Bang for the Buck: Efficiently Training and Motivating Collectors

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Debt collection, like any other business, has a skill set.  Not everyone is born with the proper skills and mindset that make an effective collection professional and even those who do have the right mix of mental and emotional attributes still require training.  Many collection agencies – especially smaller shops – struggle with staff turnover and the sense that they waste hundreds of hours and untold amounts of money and resources training collectors who then leave the industry shortly thereafter.

Typically, this sort of turnaround can be traced right back to the training the collectors are given.  Here are some simple suggestions to reduce staff turnover and make sure you’re getting the most ‘bang for your buck’ when it comes to training and motivating your collection staff.

·              Educate.  Training can’t simply consist of handing your new hire a stack of documents to read and sending them on their way.  An effective collector has to know the laws of your area and the policies and culture of your company.  Take the time to educate them.  It will pay dividends.

·              Foster Communication.  Collections can be a competitive field, and offering rewards for volume is always a good idea.  But you can’t allow your collectors to become solo agents, cut off from each other.  Weekly meetings where communication is encouraged are essential, as your collectors can learn from each other’s successes – and failures.

·              Keep Goals Realistic.  Setting goals for your collectors is a tried-and-true motivational tool, but you have to make these goals individual and realistic.  Tailor goals to the collector’s experience, prior record, and personality.  A little stretching is good, but a goal that is absolutely unreachable doesn’t motivate, it depresses.

·              Talk to Your Collectors.  Getting them to discuss business between themselves is good for education and shared experience, but you should make sure you touch base with your staff and make them feel valued, as well as to review their load and advise them on tactics and where they may be going wrong.

A motivated staff will clear more paper; it’s a simple fact of life.