1. The Role of the Debt Collector

• The importance of the debt collector
• How the debt collector fits into the company's life cycle
• Understanding how much it costs your company to get just
• one customer through the door in the first place

2. Communication skills

• Procedures in answering the telephone or making calls
• Correct procedures in approaching customers when recovering debt
• Vocal tone, proactive questioning, knowledge of outstanding invoices
• Speaking with positive intent and professionalism
• Active listening, assertiveness without aggression and reinforced feedback
• Dealing with difficult, angry and unreasonable customers
• Dealing with objections and negative emotions
• Email correspondence – presentation, grammar, spelling, keep it clear and simple
• Formality vs. informality
• Importance of remaining focused and to concentrate on the call at hand

3. Procedural skills

• Preparing for each case prior to calling and recovering debt
• Turning promises into commitments to pay
• Developing good relationships with customers
• Procedures of regular follow through and regular calling/emailing
• Not giving up until the debt has been recovered
• Ability to develop an organized debt collecting system to ensure timeous payments
• Developing a good rapport with colleagues to speed up debt recovery
• Legal aspects of debt collecting

4. Raising the bar

• Energy, motivation and effectiveness