What Really Sets Collection Agencies Apart?

By Author: Greg Duss
Total Articles: 1
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I get asked this a lot. And, I’m always happy when I do because that means I’m talking to someone who realizes that all collection agencies are not created equal. Unfortunately, not every business gives the selection of their collection agency the necessary attention it deserves. That’s why I decided to do a series of posts that addresses what I think are some of the crucial benchmarks when shopping for an agency to go after your bad debt. Let’s get started.

A Proprietary Technology System for Ease of Customization

One of the most frequent complaints we hear from new clients is that their old debt collection agency was very rigid and had a standard approach they applied for each and every account. That’s good if you happen to be one of the few businesses that their standard approach works for. Not so good if you’re among the majority that needs something else. That’s why I recommend you select an revenue recovery agency that offers proprietary technology to customize the process to fit your needs.

At Hunter Warfield we don’t believe in a cookie cutter approach to debt collection ...
... and we don’t think your agency should either. We’ve invested significant resources into developing proprietary technology that enables us to quickly and easily customize our approach to fit the unique needs of our customers. This approach works for everyone and is a must-have on your agency checklist.

Employing the latest technology allows an agency to work smarter and faster, maximizing cash flow, minimizing write-offs, and decreasing DSO. And, advanced technology like what we use at Hunter Warfield allows you to see results – instantly and at the touch of a button. What is viewed and how its viewed are decisions our clients make working with us. We don’t believe there’s one approach that works for all businesses. Instead, we prefer to create a customized collection strategy based on our customer’s business objectives. And, we make the process fast and painless. Your agency should offer you this, too.

Here are my top two questions I think you have to ask and get answers to when it comes to comparing the technology agencies use:

1. What Kind of Software Do They Use?

It’s really important that you learn about the technology your agency uses. It makes a big difference in your bottom line results as well as how you are able to be involved in the process. At Hunter Warfield our technology base is built on a Windows and Cloud software solution that can be configured on multiple levels to meet our client’s specifications. This means we can develop a customized plan that manages strategies, rules, and work lists based on the client’s needs. And, we can manage an unlimited number of client accounts so all parties involved in the debt can be scored and weighed based on multiple financial data like credit score, for example.

2. What Interfacing Capabilities Does Their Software Have?

In collections, interfacing is a top priority because it directly impacts the success of your recovery rates. Because we at Hunter Warfield interface with multiple resources, the collection information we are able to secure is more in-depth. As a result, our clients gain access to more information that is helpful to them. Our dashboard provides more information than what’s typically seen, like status of collection, number of times communication has been made with the debtor, and the status on each communication.

Hunter Warfield also provides multiple interfaces with third-party web and software solutions that enable our system to communicate with other systems. This simplifies, accelerates, and improves the process because we are not only able to import information from our client’s system into ours, but we can also automate functions with credit bureaus, auto-generated collection letter vendors, skip tracing solutions, and dialers. This technology allows us to provide timely updates that extract, transfer, and load (ETL) information faster and more accurately, increasing the speed and success of tracking and securing information on debtors.

I’ll talk more about my about additional benchmarks you should consider when selecting a collection agency in upcoming blogs. If you’d like to learn more about how to select your debt collection agency, click HERE to request a FREE copy of the White Paper “How to Hire the Best Collection Agency: A Profit Recovery Guide.” It’s full of useful information on this topic.