The debt collection business is not for the weak-hearted, especially if there are thousands of dollars tied up in unpaid invoices and you need capable and resilient people to help you retrieve them. When you decide to hire a debt collector, they must match the industry knowledge and people skills required to collect your debt effectively. The global skills shortage also affects debt collection, with a limited supply of skilled debt collectors against constant demand. How do you ensure you find the right one? Here are 5 things to consider before you hire a debt collector.
What Can A Debt Collector Do?
Before you begin your search, you must clarify your business needs and what a debt collector can do to boost your cash flow and replenish your bottom line.
- Ideally, a debt collector should be able to improve your collection business by developing recovery strategies that suit your business.
- They can provide their expertise to help free your internal staff to focus on their core competencies and operations.
- They can ensure timely debt collection, increasing your cash flow and enabling you to invest in new projects and business growth.
- By minimizing bad debt, your debt collectors help you maintain financial stability and sustain your books without making significant organizational changes to meet budget requirements.
- Trained debt collectors can help improve your company’s reputation and develop positive customer relationships to keep future collaboration opportunities open.
These requirements seem reasonable enough, but why are 27% of the complaints received by CFPB about debt collection? Various factors make up a competent and successful debt collector; a large sum doesn’t check those boxes. So, before you hire a debt collector, consider these essential factors.
Check These 5 Things When You Hire a Debt Collector
Ethical Alignment
One of the most critical aspects of collections is knowing the rules and staying compliant with industry requirements. Debt collectors must conduct themselves ethically to avoid penalties and follow regulations like the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) to protect consumers from unjust and abusive behavior.
When you hire a debt collector, consider their ethical approach towards consumers. Look for candidates who prioritize respectful and just treatment of consumers, even in particularly challenging situations. According to Debt.com, 50% of consumers reported that collectors threatened or intimidated them into paying a debt.
A trained and professional debt collector should never resort to violent, aggressive, or illegal behavior to recover debt. Integrity and empathy are important factors in the healthcare industry, for example. A medical debt collector must empathize with patients and reduce their financial stress with tailored payment solutions to help them recover their debt without being bullied or harassed.
Technical Proficiency
With the rate at which the finance world is growing, it is imperative that debt collectors upskill themselves to master technology and modern tools. They need to be up to date with the latest software that can help them optimize the collection process and ensure data security. You need innovative people who are well-versed in predictive analysis, automation, and AI-powered systems to manage your collection processes as efficiently as possible.
Hire a debt collector with technical experience and adaptability to learn new tools as they come. Debt collection is no different from any other business regarding technological advancements. Consumers expect innovative solutions to ease their debt recovery process and require collection agencies to provide more self-service alternatives. You must hire debt collectors who can adapt automation and AI to develop intelligent debt collection strategies.
Scalability of Services
The growing need for skilled talent has posed a significant challenge to businesses everywhere, and debt collection is no exception. Despite the ever-increasing implementation of automated communication and machine learning, 79% of consumers still prefer to talk to real people instead of communicating via chatbots or emails.
Consider looking for debt collectors who are willing to commit to the strenuous collection process but can also increase their skills to handle your growing collection needs. Rather than sourcing local collection talent with limited expertise within the U.S., widen your search and hire debt collectors from remote and offshore locations. These professionals can handle diverse borrower populations and varying debt volumes in government debt, public fines and civil debt disputes. They can scale their services up and down according to your collection needs without onboarding or downsizing hassles.
Hire a Government Collection Specialist
Focus on Customer Experience
As mentioned, debt collection is a people-centric business, where positive consumer interactions yield faster results than elaborate technical strategies. Most debt collection agencies earn a bad reputation because their collectors adopt aggressive tactics to approach consumers, leaving them more vulnerable and less likely to cooperate. In fact, in the recent Consumer Experiences with Debt Collection survey, consumers reported more positive interactions with creditors than debt collectors across various dimensions.
Consumers face specific challenges with debt due to the high volume and amount of debt they must repay, especially in sectors like retail and e-commerce. Retail debt collectors have the expertise to encourage timely payments, offer incentives to customers, and resolve payment disputes amicably.
Industry-specific Experience
One of the most common challenges faced by collection agencies is finding qualified debt collectors who understand the nuances of their industry. Most creditors struggle to handle collections internally because their staff is unfamiliar with industry requirements or feels uncomfortable handling the collection stress. Hiring the expertise of a specialized debt collector ensures businesses can allow their internal staff to focus on core competencies.
You must hire a debt collector with industry-specific expertise, so they understand the regulations and unique borrower challenges related to your industry. If you are in the education sector, you need solution-oriented collectors with extensive knowledge of student loan structures to devise effective collection strategies for student borrowers.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire A Debt Collector?
Now that you know which factors help you hire a debt collector suited to your business needs, you need to tackle the other impending challenge—the cost of hiring a debt collector. Internal hiring is not every business’s first choice, but the added expense of assembling a collection team pushes them to utilize their team for collections as well.
The average salary for a debt collector is $23 in the U.S., with rates ranging from $7.21 to $37, depending on the industry and size of the business. Small and medium-sized enterprises often handle their collections internally because they can’t afford debt collector salaries on top of their other business expenses. A company that needs to recover delinquent payments would probably not be able to pay collection specialists to handle debt recovery.
But there is a suitable and cost-effective workaround – offshore and nearshore debt collectors. Where you would typically incur an hourly cost as high as $23 – $37 for a collector, you can get a specialized debt collector for as low as $16; if you know where to look.
Watch: Why Does Pakistan Have the Best Debt Collectors?
Partner with Remote Scouts to Hire a Debt Collector
The search for specialized debt collectors ends here – we are your ideal Employer of Record that can recruit, screen, and place specialized debt collectors with you. Our extensive talent pool has access to trained debt collectors ready to join your company at the drop of a hat. We source specialized debt collectors to handle your high-stakes collection processes and reduce bad debt to improve your cash flow.
Here is why we can hire a debt collector best suited to your needs:
- We are backed by 13 years of staffing experience, which we have distilled into tailored solutions to resolve your hiring needs.
- We leverage the experience of our parent company Cedar Financial, a frontrunner in the collection business for the last 31 years. Our debt collector talent pool is especially trained by the Cedar University training program that instills compliance, problem-solving and a people-focused to expertly handle debt recovery.
- Our expertise spans onshore, offshore, and nearshore staffing, so we can hire a debt collector offshore or nearshore to reduce labor costs by 40%.
- As your Employer of Record, we go beyond hiring to provide HR functions, payroll, and compliance services to integrate and manage your chosen candidate within your company.
- To address your data security concerns, we place your chosen debt collector in a secure offshore but on-site facility guided by SOC II Type II compliance certification to safeguard your sensitive data and conduct collections with complete professionalism and integrity.
Ready to Start? Hire a Debt Collector in 3 Steps
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Michael Stein, M.B.A
Connection Marketing, Inc.
Finding high-level technical talent in digital marketing is always a challenge. Remote Scouts has solved that. They have been an invaluable partner for our business, providing top-tier digital marketing support across Meta, Google, and other platforms. Their team is not only highly skilled and dependable but has also integrated seamlessly with our company culture and processes. Their ability to adapt quickly and deliver consistently high-quality results has made them an essential part of our operations.
Michael Stein, M.B.A
Connection Marketing, Inc.
Lisa Rung
PFS Billing/Coding Manager
I want to express my strong recommendation for Remote Scouts, particularly for their exceptional medical billing staffing services. They consistently provided top-quality candidates for our medical billing needs promptly and have significantly improved our team’s capabilities. Their expertise, responsiveness, and dedication to results makes them an invaluable partner.
Lisa Rung
PFS Billing/Coding Manager
Glenwood Medical Associates
Nicole Jimenez,
Billing Manager
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Remote Scouts for my staffing needs, and they’ve truly impressed me. Their personalized approach, top-notch candidates, and stellar communication set them apart. They deliver quality hires while staying within budget. If you need reliable staffing solutions, Remote Scouts is the way to go!
Nicole Jimenez
Billing Manager
Regain Medical Billing
Bejan Broukhim
CEO/President
I want to express my complete satisfaction with the services provided by Remote Scouts. I’ve worked with Remote Scouts to hire remote professionals for various roles within our organization. I’ve hired bookkeepers, and a social media marketer through Remote Scouts, and their performance has been extraordinary. They seamlessly integrated into our team, consistently delivering exceptional results.
Remote Scouts’ efficient recruitment process and commitment to finding the right talent have significantly helped us meet our business goals. We look forward to a long and productive partnership with them.
Bejan Broukhim
CEO/President
Nordic Plains, Inc.
Mark Steik
General Collection Company, Inc.
We have been using their service for two months and are very happy with them. The collectors are very well-informed in collection law. Their employees are very professional and are hard working collectors. They stick to the task at hand. make calls and get money collected. I will recommend them to any collection agency. You will be happy with your results.
Mark Steik
General Collection Company, Inc.
Alan Fassonaki,
CEO
Consistently impressed by the caliber of professionals introduced by Remote Scouts. We appreciate the diligence in selecting candidates who not only meet but exceed our expectations by consistently delivering high-quality legal talent.
Alan Fassonaki
CEO
Fassonaki Law Firm
Bejan Broukhim
CEO/President
I want to express my complete satisfaction with the services provided by Remote Scouts. I’ve worked with Remote Scouts to hire remote professionals for various roles within our organization. I’ve hired bookkeepers, and a social media marketer through Remote Scouts, and their performance has been extraordinary. They seamlessly integrated into our team, consistently delivering exceptional results.
Remote Scouts’ efficient recruitment process and commitment to finding the right talent have significantly helped us meet our business goals. We look forward to a long and productive partnership with them.
Bejan Broukhim
CEO/President
Nordic Plains, Inc.
Jonathan Hindes
Chief of Operations
It is my pleasure to recommend Remote Scouts for their services. I have worked with them closely during the transition of a handful of fully remote workers has been almost flawless. I have worked with other staffing agencies previously and I can state that, without a doubt, Remote Scouts has been the easiest I have ever done business with. Their training is very thorough, we have yet to see any of their representatives violate collections compliance. I would highly recommend them to anyone needing reliable staffing, quickly.
Jonathan Hindes
Chief of Operations
ACS Inc
Adam Pearlman,
COO
I am writing to endorse Remote Scouts and their exceptional staffing services. In my role as Chief Operating Officer at ARM Solutions, I have closely collaborated with Remote Scouts to meet our staffing needs, and I am pleased to attest to their consistent delivery of high-quality and professional services. Remote Scouts consistently provides top-tier candidates across various roles, including debt collectors, accounts receivables, sales & marketing, and more. Their extensive network and stringent vetting process ensure that the candidates presented not only meet but exceed our expectations, consistently setting a high standard of excellence. I strongly recommend Remote Scouts to any organization seeking staffing solutions.
Adam Pearlman
COO
A.R.M. Solutions
