Arrears collection skills training
from dancing lion training & consultancy
An introduction to arrears collection skills training
Getting paid on time is vital for all organisations. Late payment can result in unnecessary interest charges, poor cash flow and even force businesses into bankruptcy. At dancing lion we specialise in design and delivery of arrears collection and credit control training programmes.
Our training team first cut its teeth on poll tax collection for local Government since then we have worked with housing associations, utilities companies, constrained by zero disconnection policies, helped banks and building societies recover mortgage arrears, assisted credit card companies to avoid costly litigation proceedings and corporates to reduce demanding debtor day targets.
Over the years we have progressively refined our approach for the private and public sectors and now offer a range of training programmes for collections staff and their managers.
Arrears management training
Building and maintaining an effective arrears collections team is central to achieving collections targets and treating customers fairly. In this practical two-day course, senior managers and collections specialists are assisted to review current working practice, develop new procedures and skills to manage and motivate their credit control and collections agents.
Who should attend?
This programme is suitable for those managing both public and private sector officers and agents making outbound and receiving inbound calls.
Programme objectives
To assist you to develop your arrears collections team to collect monies owed quickly and fairly.
By the end of the course participants will be have gained the following skills:
- defining a clear collections vision and strategy
- recognising responsibilities and requirements to treat customers fairly
- building a collections team – the key stages.
- selection and recruitment – recognising and hiring the attributes and skills of an effective collections agent.
- reviewing the work environment to support collections activity
- monitoring and measurement – numerical and qualitative assessment practices
- running effective team meetings
- utilising key people management skills
- coaching for performance – working with high, medium and low performers
action planning
Outcomes
- managers who feel confident of their ability to implement the collections strategy
- managers who can ‘walk the talk’ role modeling the attitude and behaviours consistent with responsible and effective collections
- team members aware of FCA and OFT guidelines for customer service
- best practice and best fit working practices implemented
- higher collection rates and increased customer satisfaction
Telephone collections training
Collecting money can be a challenging job, particularly in difficult trading periods. Those new to the role can easily find it daunting and sound hesitant and ineffective. Those with collections experience can become too ‘hard nosed’, sounding abrupt, rude and inflexible. This programme places particular emphasis on the needs of the customer giving participants core skills to recognise customer needs, make agreements that are kept, reducing bad debt and costly litigation procedures.
Who should attend?
This programme can be tailored for public and private sector officers and agents making outbound and receiving inbound calls. Debt range includes: Council tax, Business rates, Sundry Debt, Housing rent, Mortgages, Credit cards, Utilities, Parking fines, Social services overpayments and more.
Programme objectives
To give your collections staff the skills and know-how to collect monies responsibly and effectively.
By the end of the course participants will be have gained the following skills:
- understanding what it means to treat customers fairly in collections work, putting them in the centre of the business ethics and practices.
- utilising FCA and OFT guidelines and recommendations
- maximising collections whilst maintaining high standards of customer service on both inbound and outbound telephone calls
- fine tuning vocal tones and choosing the appropriate language to sound ‘approachable, firm and fair’.
- how to structure your conversations for greater consistency.
- essential preparation tasks for outbound telephone activity.
- how to determine the appropriate course of action by identifying customer circumstances.
- using effective questioning techniques to gather key information.
- how to negotiate agreements and repayments.
- how to direct the caller to an arrangement
- developing listening skills to pick up on free information
- how to deal with missed payments and broken promises
- avoiding common communication habits that cause misunderstanding and conflict
- resolving complaints and difficult calls
- managing your own state and working under pressure
Outcomes
- staff who treat the customer fairly
- collections agents who work to agreed practices and methods
- greater consistency across the team in collections activity
- higher collection rates and reduced ‘bad’ debt.
Live call coaching skills
All new behaviour takes practice to become habitual. We provide on site coaching to help integrate learning from our training courses into day-to-day working practices.
Who should attend?
This programme is suitable for those managing both public and private sector officers and agents making outbound and receiving inbound calls.
Programme objectives
- To assist participants to anchor insights and skills by collecting arrears on ‘live calls’
- Each participant has a tailored coaching programme designed for them by their trainer. This addresses the key areas for each individual.
Other services you may be interested in.
At dancing lion training & consultancy we help managers, sales and customer service staff to be more effective. We tailor our services to your business needs. Our experienced team of consultants and trainers come to your offices or contact centre.
Leadership management · Sales training · Customer service · Arrears collection
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