Disrespecting customers is an easy way to lose business, and yet many collections agencies continue to jeopardize client customer relationships with bad representation.
It makes sense that some leaders feel hesitant to contract collections to a third-party. After all, the company reputation is at stake. Unprofessional collections personnel leave money on the table by disrespecting customers. To make matters worse, research indicates the customer who feels embarrassed or disrespected by a negative customer service experience will share their story with as many as 9-20 people.
Sometimes, a collections agent does not intend to sound unprofessional, but there may be multiple adverse factors present. For starters, if the agent is simply calling and asking for money, the conversation is immediately contentious. An agent might technically follow a flowchart or script and “check all the boxes,” but the customer could still leave the call feeling disrespected, even if they agree to a payment plan.
Account Management Resources (AMR) realizes collections personnel likely require training beyond how to read through a script or reaching customers who don’t want to be found. Making the call is one thing. Holding a call where the customer feels both heard and respected is an entirely different skillset.
In order to develop recovery specialists into true industry professionals who use emotional intelligence during a conversation, as well as empathize with what the customer is feeling, AMR invests in agent training with communication leaders in the industry. We are also members of the highest certifying body in the United States, the American Collectors Association (ACA).
Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions, as well as recognize, understand, and influence the emotions of other people.
Every year AMR invests financial resources into our employees to give them the soft skills to serve our customers’ customers. Our training develops agents who increase their capacity to show empathy, listen well and think creatively. Using this approach, most customers work with us to create a payment plan they can fulfill.
AMR employees’ guiding values are summarized in the ACA Collectors Pledge which states:
- I believe every person should be treated with dignity and respect.
- I will make it my personal responsibility to help consumers find ways to pay their just debts.
- I will be professional and ethical.
- I commit to honoring this pledge.
The Collectors Pledge is a call to the highest levels of professionalism and ethical practices. To ensure each AMR employee fulfills this vow every day, we invest in technology like call recording, so individual employees can continually receive improvement feedback, as well as regular professional development by industry communication experts. We realize when we invest in our employees’ emotional intelligence, we all benefit. To learn more about the AMR difference in collections, visit amraccounts.com.