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Effectively Supervise Your Collections Team

Another day done,
All targets met,
All systems operational,
All customers fully satisfied,
All staff keen and well motivated,
All pigs fed and ready to fly!

I first came across these words, beautifully painted and framed, on the desk of a team leader in a busy collections department in a large high street bank. The team leader explained that it was a gift from her predecessor to congratulate her on achieving promotion from collector to team leader. Clearly genuine and well-received though the present certainly was, it seemed somewhat paradoxical to me that a gesture of congratulations should convey such a pessimistic message!

However, anyone who has ever undertaken the role of collections supervisor or team leader (defined as having the same scope within this article) will readily, I am sure, associate with both these words and the proverb, 'many a true word spoken in jest', which summarises their sentiment so accurately.

The key objective

Before exploring the issues behind effective collections supervision in more detail, it may be useful to establish the key objective of any collections team - namely, to collect as much money as possible, as cheaply as possible, as quickly as possible, within the law and regulatory requirements.

Ideally, to achieve and sustain that objective, the collections team needs to consist of motivated, well-trained individuals who are supported by sound collection procedures and policies, and fully functional technology. The supervisor needs to understand these key components, analyse the gaps within their team, identify that which cannot be changed and prioritise the challenges which remain.

Motivation

In terms of motivation, a supervisor, as indeed all human beings, should understand the value of praise, enthusiasm, fairness, clear and realistic objectives, empowerment, success, recognition and reward.

Specific to the collections arena, they should be alert to how demotivating it can be for a collector to be told, for example, 'you need to be more assertive' or 'your calls take too long', without at the same time being supplied with the tools required to cultivate and nurture the change.

Similarly, the experienced collector is unlikely to feel inspired to build further on their experience and expertise if, for example, their mandate level for agreeing concessionary payment arrangements is practically identical to the newly appointed novice.

My final example of demotivation describes the undoubtedly studious supervisor who gets lost in a mire of meetings, absentee reports and management information that all too easily steal focus from the collector who has just obtained a debit card payment from a debtor eight months in arrears, and who deserves an immediate and vocal 'pat on the back'.

Time consuming? No. Cost hungry? No. A vital part of collector supervision? Yes!

Incentives

Thankfully, the historic reluctance in the UK to provide collectors with monetary incentives has begun to change, and it is exciting to watch the gradual but steady replacement of ill thought out schemes which encourage the wrong collections behaviour (for example, rewarding promises to pay rather than kept promises) by more rational methods of monetary reward. However, it would be dangerous to dismiss entirely non-financial rewards as boring or meaningless in the context of motivation, when they rely on nothing more than genuineness and a little extra thought on the part of the giver, and, most importantly, they undoubtedly work.

Specific, timely and formal recognition of a job well done is so much more powerful than a 'cheers, thanks for your help' delivered with zero eye contact in a half-empty office. Measuring motivation within a collections team can be enlightening and need not take a large amount of time. I have known a number of top class supervisors who have put together a simple, user friendly questionnaire on the subject, encouraged anonymous completion, ensured quick publication of the results and successfully used the information (in conjunction with, for example, absenteeism and sickness levels) to quickly improve team motivation and, consequently, team performance.

The collections department also provides the ideal environment for the supervisor to increase motivation via the use of eyecatching visuals used to identify teams, illustrate targets and incentives, and recognise top performance.

Coaching and feedback

In the area of collector competence, I believe that it is essential for the supervisor to conduct or manage the execution of regular call monitoring, coaching and feedback sessions with each and every debt collector in their team, irrespective of that individual's experience, skill level and previous performance record. Call monitoring should identify regulatory breaches and areas where policy is not being followed, but fundamentally provide the opportunity for collectors to improve their results and level of satisfaction within a sometimes tedious but always challenging job.

Call monitoring needs to differentiate between that which is pre-determined, for example, opening scripts and security checks, and that which is determined by individual tactical choice, for example, asking a question or stating a fact, choosing which 'levers' to use during the conversation and whether or not these should emphasise the benefits of paying on time or the consequences of continued default. Properly conducted one-to-one coaching sessions, which guide and encourage team members towards greater collections performance, will guarantee a decrease in the number of escalated calls, an increase in the value and stickability of promises to pay and a decrease in the average length of the more difficult calls.

Technology can offer a positive contribution to live agent coaching, with systems now available to provide the supervisor with, at the touch of a button, the ability to monitor conversations and view computer screens, coach collectors by whispering instructions which only the collector can hear, and intervene and speak directly with the debtor to resolve difficult issues.

Effective feedback on the collector's performance and case decisions is also, I believe, a crucial part of effective supervision. Such feedback must encourage interactive discussion between collector and supervisor, recognise the positive characteristics of the collector's performance and offer specific and constructive ideas on potential areas of improvement.

If the collector is lacking in confidence, they may be encouraged to try replacing phrases like 'would it be possible�' and 'is there any way that you could…' with 'I need' statements that calmly and politely state what is required. Alternatively, a collector may be struggling to complete their calls within the required timeframe, and could benefit from reducing the number of 'why?' questions in their conversations, which often encourage discussion about the past, and divert attention away from the key goals on the intent and ability to pay.

Company profile

It would be quite wrong to suggest in any way that the role of the collections supervisor is easy. Understanding their key objectives at a high level may well be straightforward, but the real skill is in achieving the objectives whilst encountering a range of potentially conflicting issues on the way. The ability to motivate the team can be extremely difficult unless the supervisor is given proper access to the discussions on policy, targets and incentives.

The historically 'poor relation' profile of the collections department in certain organisations has to be superseded in order to encourage the collections supervisor to enthusiastically seek opportunities for their department to improve, and put ideas forward to management in the knowledge they will be properly considered.

Similarly, the common supervisory pressure to 'collect more money' has to be embedded within a strong back-up culture which acknowledges complaints may occasionally occur as a result of well-meant but over-zealous collections behaviour, rather than necessarily a malicious intent to upset the debtor.

Summary

In summary then, the collections supervisor provides an integral link between those who make the policies and those who are required to implement them. The role requires a unique combination of people skills, collections knowledge and regulatory awareness but, if properly rewarded and supported, will unquestionably lead to a significant and sustainable uplift in collections performance.

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