If you have a collection agency, you know that it is among the most costly financial services to run. Paying employees, purchasing software, and data acquisition charges can be too much to handle for most collection agencies. Therefore, it is time to find ways of leveraging big data to help reduce costs in such establishments.
The greatest cost for most debt collection companies is employee benefits, bonuses, and salaries. However, it might be impractical to cut down on employees because these agencies need all the talent they can get. Luckily, there are other ways that collection agencies can reduce costs while increasing collections efforts — starting with adopting the right technology. Below is how to reduce costs at debt collection businesses with the use of technology.
Consolidate Collection Agency Software to Reduce Data Acquisition Charges
For starters, all collection firms need to gather all the data they can get to build individual profiles, perform debt recovery assessments, and locate debtors. You need to perform multiple searches to gain access to all the above information. Doing this can be rather hectic and costly, especially when you have a long list of debtors.
For instance, locating those hard-to-find people takes the following steps: collecting address information, looking through business records for financial data, and finding their social media handles. All this can take up a lot of time which might not be worth the trouble. However, you don’t need to perform all the above searches when you consolidate debt collection software solutions.
At Enformion, for example, you gain access to a wide database of more than 120 billion records from 6000+ data sources. Therefore, you get all the information you need in one place. Whether investing in a business or an individual, using collection agency software will come in handy.
Use Technology to Reduce Communication Costs
Debt collection is straightforward once you establish steady communication with consumers. Collection agencies, therefore, establish direct contact and strive to maintain consistent communication within their collections cycle. For example, it might seem practical to use letters or phone calls when reminding debtors to clear the bills.
However, communication costs can be somewhat overwhelming over an extended period. You have to pay postage for letters and telephone bills for the phone calls. The worst part is incurring these costs when you don’t have updated contact information. You end up spending a fortune calling the wrong people or sending letters to the wrong address.
Therefore, you can reduce communication costs by using technology to access updated contact information. Your letters will no longer go to the wrong address, and all phone calls get directed to the right individual. Equally, you get to save a lot of time because you no longer place calls to outdated numbers. Increasing efficiency will help you streamline your debt collection efforts, thus safeguarding your bottom line.
Integrate Cloud-Based Software to Avoid Paying for Single Searches
In the past, agencies had no choice but to work with multiple vendors to get collections data. For example, debt collectors paid individual credit bureaus, banks, courts, and libraries when searching for debtors. It is rather costly in the long run because you pay for single searches with each vendor.
Luckily, cloud-based software gets you all the data you need under one roof. Performing high-volume searches with a single lookup reduces the cost of paying multiple information vendors. A reliable big data vendor will also provide search support should you run into a problem when locating an individual.
Enformion Can Help You Make the Most of Big Data
Is your debt collection agency looking to reduce costs by leveraging technology? At Enformion, our extensive database with over 120 billion records has all the information you need. Start with the free trial today and watch your company grow.
