Will A Certified Collector Recover More Money?

certified collector

Receivables Control is in its third decade of certifying collectors. The decision to test and certify our collectors was an easy one. We know that with training and education we will collect your money, more quickly and with minimal complaints.

That being said, the certification process is not quick or easy. Training starts on day one of an employee’s tenure and certification isn’t completed until a year later.

Training covers a variety of topics including:

  • Receivables Control and the collection industry: Training starts with each employee learning the history of our company, the products and services we offer and our place in the industry as a top service provider.
  • Compliance: Of special focus is our NO-COMPLAINT policy. We believe that collection professionals should collect clients’ money without generating complaints. Complaints waste our client’s valuable time and are disruptive to our collection chances. Our negotiation techniques focus on motivating people to pay, not belittling people to the point of frustration.
  • Collection Standards: This subject matter lays out the recovery goals we expect our collectors to achieve. It also covers the daily activities each collector must follow to collect their quotas. Standards are set for telephone contacts, electronic payments, debtor contacts and account agings.
  • Collection Strategy: The strategy section covers the techniques and tactics for getting debtors on the phone, reading the situation and the debtor to employ the best methods to maximize recovery on each account. Our professionals must be skilled at collecting money from debtors with very aggressive personalities, motivating payments from debtors that are passive and “counseling” debtors that are experiencing financial hardships to find the best payment solutions.
  • Settlements: It’s not enough to throw out a number to settle an account. Before we recommend our clients accept a settlement, the collection professional has taken steps to maximize each settlement. Among the information we seek:
    • Is there any validity to the customer’s dispute? Has our client already addressed/resolved the issue?
    • What is the debtor’s financial background, i.e. are there suits, judgments, tax liens and other negative marks that support a decision to settle?
    • What’s the maximum lump sum we can collect?
    • After all is considered, the collection manager makes a call to increase/firm up the settlement offer. Only then do we present the settlement to our client for approval
  • Research and Investigation:  Our collectors learn the best methods to gather the business intelligence they need to find debtors and collect money.  They study the legal structure of business entities and how it impacts the debtors’ liability.  They learn about each debtor’s suit history so that we can assess whether or not a settlement is warranted or if suit is a better option for recovery.  They learn the best methods for finding leads on the web and they learn how to interact with our research staff to do even deeper searches on companies.  We believe the more tools that we have available to our collectors, the better their odds at finding debtors and maximizing recoveries.
  • Communication/Reporting:  Our collectors provide written and oral updates to clients with account status reports, suit and settlement recommendations, and closing letters.  What differentiates Receivables Control from others is our collectors’ ability to take all that they learn about a situation and provide clients with timely, informative reporting.

Once certification training is complete, each collection professional must pass the certification test.  If you ask any Receivables Control veteran, training and education doesn’t stop there.  We have weekly training sessions where even our seasoned pros continue to learn something new.  Continual learning is a cornerstone of our culture!