Success in utility and municipal collections requires a tight ship with little to no waste. Fortunately today's software allows this to be achieved. Collection Advisor spoke with several leading minds on the subject to get their thoughts on how technology can help collection professionals bridge the gap between breaking even and a large return on investment.
How do you help accounts receivable professionals develop success in utility and municipal collections?
Fritz Schulze President and CEO of Comtech Systems Inc.
We encourage agencies to pursue municipal and utility collections because their software application can be used to overcome the challenges that these collection categories present. Generally, municipal and utility collections are under 1K, and some, such as parking tickets and garbage bills, can involve multiple small charges to the same debtor. This presents two challenges: first, the industry standard is to work largest accounts first, which means that your municipal and utility debt might not get the collection attention that you normally give your clients, and second, some accounts may involve amounts that do not seem worth the resources they will take to collect. You can overcome both these challenges with effective collection software.
Clients find these features particularly useful for municipal and utility collections:
• Automations that allow management to create customized event plans to automate routine decisions and orchestrate collector actions ensure that accounts will be worked according to your plan, and your collectors can focus on collecting rather than making workflow decisions.
• Grouping accounts according to a range of criteria such as type of debt and debtor aggregates accounts and allows them to be worked together.
• Setting pop-up messages to maintain compliance ensures collectors observe call times, call frequency and other collection pitfalls.
• Credit Bureau Reporting using the Metro 2 format automates the reporting process.
• Integrations that allow dialing, payment processing, skip tracing, scoring and texting directly from the application keeps collectors collecting, rather than opening additional applications.
Tony LaMagna Partner at The Computer Manager
To be successful in utility and municipal collections an agency must meet the specific needs of their clients. Often this can be achieved with typical collection practices; however, there are times when clients have specific and unique requirements.
Carl Briganti President/CEO of CSS, Inc.
As studies continue to show that more and more customers are comfortable with automated interactions as opposed with communicating with an agent, it is critical to deploy a strategy that includes a Contact Management System that can leverage a multichannel approach such as SMS text and/or voice mail drops for outbound as well as provides interactive voice response (IVR) technology for inbound.
As the cost of telecommunications becomes more affordable over traditional mail, this is not only a more cost-effective strategy but a much more consistent approach, particularly for utility and municipal collections as these are typically high-volume lower balance accounts.
From the debtor’s perspective, receiving a text or a voice mail message with a reminder is a much more comfortable, controlled and non-threatening experience overall and helps in client retention while increasing recovery rates. Therefore, the ability to send reminders via SMS text message that include a link to a payment portal is key; it makes the experience not only dynamic and effective but makes the debtor feel in control as opposed to engaging in pressured conversations with an agent.
Similarly, using an inbound IVR that allows callers to be identified based on their caller ID, provides them updated account information and that allows them to self-serve via touch-tone entries to either real-time pay or schedule payments based on predefined rules is another critical set of features to have available.
Lex Patterson President of DAKCS Software
By listening to and understanding the unique business processes that drive utility and municipal collections, and then working together to implement intelligent automation to improve productivity and create success. To make this happen, a committed and knowledgeable technology partner has to be there. The solution should be flexible and adaptable. Look for features such as rule-based workflow automation, complete integration on document storage, management and tracking, fee/penalty calculation, and electronic data interchange.
Thomas Mohr CEO of Beam Software
It’s one thing to be efficient and work more accounts. But having the right collection software with the tools to selectively search accounts and queue them for the right collector at the right time is more effective than just working a lot of accounts. And being able to identify cell phone numbers and precluding agents from dialing them without the customer’s consent helps utilities and municipalities stay in compliance. Using their collection software to send secure email communications to consumers that require end-user authentication is another way to help these markets serve their customers more securely.
Matthew Hill President/CEO of The InterProse Corporation
Any time government or highly regulated industries are involved, data security and infrastructure compliance are strong concerns. By providing the highest levels of security and compliance certifications as a part of a software subscription, we focus on helping our customers meet those stringent needs, differentiate themselves, and stay in the good graces of the ever-increasing demands of utility and government IT departments.
James Dunlap CEO of Lariat
Utilities and municipalities have fewer software solutions available to them and, typically, those systems are not designed with accounts receivable collections in mind. This creates a need for accounts receivable assistance for debtors that do not need to be placed in full contingency collections. To satisfy this need, an agency can provide a client with automated first-party collection tools such as letter series, payment plans, reminders, e-mails, automated calls, or even a payment portal branded to the client using the clients’ merchant account.
Ranjan Dharmaraja CEO of Quantrax Corporation
Utility and municipal collections, like other paper, has changed from a collections to an information systems industry. Software companies must help their clients understand and leverage technology, evolving from traditional collections to automation and modern contact strategies.
Chris Campbell CEO of Simplicity Collection Software
Flexibility, transparency and automation. Collections in the utility and municipal space is becoming a larger fast-moving niche in the overall collection space. A collection software will help focus your top priority collection efforts quickly and move accounts through customizable collection steps automatically. We live in a day and age where most collection back-end processes can and should be automated by collection software. Collection software can automate the heavy lifting (automation events to trigger things like credit bureau reporting, skip tracing, status changes and payment reminders) so you can focus on the important aspects of making your collection business a success.
Dan Hornung President of Roydan
Being involved in local municipal and utility organizations myself, I understand the difficulties and challenges of these changing landscapes. As the world around us continues to adapt to newer technology at a faster and faster pace, it’s imperative to mold this collection vertical to the latest communication techniques for consumers.