In our digital age, it’s no secret that both debtors and debt collectors find themselves in a unique position when it comes to the use of social media. Ethical questions aside, the reality is that Debt Collectors on social media now have the ability to search for information on their debtors using social media (for more on this subject check out this article by NBC News). With the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act written in 1977, it’s no wonder that the water is still murky when it comes to using social media as part of the debt collection process. One thing is for sure, however: debtors have the ability to use social media too, and if your collectors are making the following mistakes, the Twitterverse is going to hear about it:
Misidentifying Debtors
When Collectors have too much information across systems, spreadsheets and piles of paperwork, mistakes invariably happen. Calling the wrong people all together is embarrassing for the collector, and makes debt collection look suspicious. In the age of social media, public complaints about this particular error can delegitimize your agency and steer potential clients away from you, and towards agencies who implement solutions to keep their information organized and up to date.
Appearing Inconsiderate
Debt collectors have enough of a challenge fighting the online perception that they prey on the vulnerable, rather than assist people with planning ways out of debt. Without up-to-date information at their fingertips, debt collectors risk making mistakes about when to call a debtor. This is a sure fire way to get a debtor interaction off on the wrong foot. Imagine how much better the collector-debtor interaction above could’ve been if the collector had called to congratulate this Twitter user on her graduation before starting the collection process.
Losing Track of Payments
Without having all the necessary information in one place, collectors can easily lose track of payments made by debtors. This is a surefire way for debt collection agencies to appear disorganized, and to lose the confidence of debtors who are already skeptical of debt collectors. However, all of that can change when the collector has accurate, reliable information that opens the door to a fact-based conversation about debt repayment.
If any of these embarrassing collection errors have happened to your agency, maybe it’s time to look into a collection solution and streamline your workflow. That way, the only tweets you’ll be seeing about your debt collectors on social media will be just like this one below:
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