CorpComms Magazine

A Chester-based debt recovery service has forged an unusual alliance with the Samaritans in an effort to improve the communications skills of its workforce.

Red2Black Collections has developed a bespoke training programme, with the assistance of the Samaritans, to help employees develop trust with their callers and to hear what is actually being said rather than what they think is being said.

The programme also teaches employees to recognise difference between assertiveness and aggression in customers' telephone calls and email correspondence.

It moves away from the traditional approach of debt collectors that focus on the consequences of continued non-payment of debts for customers.

The Samaritans' team of 17,000 volunteers handled almost 5.2 million contacts last year, almost half of which were silent contacts where the caller did not speak or ended the call very quickly.

Nick Cherry, director of Red2Black Collections, said: 'Maintaining recovery performance in a prolonged recession is a challenge which has instigated this specific innovation in collections methodologies.

'Experience suggests that at times of increased and widespread economic hardship, debtors fail to respond to traditional collections activity in increasing numbers. Our relationship with the Samaritans will help us to find new ways to reconnect and engage positively with debtors to improve returns and establish a more sustainable approach than the current traditional models.'

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