If you haven’t checked out part one of this three-part series, we suggest you hop over there, too.
Once you know what you need and what you want to achieve with your accounts receivable outsourcing program, it’s time to start searching and qualifying like-minded and compatible outsourcing partners. For the best outcomes, you want to identify best practices, align your company cultures, and begin assessing their reputation. If you issue a Request for Proposal (RFP), then you should formulate questions that directly address some of these key compatibility and capability issues.
- Seek out your problem solvers
Often, businesses are too close to their operations to see the cracks that can actually drive customer delinquencies. Good outsourcing partners should not only help bring reoccurring customer issues to light, but they should also offer up solid solutions to remedy them. Agencies that prioritize customer centricity and continuous improvement methodologies will help you get the most out of your past due accounts while also helping to prevent new delinquencies.
- Partner to identify more informative key performance indicators (KPIs)
Effective accounts receivable recovery is about so much more than dollars collected minus costs. At the end of the day, you want to retain customers. Today’s past due customers still hold revenue potential for tomorrow. It’s important that your selected agency look beyond the obvious KPIs and spotlight other measures like first-call resolution and customer saves. These help you create a fuller picture about customer satisfaction, long-term revenue growth, and even anticipated spend for acquiring new customers.
- Spotlight compliance initiatives and tools
Regulatory compliance, due diligence, and training all play crucial parts in collections outsourcing. Today, businesses hold a lot of risk and responsibility when it comes to vendor management. Verifying compliance practices and ensuring agencies aren’t just focused on regulations but also quality of service can help minimize customer complaints and boost your brand protection in the collections space. Comprehensive compliance management systems, 100 percent call recording, ongoing agent coaching, and call monitoring teams are all good signs of a conscientious and compliant collections environment.
- Familiarize yourself on their history and leadership
Knowing where their leadership team previously worked and when can offer insight into the mindset and values they’re trying to promote at their current agency. While history doesn’t always dictate the present, it can speak volumes about priorities and how your relationship may develop—for better or for worse—over time. Both varied and focused experience can be beneficial. It all just depends on how either will help you reach your goals faster or more effectively.
- Look at employee engagement and satisfaction
How a company treats their employees says a lot about how they may treat your customers. Companies that make their employees a priority through employee appreciation efforts, competitive pay, and professional development often experience longer agent tenure and happier employees. Tenure plays a big role in subject matter expertise and strong agent morale can trickle into collections calls.
Agency attributes like these help advance your recovery success by ensuring that you’re paired with someone that not only has similar values but is also an indispensable thought partner. Prioritizing these values before you start seeking vendors can help streamline the selection process and find the best accounts receivable outsourcing agency for you from the outset.
Be sure to check out part three of this accounts receivable outsourcing series.
