Collection Agencies Explore Empathy As A Way To Get Debtors To Deliver
The Collections industry’s tactics may be taking a turn for the….better? Keeping in mind the number of recent lawsuits against debt collection agencies, ACA International, the largest trade group of professional creditors and collectors, claims more and more collection companies are working towards training collectors to take a more of an empathetic position.
Empathy might just be the gameplan that can turn the industry around. Many people in debt are being called by various collections agencies, and if they do obtain money, they aren’t going to want to give it to the aggressive threatening collector, they will give it to the person they can work with.
As agencies are enhancing training courses to include techniques on how to be gentler with consumers, a focus is being put on coaching, mentoring and counseling debtors, rather than aggressively threatening them. Trainees are encouraged to reflect on their personal experiences with collectors or someone that they know has dealt with them.
One recent trend has been to suggest that debtors speak with their parents or grandparents about taking out a loan against their life insurance policies or reverse mortgage against their house. The collectors who practice this technique claim that our grandparents remember the Great Depression. They may not want this generation to feel that kind of pain and may be more apt to take a loan against the life retirement account or the life insurance policy.
Those who adhere to this philosophy feel that it is in actuality a positive thing. They claim that it doesn’t hurt anyone. If someone borrows against life insurance it might be preferable to borrowing against a 401(k) or a retirement plan. That is because the person will be counting on that money to live on.
Right or wrong, it could be good for the collections industry to reassess its situation, and look for new innovative ways to collect in today’s suffering economy.
Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. She also writes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.