Insights from our on-demand webinar

Intelligent Phone and Email: Shift From Persistence Strategies to Engagement Outreach 

Inefficiencies in persistent collection strategies — dialing incorrectly and/or disconnected or outdated numbers — wastes resources and time and hinders the ability to collect debt. In addition, regulations limiting the number of calls to the same person have also driven the industry toward multichannel communications. This evolution is further propelled by changing consumer expectations as people prefer interactions across multiple channels. shifting the focus in collections from one of persistence to engagement.

Reaching debtors on their preferred platforms increases the chances of successful engagement. In other words, utilizing a combination of communication methods like phone call, email, texting and portal. 

Right-party contact for collections agencies 

Right-party contact information — such as phone numbers, addresses and employment — helps debt collectors reach the right person on the first attempt. But for engagement collections to really work, that info must be fresh. Confirming that contact records are complete and up to date improves the chances of reaching consumers.

Today, debt collection is about more than just contacting debtors—it’s about engaging and building trust. Reliable data about a debtor enables collection agencies to make informed decisions, tailor their collection approaches to each debtor, and significantly improve the chances of payment. 

Multichannel strategies are more flexible and adaptable. Behavioral data determines which channels are most effective for different debtor segments so agencies can quickly switch between communication methods based on debtor behavior. This enhances the likelihood of connecting with hard-to-reach debtors faster. 

Building trust: Branded call display improves debtor experiences

One of the biggest challenges in customer engagement today is a lack of trust. People are increasingly wary of answering calls from unknown callers due to robocalls, scams and fraud. And even if a call isn’t blocked or labeled as spam, unrecognized numbers are often ignored. But when customers know it’s your business calling — they’re more likely to answer.

One effective way to build trust is with TransUnion branded calling. Displaying your business name, logo, location and reason for the call—along with verification the call wasn’t spoofed — on mobile screens increases the likelihood debtors will answer. This approach eliminates confusion and enables agencies to control how their brands are presented.

Phone behavior intelligence

TransUnion Phone Behavior Intelligence also helps elevate phone engagement strategies and significantly improves right-party contact rates an average of 25%. Identifying and prioritizing the right numbers to call or text means collectors can increase RPC rates, making outbound programs more effective and efficient.

Taking it a step further, it uses data to understand communication behaviors and provide the best day and time to call—increasing the likelihood debtors will be available to answer calls. 

Email behavior intelligence

Ensuring email addresses are valid and active before sending messages helps reduce bounce rates and better ensures emails land in the inbox without getting filtered to spam. Email Behavior Intelligence provides smart email insights to help agencies increase delivery rates and reliably correct and complete consumer email data. As a result, agencies can leverage the most up-to-date and complete email information to reach consumers, especially as consumers use multiple email addresses.

Leveraging these insights enables collection agencies to improve the overall performance of email campaigns by enhancing the effectiveness of outbound communications, reducing wasted efforts, mitigating risk and raising overall right-party contact rates. By making informed decisions about when and how best to reach out to consumers, collectors can enjoy better engagement, productivity and recoveries.