Customer relationships have not always been a primary focus in the collections industry. But this has changed in recent years with a significant shift towards customer centricity and humanized processes.
Businesses are seeing clear benefits to their collections performance and for their customers by supporting and guiding them to financial health; and a strong relationship acts as the foundation for this support.
In this article, we explore customer relationships in collections and their importance from a podcast conversation between Christina Fisher (Manager, Growth Marketing) of C&R Software and Lisa Tanner (Director of Global Credit Collections) of Nidec Motor Corporation.
The importance of customer relationships
Building a resilient and responsive relationship is more important than ever in the collections space. They directly result in a mutual level of engagement where you can get the necessary information to help your customers, and they can get the necessary information to resolve their debt. Without it, you and your customers will probably face challenges throughout the collections process.
Customer relationships are also directly related to retention. Competition is always growing, and if a customer doesn’t feel supported or connected with you as a business, they will more than likely go to one that values a strong relationship; you want to become known as the business that can truly help new customers and support your existing ones.
Using automation to strengthen customer relationships
Balancing customer relationships and management can be a tricky task. You need to be readily available to respond to customer queries and provide support when they need it. At the same time, you need to manage customer data, perform in-depth analysis and formulate data-driven strategies to reach debt resolutions. You can’t be in two places at once!
Automation and AI tools help split your workload efficiently so that you can focus on your customers. Manual data-based tasks can be handled by configurable platforms that follow your own workflows. On top of that, these platforms can automate self-service tasks and basic customer communications via channels like SMS; leaving your team to commit significant time to building strong relationships with your customers.
Enhancing your relationships with configurability
Collections is a dynamic space. Factors like the pandemic, regulation changes and rise in credit use sends shockwaves through businesses and how they interact with their customers. Businesses need to be able to adapt to these shockwaves without risking the important relationships of their customers.
Configurable platforms like C&R Software’s Debt Manager are an agile and adaptable solution to the dynamic landscape of collections. Workflows can be easily adjusted in real-time to overcome sudden challenges and changes. This presents opportunities to provide standout service that creates lasting positive impressions, strengthening the relationship with your customers.
To find out more details about the conversation between Christina and Lisa, watch the podcast here. To find out more about how a Debt manager can strengthen your customer relationships, contact a member of our team today.
