STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW INSIGHTS

“The skills required to manage the complexities of hardship today, which includes mental, physical and financial health, is vastly different from someone who is solely incentivised to collect money. It’s that broader skill set that we need.”

– Brooke Lawrence, Recoveries Corp

“We are heavily reliant on data and analytics in our credit profession. We need professionals who can analyze customer data, understand changes in regulations, and evaluate self-service usage to understand customer needs and changing circumstances.”

– Rohit Dhingra, Optus, Customer Payments Support Operations

Credit professionals require a broad set of skills, particularly when managing hardship processes. Complex cases entail difficult conversations for both consumers and the credit professional. The approach taken in working with the customer can not only make a difference to the firm’s bottom line, but also the wellbeing of the consumer. A common theme among the interviewees was that managing the process requires a high level of empathy and specialised training to help credit professionals cope with potentially distressed customers. In some cases, the burnout of credit professionals was cited as overly common, and internal support within an organisation to help is desirable.

Building on this, buy-in from management to empower credit professionals was viewed as essential. Firstly, when on a complex call, delegated authority to offer a payment plan or deferral directly, rather than after consultation is viewed as favourable – allowing for consumers to receive a known outcome would ease their stress. Secondly, whether the collections process is viewed by management in terms of a ‘cost centre’ vs a ‘customer service’ role is important. Too heavy a focus on the dollar amount collected, rather than a satisfactory outcome for all parties can be detrimental to the overall business. After all, disgruntled consumers were more likely to represent a reputational risk to the business, and more likely to complain to the relevant ombudsman.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) associated with customer satisfaction, rather than collection rates, may provide greater overall or long-term value to an organisation.

Best practice around the hardship process requires ongoing discussions with other professionals. Many participants, especially counsellors, viewed training and roundtable discussions as a valuable resource. Complex circumstances require careful maneuvering, with some level of judgement being needed in hardship assessments. Mock cases, or team reads of transcripts, alongside linguistic training to develop call scripts may benefit all hardship professionals.

Some of the implications of the research are: z Skilled credit professionals are needed to interact with customers in a genuine, open, and respectful way. Thus, credit teams to be resourced with people skills and require continual improvement to handle challenging situations faced by consumers. z The economic pressures and forecasts indicate that the need for financial assistance is likely to grow over the short to medium term. z Therefore, all credit providers should prioritise projects that maximise their credit teams’ ability to engage with customers.

The research team would like to extend its thanks to each of the interview participants for sharing their time and insights towards this report.