Maximizing Collections: The Power of Effective Skip Tracing
Higher Education and Financial Institutions have historically been committed to ensuring their Consumers financial well-being. Nevertheless, it's typical for any institution to face the challenge of managing delinquent accounts. To overcome this challenge, institutions must implement successful recovery strategies. This process begins with locating the Consumer (the debtor) and creating a comprehensive Consumer profile to maximize the probability of successful collections.
Skip Tracing Strategies
The first step towards recovering on delinquent accounts is to locate and establish contact with the Consumer. Obtaining the Consumer’s current contact information is crucial for initiating communication and is one of the most complicated and critical elements of the recovery process. We recommend you focus your location efforts on obtaining the following information for each delinquent Consumer:
- Address
- Phone Number
- Place of Employment
The most effective recovery teams take advantage of all the tools and technologies at their disposal to locate Consumers, recoup monies owed, and drive performance. This includes reviewing previous skip tracing attempts, identifying past employers, addresses and reference points. At ConServe, we have learned over time that the single most important step to ensuring collectability is our initial focus and investment on extensive skip tracing tools, resources, and proven techniques. We leverage a variety of manual and automated tools to locate Consumers through a proprietary two-level skip tracing process.
Creating a Detailed Consumer Profile
Once you’ve successfully located the Consumer, the next step is to create a comprehensive profile. This profile should include:
- Consumer occupation and employer
- Spouse’s occupation and employer, if applicable
- Current address and telephone number(s)
- Housing situation: whether the Consumer owns a home or rents
- Any financial institution relationships, if applicable
Maximizing Collections
Now that you’re armed with a comprehensive Consumer profile, you can tailor your collections approach accordingly with tailored repayment plans, settlement options and methodical follow up attempts.
The process of increasing collections through effective Consumer location and profiling is complex and involves persistence, technology, and a thorough understanding of the individual’s financial situation. Investing time and resources in these critical steps can substantially increase the likelihood of debt recovery. Remember, successful debt recovery requires empathy and ensuring you’re always following ethical and regulatory guidelines.
Read more about the additional critical steps you can take to begin increasing your recoveries by downloading our free E-Book: 5 Steps You Can Take Today to Maximize Debt Recoveries.
