Whole Brain Debt Recovery Training and Coaching - Genesis Business Services

Genesis Business Services are currently working with a number of collections and arrears teams to help accelerate their peoples development in the following key areas;

• Telephone communication skills.
• Negotiating arrangements.
• Dealing with aggressive or emotional borrowers.
• Team leader coaching programme to maintain the new skills after we have left.
• Use of the Brain Profile to help collections and arrears staff build rapport with borrowers.

Credit Services Association recent newsletter: A new approach to obtaining commitments from borrowers

In a recession, the amount of debt recovery increases but becomes more difficult. Growth is good news for the industry but with borrowers in despair, trying to collect from them can be like dealing with a rebellious teenager. Faced with the choice of going on a big night out with their last £100 to escape life, or make a payment to you, the rebellious teenager will most likely choose instant gratification.

Older style tactics and techniques of debt recovery training , using fear as a blanket motivator to action, are less effective in times of a recession. With industry finger-pointing, followed by government bail-outs, more and more people are using the current economic climate to absolve themselves of personal financial responsibility. An attitude of “I’m not the only one” and “It’s not my fault I lost my job and can’t find another one” can place paying debt low on the priority list for an otherwise financially responsible adult.

How can we increase recovery level in this new landscape?.....whole brain debt recovery!

The types of borrowers companies are dealing with are not necessarily the same types of borrowers from a year ago. Profiles can now include families that have never been in financial trouble and are experiencing their first major life drama. They are likely gripped with fear, which triggers the fight or flight response. This means they may either be aggressive with your staff, or avoid them at all costs.

In this landscape, what is needed is a more compassionate approach. An approach which focuses upon a tailored solution for the individual, resulting in earlier financial resolution. When faced with an aggressive threat of legal action, a borrower in the midst of life drama has nothing to lose. Litigation will only result in high costs for you, with no guarantees of a return. By being less confrontational, Collections and Arrears staff can work with the borrower to try to avoid litigation, your Collections and Arrears staff will experience a greater level of debt recovery and higher collections.

A more effective conversation is one that is focused on exploring options and developing a shared solution. After all, people support what they help to create. This approach will help to secure commitment on the part of the borrower; it will also offer them hope, which will create motivation to take action, enabling them to clean the financial mess they are in. This means that you will increase your level of recovery and the borrower has a new plan. Win -Win.

If your Collections and Arrears training has taken the hard stance (and maybe sometimes aggressive) approach to recovering debt, adopting this new methodology could take time for a behaviour shift to happen. For both the experienced Collections and Arrears staff and the young newcomer, this new approach may seem foreign. Successful behaviour change requires communication as to why they are being asked to change; skill training; role modeling from leadership; and ultimately motivation to change. An effective tool to underpin and facilitate this change is the Brain Profile.

How does the Brain Profile help develop whole brain debt recovery?

The Brain Profile, is a tool used to identify a person’s thinking preferences. By understanding how we (and others) think and make decisions, we can tailor our communication, conversations, and behaviours accordingly. This means creating a faster and more meaningful rapport with an individual. In this industry, creating that rapport will be the difference between gaining trust and recovering debt, or facing confrontation and litigation.

A simple example

If you have a left-brain thinking client, typically this means they make decisions based on facts. They may want to know: How have their arrears been calculated? What is the interest rate based upon? How the process works? What the next steps are? Etc.. until they have enough information to make a decision and formulate a plan.

A more right-brained thinking client might be more concerned that their story has been understood; that they have been heard; and that at some level this person cares about their predicament. They will need to establish a connection - a relationship – before taking action.

Since it is impractical to assess the Brain Profile of each client, the route to success is to build a team that are whole brained in their approach. Understanding the various thinking preferences will help staff ask the right questions to get the quality information they need. This will inform what actions to take to ensure collection.

Where to begin?

The starting point is for collection staff to understand their own Brain Profile. Each personalised report shows a picture of the individuals profile as well as an explanation of the behaviours that someone with that profile is likely to exhibit. It also explains the tasks that they might struggle with and how to overcome them. This will highlight the implications of that thinking preference to their role and success rate. Organisationally, it will allow the leadership team to understand how their staff thinks and may even inform project assignments, reward structures etc.

The next step is to create a whole brained approach to working with borrowers. This means learning how to connect to an individuals thinking preference. This is the basis to creating a tailored solution which the borrower will commit to – resulting in staff achieving collection targets.

The CSA and Genesis Business Services are excited to bring the Brain Profile and whole brain debt recovery to Associate members. The CSA is looking to organise training in the Brain Profile as a way of keeping its members at the forefront of developing their business in these tough economic times.

Contact neil.france@genesis4training.co.uk

What do our clients think?

Good morning Neil,

Further to the completion of the first phase of the telephone training, I write to thank you for your time.

The training has proved to have had an immediate and significant impact.

Our quality control results have shown a marked improvement in telephone collections.

The teams are also far more confident.

I look forward to providing you with the financial results and confirm that we expect these to show a significant improvement, particularly in the area of fee collections.

Many thanks.

Debby Cattell
Special Servicing Manager
Crown Mortgage Management Ltd.