One bank with a highly-successful collection operation emphasizes, among other things, thorough training for their collectors.

First, they cover their overall philosophy, but also provides collectors with specific collection tools that will help them implement the philosophy. There are five key tools they aim to give their collectors. In this weeks' tip, we'll cover two of them.

First, they emphasize the use of nonadversarial collection skills.

This means truly understanding the problem.

"The problem is the past-due account, not the customer," he emphasizes.

"Since the past-due account is an inanimate object, you can 'beat up' on the account without offending the customer. The account, not the customer's behavior, is the issue."

He cites a couple of possible scenarios of how this attitude plays out:

No: "You're delinquent. You are not paying your bills."

Instead: "This account is past due. It is causing you some problems. Why don't we work together to get it resolved?"

No: "We're going to repossess your car."

Instead: "How can we help you keep your car?"

Second is the use of bridging skills. This means teaching their collectors to truly listen to what your customer is saying, as well as what they're not saying.

"Hear the emotions," explains Robinson.

"Identify the concerns that the customer has. Address these. This puts you on the customer's side."

If you can embed just these two concepts - non-adversarial collection skills and bridging skills -in your collection operation, you'll be on your way to being truly top-notch.

If you're a member of our site, and would like to read the rest of this bank's collection training and collection operations, click here: Customer-Friendly Collections Work