The Roller-Coaster Ride of a Loan

As all of you know each time of the year presents different challenges in our stores.

January – March – it’s all about pay outs

April – June – it’s all about growth and control

July – August – it is all about collections

September – December – it’s all about growth

With collections becoming the focal point in the next few months, I thought I would share some points on collections.

1 What determines the success of Collections is our relationship with the customer.

2. When do collections begin? It begins the second the customer walks in our door.

3. What are the two most important up-front tools we have to help us collect?  a) A complete application.  b) A strong loan closing.

4. Courtesy calls – It reminds the customer of their obligation, it increases the number of customers paying on time, it identifies disconnected phone numbers.

5. Payment in full – Always start with payment in full. Set the expectation and hold customers accountable.

6. Who is in control of the conversation when making a collections call? The person asking the questions.

7. Positives on a collection call. When a customer is called about a debt, they are automatically defensive. The best approach is to defuse the situation and turn it into a positive.

  • Let the customer know we are here to help them.
  • Find out what happened that caused them not to pay.
  •  Let them know we want to help them find a solution.
  • In most cases we want to be able to keep them as a customer, remind them that if they pay their debt we will be glad to re-loan them. We want our customer to know, we want them to always have a place to turn when they need extra cash.
  • Let the customer know as long as they are in debt they can’t be our customer, and we want them as our customer.

Each day have a plan, have a focus and have a goal. What you do each day will determine your success. Make each day count. Happy collecting!

Tommy

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