Collection Agency Secrets Exposed!

THE ANATOMY OF A COLLECTION AGENCY What does a professional collection agency do? Collection agencies are in business for one reason only – to make money. Their only real function is to collect as much money that they can for their clients. There are various different ways they can do this, from sending dunning notices to filing lawsuits; it all depends on the individual situation. What is a professional collection service? A collection agency is a third-party collection service that collects past-due accounts referred to them by various credit-grantors such as credit card issuers, banks, car dealers, retail stores, healthcare facilities and any business that extends credit or offers payment installment plans. A collection agency functions with usually 5 main departments or divisions: 1. SALES – This is the department that makes contact with the creditors and convinces them to assign their accounts to the collection agency for a fee or percentage of whatever is collected. This department is crucial to the success of a collection agency. 2. COLLECTIONS – This is the department that works the accounts the sales staff brings in. They are highly trained professionals that are the backbone of the business. They are the ones who send the dunning notices and make the phone calls. They’re also the ones you will be dealing with anytime you make contact with the collection agency regarding your debt. This department is crucial to the success of a collection agency. 3. LEGAL DEPARTMENT - This is the department that receives or will pull your file if legal action is necessary to collect the debt. They have nothing to do with the over-all collection of the debt and are advised by the collection department or the collector in charge of your account as how to proceed. 4. SUPPORT STAFF - This department is set-up to support the collection department by answering phones, filing documents and applying your payments to your account. 5. SYSTEM OPERATIONS – this is the department that enters all of the data into the collection agency computer system and they maintain the computer system to ensure there is no down time. THE ANATOMY OF A BILL COLLECTOR Collectors are highly trained professional individuals that usually have an outgoing and creative personality. Because these individuals are the backbone of the business and because the over-all revenue of the collection agency depends solely on them, they are highly trained in various areas of the human psyche. For example, one of the first things they learn is to not take anything personally. They’re taught not to relate to your personal problem and how to get around whatever your objection is to pay your account. They’re trained how to use basic conversations to retrieve personal information from you without you realizing it. They are taught what methods to use that collect money verses what methods do not collect money. They know how to identify what type of debtor you are and what to say or do to get you to pay your bill. A good collector is trained to treat you with respect and to give you the perception that they are willing to work with you to resolve your unpaid account. They’re trained when to accept a payment arrangement verses a demand for payment in full. They’re taught how to analyze your financial situation and determine when to request a lawsuit and when not to request a lawsuit. They’re trained on how to give you a sense of urgency to pay your bill now. They are even taught what type of voice-mail messages to leave on your answering machine that will generate the most return calls. The training a collector receives is rigorous and ongoing. I have trained collectors that today are making over 6 figure incomes. The better trained a collector is, the more money they will make and the more money they will make for the collection agency. The next few pages are inserts of an actual training guide that I created for one of the agencies I used to work for. They should give you an idea of some of the training a collector receives.