What worked – keep a note of your success with different customers. Rinse and repeat. All of the above are suggestions but it is important to work within your company guidelines and take into consideration the relationship with the customer. If you have any tips you would like to share or would like to pose a collections question to fellow credit professionals, write to: editorial@cicm.com. Pam is a trainer for CICM and runs various levels of credit and collection courses in the UK and internationally. Best Practice Customer Communications MICHELLE Dunn, Learning, Knowledge and Change Readiness Manager at Lowell, and I were delighted to attend a regional CICM event to talk to members around the work we are doing at Lowell on customer communications. The Yorkshire-based event provided an ideal opportunity to meet other professionals from across the industry and hear about the great work being done in areas such as analytics, debtor ledger management, and enforcement. The nature of our business provides an interesting set of customer communication challenges. We acquire debt that the originating creditor has not been able to recover and then work with the people owing the debt to improve their financial wellbeing. Interestingly, the people concerned haven’t chosen to be our customers. More than that, for organisations who use debt sale as a final option in the recovery process Lowell could represent a sixth generation contact point for that customer. This creates a potentially more complex customer journey. Through the great work Michelle’s Learning and Development Team are doing to coach effective conversation and identifying customer circumstances, we have equipped our staff to handle conversations effectively. However, to achieve outstanding customer experience we also need to appreciate the journey the customer has taken so far and use this insight to optimise interactions. Within the Utility Sector, which is where I focus, knowing which energy provider supplied the stated property and for which period, allows our advisors to open up the very basic conversation with a customer. However, then being able to access information such as the number of meter readings submitted, the meter type, how readings were obtained, the customer’s tariff and unit usage and their history of complaints makes the interaction so much richer and delivers better outcomes. Achieving best customer outcomes combines effective conversation handling technique, using an appropriate tone of voice, as well as a deep appreciation of the customer’s current circumstances and insight regarding the customer’s historic journey. Delivering great customer experience is critical to achieving the best outcomes for the customer and helping them along the road to financial rehabilitation. Ensuring the three elements outlined above work together effectively is an important success factor. Mark Platts is Utilities Account Director at Lowell Group. The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / September 2019 / PAGE 46
Would you like to be CICM qualified? Plan now to start studying in September Now is the time to think about starting your studies in September and speaking to your employer. Our education advisers can give advice on how to get started and the options available. Partly qualified? Find out which units you could complete to gain a CICM qualification. You could replace an exam with an assignment for example, telephone collections. Study options are explained below. EVENING CLASSES CICM Teaching Centres offer classroom-based learning in Credit Management (Trade, Export and Consumer), Accounting Principles, Business Law and Business Environment towards the CICM Level 3 Diploma in Credit & Collections and some offer study towards the CICM Level 5 Diploma in Credit Collections Management. VIRTUAL CLASSROOM The CICM Credit Academy offers the opportunity to study in a virtual classroom through the web for the Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management examined units Credit Management (Trade, Export and Consumer), Accounting Principles, Business Law and Business Environment and Level 5 Diploma subjects. Classes are led by an experienced tutor, are interactive and you have plenty of opportunity to ask questions and test your knowledge. IN-COMPANY CLASSES Some Teaching Centres and the CICM Credit Academy offer in-company classes for CICM qualifications. Contact CICM Learning and Development for further details. Fees depend on location, length of course and are generally cost effective for groups of ten learners or more. SUPPORTED HOME STUDY Supported home study suits those who wish to receive tutorial support, but would like some flexibility. A practical option if you are unable to attend college on a regular basis for the Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management examined units or CICM Level 5 Diploma in Credit Management Supported home study providers: ‣ CICM Learning Support Service ‣ OLC (Europe) ‣ Haddoum Training, Milton Keynes (including three Saturday classes) INDEPENDENT HOME STUDY This provides the cheapest and most flexible option to study for Level 3 Diploma examined units and Level 5 Diploma units. As a minimum requirement, you would need to purchase relevant study texts and guides prepared by the CICM for these units and specialist text books. This is not a correspondence course and in using this method you work alone. CICM TRAINING CICM offers open and in-company training days linked to CICM assignments (see CICM website for details). Works well for all CICM qualifications (Credit Management, Debt Collections and Money and Debt Advice). In some cases, the Institute can link organisations own training to CICM awards and CICM would be pleased to advise on this. CONTACT DETAILS FOR EVENING AND VIRTUAL CLASSES Basingstoke brenda.linger@btconnect.com Avnet, Bracknell Brenda.linger@btconnect.com Leeds City College Karen.odgers@leedscitycollege.ac.uk Scorpion, Wolverhampton scorpionpjc@gmail.com London Metropolitan University professionalcourses@londonmet.ac.uk Haddoum Training, Milton Keynes Haddoum.training@yahoo.co.uk Malta Association of Credit Management info@macm.org.uk Portsmouth brenda.linger@btconnect.com Southampton brenda.linger@btconnect.com Stoke-on-Trent College mdodd1sc@stokecoll.ac.uk CICM Virtual Class creditacademy@cicm.com The Organisational Learning Centre, (OLC Europe) CICM Credit Academy, Manchester gpaton@olceurope.com Irish Credit Management Training declan@icmt.ie South Africa (South African training provider, CSM debt services PTY Ltd t/a Credit Skills ) haronmcmanus@creditskills.co.za Contact: professionalqualifications@cicm.com or telephone: 01780 722909
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Credit Management September 2019

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