In competitive spaces like telecommunications and banking, customer service has risen to the top of priorities. Retaining customers is no longer a test of brand loyalty. It has been softened by a rise in competition and modernized services. Customers now have greater freedom to choose a service provider based on the quality of their experience.
The service a customer receives during collections plays a crucial role in customer retention. It is an often overlooked opportunity to delight your customers, even offering them a helping hand when they may be most in need of one.
To that end, your customers are far more likely to stay around when they have a consistent, humanized and personalized collections journey. And with a modern debt collections platform, you can create these journeys at scale, taking into account what the best and most appropriate treatment path is for every single customer.
Collections: an often-overlooked opportunity to delight customers
The telecoms industry, banking, and others are facing a modern shift in how their customers interact and engage with their business. Nowadays, the barrier for entry for new firms is far lower than in previous decades due to deregulation. This has led to customers having more providers to choose from rather than the handful in previous decades.
In today's competitive market, customers wield significant power by choosing providers based on service quality. Their experiences now dictate their loyalty, as they can easily switch to a different company with only a few clicks online. Therefore, the old days of steadfast brand loyalty have faded. Instead, outstanding customer service is now the key to keeping customers on board.
The collections experience is a crucial part of retention
The collections experience is vital in keeping customers. When facing financial challenges, it's your job to offer supportive repayment plans tailored to their unique needs. This approach must be empathetic and engaging to maintain strong customer connections.
Neglecting the quality of your collections process directly hits retention. If customers encounter a disjointed and cold repayment experience, they're likely to switch providers. This not only loses customers but also harms your brand, making new customer acquisition tougher.
Configurable platforms are at the forefront of enhancing customer service. They streamline the collections process from start to finish, integrating with various technologies for a personalized, supportive customer journey.
Configurable platforms prioritize customer service
Configurable platforms provide a holistic solution to streamlining your collections journey from beginning to finish. They integrate with a range of technologies so that you can seamlessly provide a personalized, supportive and humanized customer experience. This is achieved through a number of key technologies:
- Self service capabilities - For a majority of customers, being forced to talk to a member of your team can be uncomfortable. Self-service capabilities prevent this by giving them the tools to resolve their debt themselves, like Consumer Portal or our chatbot. It’s a win-win; customers determine their own level of service and satisfaction, and there’s far less work for your team as a result.
- AI and analytics - In order to provide a truly personalized collections experience, you need to be able to interpret and analyze customer data to create strategies for each account. With AI, these analytical tasks can be completely automated using historical models and algorithms. As a result, you can quickly reach personalized solutions for each of your customers without adding more work for your team.
- Customizable workflows - With the data from analytics and AI, customizable workflows provide you with the ability to efficiently provide personalized solutions. You can easily configure these workflows in real-time to help you maintain a consistent and humanized experience from start to finish.
Enhance the level of service you provide with Debt Manager
Customer service is a crucial aspect of retention in telecoms and surrounding industries, and the most crucial aspect of customer service is your collections experience. Customers expect a consistent and personalized journey from start to finish, which you need to accommodate to enhance retention and solidify your brand.
At C&R Software, our industry leading Debt Manager platform can provide you with the necessary tools to provide a truly seamless end-to-end user experience. Our platform supports the integration of AI, omnichannel, and self-service capabilities into one simple-to-use interface. You can be confident in enhancing customer retention through a consistent and personalized collections journey.
To learn more about Debt Manager and how it can provide hyper-personalized capabilities for your customers and processes, contact a member of our team today.
