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Customer
Service in Default - Cover Story Perhaps we should take a second look at the value of customer service – and take stock of who our customers really are. They may not all be listed on our client lists. A world of customers. Everyone has them. If I borrow from the bank, the bank is my customer. If I treat this customer correctly and serve its interests, it will surely continue to serve mine. If I lend, the borrower is my customer, and if treated well, will serve my interests by coming back to me again and again. In the repossession business, both the lender and the borrower in default are our customers. If we think the lender is our only client, we are surely headed for some unpleasant surprises. When the lender feels the backlash from a customer who has been treated poorly by one of its agents, it will eventually come back to that agent. The lack of good will and the increased conflict will cost the agent money. Money in lost business, that is, as the lender looks for other agents who, the lender hopes, will know how to avoid conflict or make it go away. And there will be administrative costs in dealing with ongoing complaints. It can cost a whole day to deal with a customer complaint, when only five minutes would have been enough to handle the original situation in an understanding manner. The reality is that some of us don't realize that we live in a world of customers, and that all success is directly proportional to the degree and quality of service we provide. In a truly service-based environment, those customers are getting everything they need and expect and more. When people get everything they need and expect from a relationship of any kind, the result is, more often than not, good will. The actual item or service being provided in this situation is value of some kind. When people receive value, they are more inclined to return value. This then is the heart of any healthy repossession business: a corporate culture of value for value. It is a serious mistake to believe that one can operate in this business and treat any participants in the process poorly without some cost. Not taking the time to handle our customers carefully creates a cost that shows up as reducing the value of what we offer. In our capitalist, market-driven economy, those that offer less value will receive less return. The long-term successful repossession business is one that never operates on the principle of luck. Without a conscious decision to offer more and better service all the time, to anyone and everyone in the process, the tendency will be that luck takes over...more often than not bad luck. Under a "luck strategy" of running a business, where service is present only if it happens to be convenient, fire-fighting is the general mode of operation. It just seems that the business is subject to an endless number of unpleasant surprises. The problem with this is that when you have to spend your time fighting fires it is difficult to be positive and proactive, which is not good when one considers that service is based on these two factors. A company dedicated to service is one noted for a cheerful approach and a commitment to go the extra mile. As there is very little traffic on the extra mile, such a company will stand out and customers will reward it with cooperation. It is downright amazing how the fires just tend to all go out at the same time once this position is reached. Cheerful delivery of service and a flow of co-operation from its clients will work wonders for a company. Would you treat a bank lender poorly? Not likely, since you are aware that it is in a value-for-value relationship with you. When you treat its customers poorly, you are treating the bank poorly. Handling this type of customer service is part of what banks pay us for. It is the responsibility of the repossessor and the attendant agents he organizes. Needless to say, we are often introducing good will and a positive attitude when the rationale for doing so is indeed difficult to see. The bottom line is responsibility; even if it is not accepted, it still applies. The debtor who didn't take responsibility for his debt obligation may have been coming from the best of intentions or he may not. His intentions are immaterial to the issue of responsibility. The same applies to the responsibility of those who serve their customers in the expanded definition being discussed here. We are serving our creditor clients well and assuming our responsibility for service when we treat their customers well. A reputation for doing this is very valuable in the repossession business because we may well be doing it when others are not. How can we in the repossession business become more service-based towards the lender's clients: our customers? If you feel that your business is suffering from not providing the level of service that is called for, consider that it might have something to do with the way in which you are operating and administering your repossessions and follow-up activities. Lenders who have clients in default have hired you to remedy the situation. You are the expert in their eyes. In many cases, the lender’s people will even see you as an extension of their own institution: a position earned through years of relationship, hard work and commitment. If you are so fortunate as to have earned such a status, you don’t want to put it at risk. You have to be ever alert against the possibility that your service to your clients may be suffering through insufficient or inappropriate attention to their clients: the debtors. There are immediate steps you can take to improve a situation of less than ideal customer service. The first is to take it as a given, for the reasons cited above, that the “service to customers” your company offers must include the debtor. The second is simply to “take stock”. When seeking for opportunities to improve service in the context we are discussing, one doesn't need to go far. Just go directly to the areas that are giving you the most headaches in your interaction with the debtors and then list all the attributes of that situation without judgment. Proceed with this exercise even if you are convinced that the problem has nothing whatever to do with your quality-of-service offering. How does the conflict take place? Who is involved? Who is being blamed? When did it start? In your opinion, when will it end? Does it look like a permanent problem in the business? What are the negative aspects of the situation? What are the positive aspects? The next stage is action. Usually, the simple act of taking the time to analyze the problem area will already have introduced a powerful spirit of action. The action you decide to take will all be based on your attitude. What this means is that you must be prepared to take full responsibility for everything. You will need to forget about who is right and who is wrong, and rather create a focus on resolution. One senior banker quoted on this point: “the key is how to make someone else (or another organization) understand that they have a problem and be perceived as offering positive, constructive advice as to how to improve. This is so much easier when there is utmost respect and trust between the parties”. Your sole focus will be for a conflict-free environment where the customer of your client is handled in a professional way. How you do this is entirely up to you, but the details tend to look after themselves when you, your employees and the agents of your company are directed to make respect their top priority. This respect will be necessary from the time of repossession through the myriad follow-ups and interactions with the debtor that result. It could be that a debtor calling to inquire about the status of a car, or the details of a possible redemption, is treated poorly by a customer service representative in your organization. It is in your best interest to move quickly to diffuse this situation and to do everything possible to prevent a recurrence. When you truly institutionalize professional, service-based interaction, you make the creditor you work for look better. The company that is committed to making its clients look better through continuing and consistent high-level customer service will always be rewarded in the long run. It may be time
for us to take another look at our client lists, and consider some additions.
It will serve to increase the image of our profession and create much
needed value. |
