Understanding the Gaps in Collections Calls (And How to Solve Them)

Effective collections calls are essential yet challenging, requiring agents to connect with customers, understand delinquencies, and negotiate payments empathetically and efficiently. Identifying common gaps and applying targeted training can significantly improve outcomes.

Collections calls are highly regulated, regarded by customers as intrusive, and yet, critical to any lenders’ success. Agents are tasked with establishing a connection, investigating a delinquency, and finding an agreeable payment program for every delinquent customer – all in a few minutes.

A lot can go right – or wrong – and the stakes are high. To be successful, organizations need a clear understanding of their agents’ shortcomings and a plan to quickly course correct.

Bridgeforce has served the debt collections industry (1^st and 3^rd party) for 25 years, leading the way on innovative techniques that help lenders maximize recovery rates and improve customer satisfaction.

We’ve seen it all, and in this article, we’ll explore the gaps we encounter in collections calls, what ideal agent training looks like, and how we’re ushering in the future of debt collections.

Common Gaps Found in Collections Calls Placed by Agents

We often see the same three forgotten elements when analyzing collections calls:

• Getting the full story on the reason for delinquency
• Using empathetic language
• Effectively closing the call

Collections Call Gap #1: Reason for Delinquency and Digging Deeper

Getting a customer on the phone is an increasing rarity.

For the best results on every collections call, agents should do more than just stick to the script. Ticking a box keeps regulators happy, but does it really get to the heart of a customer’s problem? Not really. Instead, agents should dig deeper until they have a full understanding of the customer’s situation.

Consider the common step of asking for the reason of a delinquency.

On any given call, your agents might have captured the reason (e.g., Job Loss), but do they understand the full breadth and depth of the customer’s problem so that they can apply the right solution? Fully understanding the reason for a delinquency is often missed and can lead to inappropriate payment plans or underestimating the problem. Instead, your agents should follow up their conversations with questions that clarify the customer’s situation. Here’s an example of fast follow-up questions when the customer has stated job loss as the reason for delinquency:

• When did this occur?
• Are you currently in the market?
• What does it look like for your prospects?

Being an active listener instead of running through a checklist can have a positive impact on dollars collected, simply because your agents can more effectively assign customers to better payment programs by understanding the potential length of the hardship.

Collections Call Gap #2: Customer Service and Empathy

When you’re calling a customer about an outstanding debt, they may not be at their best. Whatever is pulling a customer into delinquency is usually weighing them down with stress and other personal problems.

Empathy ensures your agents have a human interaction as opposed to a transactional one. The end goal is to secure a payment, and an agent’s empathy shows you’re willing to work with customers, (not against them), towards that repayment goal.

Many lenders have excellent white glove customer service at the front end of the lending lifecycle but lose their focus on service in collections.

Delivering exceptional customer service during collections calls is never more crucial than when a customer is facing financial difficulty. By treating customers with care and empathy at this challenging moment, you not only help them resolve their debts, but also reinforce their trust in your company—making it more likely they will remain loyal long after their current challenges are resolved.

Collections Call Gap #3: Closing the Call and Setting Expectations

Once agents have done the hard work of understanding the reason for delinquency and arranging repayment, how are they ending the calls? A proper close is often a forgotten component of a quality call.

Sometimes, what a customer might think they heard versus what your agent said will differ. Your agents need the opportunity to gain clear alignment with the customer.

Agents should close the call with full transparency: What is the customer paying? When? Are they mailing a check or paying online? At what frequency? Successfully finalize an effective collections call by ensuring there’s no misunderstanding of what the customer is going to do.  A complete and proper close is the last critical step of a successful collections call.

Reasons Why Collections Calls Aren’t Meeting Company Expectations

The extent of oversight on collections calls can affect the ability to catch performance changes. There are a few typical reasons that cause gaps:

Limited Coaching: Sporadic feedback with limited touchpoints. Agents without regular, consistent coaching don’t get the time needed to build skill and proficiency.  Collection calls can be a repetitive function which means bad practices get embedded quickly.  Consistent coaching prevents those practices from becoming harder to break habits of repetition.

Limited Onboarding Training: Either in materials or time. Onboarding materials should go beyond helping a new agent assimilate with your organization. Materials should lay the groundwork for successfully completing collections calls following a call model that includes all the critical components. And training ideally extends beyond the onboarding window, exposing agents to increasingly challenging scenarios.

General Lack of Accountability: In some instances, organizations don’t keep up with performance metrics or coaching, which can lead to bad practices and a decrease in collections call performance and outcomes.

Overcoming Gaps in Collections Calls: Bridgeforce’s Training Approach

Bridgeforce knows that every organization is different – from branding, to values, customers, workers, risk appetite, and everything in between. So, before we begin teaching, we make sure we understand our client’s business and align our training materials to their goals and principles. For instance, if we’re training a group of agents with little experience communicating over the phone, we’ll put extra emphasis on the art of communication in our lesson materials and embed good practices with role-plays.

Applying Our Proven 4-Component Call Model

In previous articles, we’ve shared our proven 4-step call model, which we teach with interactive learning, involving role playing, sample calls and checkpoints to ensure the content is retained. The call model is structured as follows:

Opening: During the opening you verify the customer; read required disclosures and build rapport by acknowledging the caller’s situation.

Assessing: When assessing, you ask open-ended questions to determine the reason for the delinquency or to understand the customer’s ability, stability, and willingness to pay. It’s critical to avoid duplicative questions and select the best payment solution fit for that specific customer.

Resolving: To resolve the situation, you align a solution to help the customer and review the solution in detail to ensure the customer fully understands and can accept the plan of action.

Closing: As part of closing, you confirm the customer’s understanding of next steps then set expectations and clarify responsibilities for your company and the customer. Lastly, always thank the customer for their time even if a payment arrangement cannot be made.  Appreciation is free and thanking the customer for speaking with you, especially today, is a great way to end a collections call regardless of the outcome.

Ensuring Accountability Through Monitoring and Controls

When we train collections call centers, we also equip supervisors and managers with the knowledge and techniques to sustain their workforces’ skillsets. Continuous, conscious monitoring, and targeted follow-up training sessions ensure new problems aren’t cropping up unnoticed.

We always recommend that call center leaders:

• Schedule enough time to adequately review call recordings
• Review all systems used and actions that were taken by your agents, so you have a complete picture of agent activity
• Consistently document your review findings on a form (like a call listening form or monthly review document), capturing strengths and weaknesses to balance feedback

Addressing Common Pitfalls in Collections Calls

Continuous monitoring, targeted training, and focused coaching are essential to overcoming the typical challenges that impact the effectiveness of collections calls. By combining these elements, call center teams can proactively identify issues and reinforce best practices, ensuring that previously encountered pitfalls do not resurface. Establishing these processes helps maintain consistent performance and supports ongoing improvement throughout the organization.

Given the economic uncertainty of today, if any of the areas we have discussed apply to your organization, it’s time to act!  Our approach is tailored to your organization’s specific goals and values, and includes hands-on training for agents and ongoing support for coaching and trend analysis.

Are you ready to close your collections calls gaps and keep them closed? Reach out to us today to learn more about how our proven program can benefit your organization.