As a collector, one of the biggest hurdles is getting a
debtor to respect your authority – some collectors are unprofessional, or come
across as shady characters by being perceived as secretive. To be fair, there are a lot of strict rules
in place for consumer privacy, so often we collectors can’t provide information
to spouses, on voicemail messages, and so on, and often we haven’t received
complete information from the client who has listed the file for collection.
That being said ... there are times where we have a lot of
information at our fingertips, and there are times where we want to provide as
much information as humanly possible.
If a consumer doesn’t believe our collection file is
accurate, or doesn’t believe that we have authority to affect their credit rating,
or is trying to dodge responsibility, it’s time to give them information ...
all the information. Don’t hold back,
the more you give them, the more it is clear that you have information,
authority, and leverage.
“Bob, I appreciate your position – let me share
what I have here in front of me and you can advise if anything here isn’t
accurate. I show that your full name is
Robert Leslie Smith, your last known address is 555 Example Lane, Toronto and
prior to that you resided at 123 Predecessor Ave and 456 Original Street. Your social insurance number is 565-124-894,
your date of birth is December 1st, 1967. You are employed at XYZ company, and have
been there for at least 8 years, your title is Team Manager, and I show that
Mary-Sue is the contact for your payroll department. Your credit bureau shows you are mostly up to
date, although you are borrowing to your limit of $42,000 overall and your
American Express card is 30 days past due, and I show that you recently had a
credit bureau pulled by Meridian Credit Union and Fairstone Financial, perhaps
you are seeking to refinance?
Regardless, the account owed to our client ABC company is not reflected
on your credit bureau as yet, but that hinges on our conversation.”
If they challenge the validity of some of the information,
that’s fine – sometimes the information we receive isn’t always complete from
the client – but we won’t know unless we share what we have.
Share your information in a calm, reasonable tone, and share
that this is information that has been passed to you to assist you in rendering
a decision on your file (positive or negative).
As always, if you have any questions about collection
techniques, I’m always happy to chat by phone or by email.
Thanks kindly,
Blair DeMarco-Wettlaufer
KINGSTON Data & Credit
T 226-946-1730
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