Hi Everyone,
It’s Hector here and I hope you’re enjoying your summer. Mine has been busy reading and answering many of your emails concerning all kinds of credit and collections issues and challenges. One email reflected my own life story as a collector for many years.
I think collectors who spend several years (and decades) in the collection business go through a few stages.
The first is probably the shortest and it’s the training stage where we begin to learn the ropes. It’s a time in our working lives where we have so many doubts about pursuing collections as any kind of serious career.
I don’t know about you, but I remember how scared I was to make a call to someone and ask them about their payment. Back when I started, we didn’t have any formalized training programs and we learned how to collect from day one “on the job.” Honestly, I think it took me many months before I stopped feeling nervous every time I called to a new debtor and that was probably due to getting used to the excuses for non-payment.
My manager at the time always gave me the easier claims, knowing full well that I was a newbie and just needed ongoing practice with the relatively same type of claim. Probably around the six month point I was starting to see some collection successes and by my one-year anniversary, it was time to step up my game.
The second stage lasted a good five years and during this time, I progressed from the small consumer claims to very complicated commercial claims that required a great deal of knowledge in many areas. I remember having to learn about the law, export, finance, logistics, insurance, and general business to grapple with the complexities that surrounded many of these claims.
Sometimes a particular claim involved suppliers, subcontractors, and contractors in which everyone denied having responsibility. It was necessary to sort through the legal morass and get into the nitty gritty to determine which party was responsible for paying the claim, in part or in full.
During this stage, I also learned about the psychological aspects of how to communicate with all kinds of people effectively and persuasively. If I was talking with a fast talker who was clearly trying not to pay, I tried to match their communication rhythm and be on the ready to dismiss any excuse that would help them to maneuver out of the obligation. Or, if I was talking with an older person who was speaking slowly, and perhaps with a foreign accent, I spoke much more clearly and simply. After all, there’s no point in communicating in a style that only results in confusion.
My collection successes kept piling up and I was promoted to Senior Collector. I was not only given the really tough claims to manage, but I was also training our other collectors to be as smooth and successful as I was.
Within our organization, for quite some time I was king of the collection hill. In terms of marketing lingo, I was the “Rising Star” who could bring in the whale when all others couldn’t. Eventually, after about ten years at the agency, I settled into being a reliable Cash Cow, always able to bring about a steady flow of collection results.
But in the background, there was a young man, Sam, who was observing me very carefully and taking note of my collection techniques. Gradually, by emulating my style and greatly improving upon it, he started to have some phenomenal collection successes himself. After a few years, he was now the “Rising Star.”
Upper management also took note of Sam’s incredible success and promoted him to Senior Collector much sooner than it took me, and at more pay than I was receiving! And it didn’t stop there as I watched with envy and frustration how this person just kept getting better and better, rising through the ranks.
I think it was probably at the 15-year point, where I found myself not being able to collect claims like I used to. Every time I’d receive a claim, especially one of those complex claims that required I pull together all of my experience and expertise, I started to make excuses as to why I shouldn’t be handling it. I would say something like, “I’ve got so many claims on my plate right now, let Joe or Mary handle it.” I’d purposely suggest them knowing full well that they were probably not ready. Eventually I would be asked again to help with the collection which seemed to make me feel better as though I was still needed and wanted.
I think many collectors reach a point in their career where like me, after being a rising star, they settle into a being Cash Cow. But eventually, someone in the organization moves right past us tarnishing our once bright star.
In retrospect, I now see where Sam was coming from. Where I plateaued at just being a Cash Cow, Sam kept on being a Rising Star by continuously studying, training, and goal setting. Along the way he obtained his CCE, MBA and after a few years his law degree, which kept him fresh, motivated, and feeling full of accomplishments.
Gradually, I became a Question Mark in the agency and there was talk about whether I should be demoted. Seeing the writing on the wall, I decided that after 20 years, I needed to make a change before I became what is called in marketing parlance, a Dying Dog. Fortunately, after making an employment change, I decided to be the one to emulate Sam’s success and reevaluate my skills sets and improve upon them.
So, what’s the moral of the story? We can never be complacent about our past successes because it’s only a matter of time before someone else will show us how to do things better, faster, and more effectively.
Hector
Hector the Collector is a credit collection and human resources advice column by Nancy Seiverd President CMI Credit Mediators Inc. Your thoughts and comments (nseiverd@cmiweb.com) are most welcome!
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