If you ask any professional debt collector what they’ll do for you, they’ll talk a lot about getting more of your money back in less time. If they’re good at their job, they’ll recoup more than you would on your own, helping you collect your money efficiently.
But how do they compare to each other? What do the industry leaders actually do that others don’t? When your money is on the line, you can’t afford blind faith. Please read on for a window into what separates the best pro debt collectors from the rest.
Investigators for Skip Tracing
Who is running their skip tracing department? Most debt collectors have professionals who have worked in their own industry doing it, and they can get results. But leaders go a step beyond and have a fully licensed private investigator to oversee skip tracing. This brings with it a few benefits.
Investigators know how to locate debtors who don’t want to be found, even when they change their name and location. They have a different skillset and range of experiences that are huge assets on the job. Plus, they have access to tools that conventional skip tracing departments relying on free resources don’t have.
The most dependable debt collection professionals will locate debtors and their assets more reliably and sooner because their skip tracing department gives them a huge leg up on the competition. It’s rare to find an agency with their own in-house investigator, but if you can find one, you should really consider hiring them.
Sometimes, there are no extra charges for their services, which is even better.
Friendly, Helpful Attitude
The best debt collectors help you in the very short term, but they also take a long-term view of your relationships with debtors. While on the job, they’ll avoid any harsh, unpleasant collection method that, rightly or wrongly, sometimes gets associated with the debt collection industry, such as:
- Robocalls
- Late-night calls
- Abusive language
- Threatening language
- And more
Instead, the best debt collectors lead with a friendly, respectful attitude that aims to help not just their clients, but debtors, too. Some people have very understandable reasons for getting into debt! It could be related to circumstances beyond their control. Either way, they don’t sit in judgment or act with a punitive attitude.
They are trained negotiators whose goal is to find the most constructive path to end the impasse so their clients can maximize their debt collection and debtors can move on sooner. This has a couple of important benefits.
Asking people for money can be uncomfortable and awkward, even, or perhaps especially, when they really do owe the money. Having a third party take this off your hands makes it easier to do business with customers and partners afterward, especially when the debt collectors are friendly and helpful and don’t leave a bad taste in anybody’s mouth.
Plus, the friendliest debt collectors manage to recoup nearly double the industry average! There’s no conflict between being kind to people and recouping more debts.
Specialized Industries
Collecting debts related to commercial rent is very different than, say, medical debts. The latter requires debt collectors to strictly follow HIPAA regulations, which give medical patients specific rights to privacy. Otherwise, there could be lawsuits and fines as a result.
It’s important to hire debt collectors with lots of experience recouping debts in your specific niche or sector.
Once you look beyond the promises that debt collectors make in their advertising and see what steps they actually take to recoup debts, you begin to see they’re not all alike. Look for a professional debt collector that goes beyond the ordinary, and you’ll have more money back in your accounts sooner, where it should be.
