Why Use A Door Knocking Service?

Why have delinquencies and charge-offs increased when communications technology has improved so dramatically? You use predictive dialers, robo-calls with collection messages, caller I.D’s for incoming calls, skiptracing databases, the list goes on. However, some of this technology, such as caller I.D., works against you as it allows the debtors to recognize the caller and avoid the call. Clearly, technology alone is not the answer to increased collections.

The telephone, for all its technological marvels and improvements, is a “single point of failure”, a term very common in the IT industry. With all the technology at your disposal it still comes down to the telephone as the primary tool to contact your customers. Yet, the rate of return on phone calls has not increased from the historical 10%-15% in spite of all the improvements in technology. Obviously a different or at least additional tool is necessary to improve collections.

What was once old is new again

There was a time when lenders would actually visit a past due customer in person to discuss their delinquency or other matters face-to-face when they couldn’t be reached by phone. But, as technology “evolved” and “improved” this became “outdated”. Eventually, technology worked against itself and became an impediment. The telephone works great…until it doesn’t.

The answer is to once again use direct, face-to-face contact with debtors. Consider this:

• 24% of households in Canada no longer have active landline telephone service. People now primarily use cell phones. 
• Cell phones make it almost impossible to know from one day to the next where the person you are calling is actually located. You may THINK you are calling someone who is located at an address in a certain city when in reality they could be in an entirely different city, province or even another country.
• An in-person visit with the debtor has shown to generate an 76% success rate, as defined by calls generated from the debtor to their lender with satisfactory payment arrangements made as a result of the visit. This is far in excess of the 10%-15% industry standard for phone calls alone.
• You have visual details of the residence, surrounding areas and your collateral.
• The increased rate of collections from door knocks will dramatically lower your costs for bailiffs, storage fees, process serving and other fees AT A FRACTION OF THOSE COSTS!

Simply put, “it’s hard to ignore a knock on the door”

Traditional or habitual thinking is a deterrent to increased effectiveness. The lending industry is locked into believing the telephone is the most effective way to collect. ASK YOURSELF, WOULD YOU BE MORE LIKELY TO IGNORE A PHONE CALL, OR A KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR?

More and more, creditors and lenders are once again using field visits to contact customers, only to be amazed at the level of response they receive from their debtors and the information they obtain as a result. If you want to increase collections, use all the tools at your disposal.

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