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The rapidly evolving digital world has changed almost every aspect of our lives, but most importantly, it has raised the standard of the way customers and companies should interact. Omnichannel Debt Collection is an excellent example of that.
Clients expect organizations to have two-way communications at their fingertips so that they don’t feel frustrated or lost when seeking information or assistance from a company representative. But it wasn’t always like this.
The concept of Omnichannel brings us back to 2010, with the intent of describing a shopping experience beyond just multi-channel. Customers would have access to a perfectly synchronized shopping experience across all channels, from the physical world of stores to the digital world of e-commerce, text messaging, e-mail, and the then fervently growing social media platforms: a truly Omnichannel shopping experience.
Since then, the concept was so popularized that it even became a trendy buzzword in the marketing space by 2013.
While by that time seemed utopic, as no one (nor the companies, the technology, or the market) was really prepared for a holistic shopping experience as it was imagined, the seed was planted, to what now has grown to be one of the most crucial components of success for almost any company, on almost any line of work.
Spoiler alert: Debt Collection is not an exception.
Omnichannel in Debt collection
As an experienced debt collector, you know how critical the right format, way, and timing of communication is when trying to optimize your collection efforts and avoid building up past due.
How you decide to approach them, how you follow up, and how much pressure you need to apply on them at the different collection stages, are all factors that will define the success of your operations.
An omnichannel approach to debt collection would mean that you’ve built a holistic, synchronized physical and digital platform that lets you efficiently manage and collect debt through all channels: in person, by mail, phone calls, e-mails, text messages, and social media.
A platform that improves not only your collection experience as you’ll be able to make better business decisions, automate processes, and reduce headcount but also your customers’ experience.
Let’s take a look at the benefits of omnichannel debt collection.
Benefits of an Omnichannel Debt Collection Strategy
Traditional Debt Collection can be a daunting and intimidating process, but it doesn't have to be anymore. An omnichannel debt collection is a modernized approach that can make the process much simpler and more efficient.
Operating on all possible channels synchronously lets you reach debtors you couldn’t if you just focus on a few. By casting a wider net, you won’t leave any debt collection opportunity on the table.
Not only it allows you to collect more payments, but you’ll also be able to collect them faster and cheaper. An omnichannel debt collection strategy allows you to reduce the high operational times and costs associated with traditional debt collection, keeping your processes lean. An interconnectednet of communication and collection centralizes your operations, gives you all the control, and makes debt collection more efficient.
Every debtor has a preferred contact channel. In general, older debtors will prefer real-life approaches, while younger debtors tend to prefer digital contact. Being able to operate on all existent mediums and their languages, allows you to tailor your approach to each debtor's individual situation and preference, easily. This way you’ll collect more debts as you play on their ground.
By having everything seamlessly connected, you’ll be able to follow every step of the customer journey. This will let you track and classify borrowers’ behaviors and preferences, allowing for automation, better tailoring, and optimization of your future collection strategies.
On the human side of things, it is also a great way of improving transparency and communication with debtors. An Omnichannel approach opens up a two-way communication stream with a fast response time, that lets you assist debtors when they most need it, increasing customer satisfaction and retention rates.
Keeping debtors happy means more debts are being collected with less effort and friction. At the end of the day, an omnichannel debt collection approach is not only a must at this point, but it’s also a great way of reducing costs while boosting your company’s numbers and reputation.
Omnichannel Debt Collection Statistics
Here’s a list with our Top 7 Omnichannel statistics:
- Companies with an omnichannel customer engagement strategy have an average of 89% retention rate, according to Invesp.
- Purchase frequency is 250% higher on omnichannel vs. single channel (Omnisend).
- Omnisend also reported that Omnichannel campaigns that involved SMS were 429% more likely to end in conversion.
- More than 35% of consumers anticipate being able to speak with the same customer support agent regardless of the channel, according to Zendesk.
- Aspect states that 61% of customers report finding it difficult to switch between channels when communicating with customer service.
- Marketing Week found that when purchasing an item 15 years ago, the typical consumer utilized two touchpoints, and only 7% of consumers frequently used more than four. The average number of touchpoints used by consumers nowadays is close to six, and 50% of customers consistently utilize more than four.
- In the same day, 98% of Americans change between devices (Google Research).
All things to consider
Implementing an Omnichannel approach to your debt collection agency isn’t just having multiple contact points with your clients. It is about changing the whole operation’s strategy and mentality.
This shift will need you to have all the resources in place not only to manage multiple channels but to offer a holistic and seamless integration between them, real-time processing of customer service, and collections, build a Self Service Collection System, and a tracking and reporting system that also integrates with everything. This is without mentioning the investment you’ll need to make to train your team to manage the platform effectively.
While it is efficient when already deployed and working, it can be expensive and complicated to build at first. This is why there are companies like Resolve, that offer a ready-to-go, one-stop omnichannel debt collection solution that lets you get all the benefits while skipping most of the hard work.
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