Over half the collection agencies surveyed not only thrived during the pandemic, but actually outperformed their pre-pandemic metrics in a nationwide survey conducted by Prodigal Technologies, Inc.
Prodigal, a debt collection AI software company, surveyed accounts receivable management (ARM) agencies about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their collections operations. Collection agencies from 30 U.S. states participated in the survey.
While the bottom half struggled to adapt to the remote work regime, the top performing agencies were better poised to pull ahead of their competitors for the following reasons:
- Investments in technology: These agencies had better prepared themselves for the pandemic with already having invested in remote productivity, cloud software and speech analytics solutions. This investment in technology helped them quickly adapt and transition to a remote work ecosystem.
- Tactical layoffs: These top performers trimmed the bottom 20% of their collector staff, in a planned layoff. Such tactical layoffs, coupled with their IT readiness for remote work, boosted the overall productivity of remaining 80% agents by 9% on an average.
- Data-driven communication strategy: By leveraging data analytics on their past interactions with borrowers, these agencies were able to tailor their communications strategy to help boost their Right Party Contact (RPC) rates. This was further helped by the widespread shelter-in-place laws during this time period, which resulted in borrowers being more likely at home, and answering their primary contact numbers.
- Utilization of PPP funds: These “Thrivers” were quick to apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, and utilized the funds from the federal stimulus to manage their cash flow needs effectively during COVID-19.
In summary, as the bottom half of agencies struggled but borrowers chose to pay down debt using the cash from the federal stimulus, the highly adaptable, technology-enabled agencies gained market share from bottom performers under COVID-19.
