There’s a question that almost every recovery strategy has to address: What does the right debt collection message look like? The answer isn’t straightforward. Every customer has unique preferences when it comes to the communication channel, the tone of the message and more that businesses should try to honor in order to engage them effectively. The real answer is, the right debt collection message looks different for each individual.
With the countless variations in consumer preferences, how are debt collection strategies supposed to find the right message? We’re here to answer that question and provide some helpful steps businesses can take to improve their recovery strategy.
The Right Message Starts with Personalization
Many traditional debt collection communications, in the interest of efficiency at scale, speak to every consumer the same way. There’s no change in tone or sentiment found in the message, and the only personalized piece is the account details. That approach is no longer enough for today’s consumers who expect businesses to go the extra mile and honor their preferences. So, how can debt collection strategies meet this expectation?
An omnichannel approach offers collection strategies the flexibility to send messages through the channel each consumer prefers. The ability to send emails and text messages makes your business better equipped to meet consumers where they are. It’s also important to have messages with different tones. For example one email template could focus on being upfront and transparent in the messaging which could appeal to consumers who prefer businesses that are direct and fact-driven.
AI technology can also help businesses add personalization to debt collection messages and other communications to build rapport and approachability. AI agents can be trained to pick up on unique consumer nuances. As an example, one of TrueAccord’s AI-generated responses signed off an email with “may the force be with you”, since the consumer it was speaking to had a Star Wars themed signature.
To Find the Right Message, You Need Options
For digital communication channels, it’s important to have a variety of content templates to use. Not only does this help your recovery strategy honor more consumer preferences, but it also allows more flexibility to optimize recoveries. TrueAccord, for example, has hundreds of email and SMS templates that business partners can choose from. In this library, there’s a variety of templates that are made to address different stages of the collections lifecycle with different messaging approaches.
There are a few aspects that make TrueAccord’s approach to sending the right message unique. The first is in the TrueAccord content team that works to create and refine content templates, adjust subject lines, and test new approaches to match consumer preferences. The second is that TrueAccord uses a patented machine learning engine called HeartBeat that works through millions of data points to select the right message for each individual account.
Debt collection messages shouldn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. The core of an empathetic and human-centric approach is doing the work to understand the consumer before reaching out. This goes beyond the words in the messages being sent. The right debt collection message is also sent at the right time and through the right channel, to help drive engagement without aggression.
Debt Collection Messages Need Self-Service Options
Oftentimes, the right debt collection message has a self-service option that allows consumers to handle their financial obligations without talking to a human. When a debt is owed, it’s common for people to have feelings of shame, anxiety or judgement about the situation. These feelings often escalate when it needs to be discussed with another person to be resolved. Self-service options help cut through that barrier and put consumers in control.
In fact, roughly 90% of TrueAccord customers resolve their debts through self-service without talking to a human. The right message should have the option to use an intuitive digital portal that makes the repayment process more convenient. As consumer preferences continue to overwhelmingly favor digital communication channels, self-service options are a great way to engage with consumers who no longer want to pick up the phone.
Compliance – The Unsung Hero of Collection Messages
No matter what type of content is being sent to a consumer, the right debt collection message needs reliable compliance measures supporting it. Digital debt collection communications need a system that can keep up with the rapidly changing regulatory landscape and case law.
Legal experts should be weighing in to help ensure the content in the debt collection messages being sent don’t break any rules or open up the business to risk. TrueAccord has compliance informed by legal experts and secured by code, with compliance firewall technology built within the system to ensure federal and state compliance requirements are being met.
Send Debt Collection Messages That Put Consumers First
TrueAccord is the premier omnichannel debt collection agency that uses AI technology to create a consumer-friendly experience and higher performance. With full lifecycle recovery solutions, the TrueAccord team can help your business find the right message with a human-centric approach. Contact our team today to get started.