3. Evolution of “NOW” Photocopiers, (Xerox this!) (3M , 1981 Case Study), Overnight Delivery, (Federal Express Founded 1971), Answering Machines, 1983 - Virtually 100% with cell phones today, Card-less Collection Systems, (Corliss, Allied Bond) Car Phones, 1984 Auto-Dialers, ANI (Caller ID), 1989 virtually 100% saturation with cell phones today. Beepers, Sky-Tel (First Satellite Text Messaging), Predictive Dialer, Checks by Phone, World Wide Web, Cell Phones, Instant Messenger, Intelligent Voice Recorder (IVR), Personal Communication Device (PCD), Palm, Blackberry, I-Phone, etc. Instant Text Messaging Virtual Collections - 2008 Every one of these innovations was driven by faster response times.
4. The Evolution of “NOW” We have “a need for speed”! Average consumer spends 60 hours on the Web per week. (3X more than television), Average U.S. consumer sent 300 text messages per month in 2009 at .10 per text. Flat rates in 2010 are pushing the number to >2500 per month. Today’s consumer purchases 20% of all goods online, YouTube gets 1 Billion hits per day and is only 5 years old. Internet usage in North America exceeds *75%, Europe – 52% Australia – 60% (*Not including cell phone access), 89% of all Americans have a cell phone, 60% of the world population have a cell phone. Source: Neilson, Pew Internet and American Life Study2007, Project America 2010, FCC 2010) Disclaimer: Social Commentary Excluded
5. The Evolution of “NOW” Social Networking – Over 500 million people have a Facebook account. 50 % log on at least 1x per day, More than 20 million people join Facebook each day. More than 5 Billion pieces of information are shared and uploaded weekly. The amount of time spent on social networking sites has increased 300% in one year alone. Why was 3/17/2010 a pivotal day in social networking? (Hint: not St. Patrick’s Day) 1 ½ Trillion Tweets in 2008. Source: Neilson, Pew Internet and American Life Study2007, Project America 2010, FCC 2010) Disclaimer: Social Commentary Excluded
6. Payment Habits have Changed Physical Check usage will decrease to 25% in 2010. 75% of all payments will be electronic this year. Only 26% of all consumers did not pay at least one bill online in 2008. More payments are made at individual sites versus bank on-line bill payment. E-Payment and E-invoicing is green technology. E-payment and E-invoicing (Bill Presentment) is significantly cheaper, therefore merchants and banks will continue to push for it. Source: Aite Group 2007; Pay Stream Advisors 2008
7. Virtual Collections What if you could find an employee that never takes a break, never call in sick, always says the right thing and works 24/7/365 .
8. A case study in Virtual Collections A two step approach Step 1 – Build it. ACCESS Receivables created a debtor payment website in 1999. From 1999 to 2007, the company only received 1-3% of total payments at our website. Only 40% of U.S. households had a PC in the home in 1999. Only 50% of Businesses had a PC on the Desk top Y2K changed the game and fueled a rapid expansion of technology. In 2007, ACCESS and a quality software vendor (Interprose) worked together to develop a true AVATAR based collector that would actually take a debtor through a talk-off. It deployed in October of that year (patent pending). It was build on top of a collection platform (WebAR). This gave it much more flexibility than a simple website with prompts. We can present custom offers to debtors based on information such as credit scores, demographics, employment, etc. The application has a built in payment engine that processes credit cards and ACH payments. Emails and/or snail mail can be sent to the debtor automatically to confirm payment.
9. Model it after your best collector Would you like to pay the BIF? Why are you not paying the balance? Payment plans? Gather disputes? Gather proposals? Settlements? Can be customized by client if desired, Bi-lingual yes no Payment Engine ACH Credit Card Pay Plans Settlements Disputes You build a decision tree and lead the debtor down the path to self-resolution.
10. A Virtual Collector Benefits to your customerThe power of “NOW”. Responds promptly – never a wait, multiple concurrent sessions, Takes customer payments quickly and efficiently, Can perform the same function as your live agents, Use to collect new information, updates phone numbers, employment, address changes etc. Integrates with online databases such as credit bureaus and DMV’s, Speaks multiple languages, Solves customer service issues online, Agent intelligence can include dispute, handling, payment plans and questions and more, Integrate with online chat for special situations.
11. Virtual Collectorinterface and Administration We update our collection system each day with comments, transactions, visits, etc. The Virtual Collector takes ACH and credit card payment plans which is translated into our collection system, Nighttime process to refresh data. Payments processed and settled daily with our bank. Daily settlement and management reports Automated uploads to our systems Improves call statistics in our call center by providing debtors with self resolution. No need to speak with a live agent. Columbia Ultimate Collector System
12. ACCESS Results Online payments have increased from 1-2% of total payments received to 10-14% of payments received Lowered FTE’s by 10% while maintaining recoveries and fees. 33.23% FIRST TIME PAYORS 55.27% RECURRING PAYORS 31.42% PIF 7.62% PAYMENT SERIES 28.71% PROFILE UPDATES 11.50% DISPUTES ACCESS has collected commercial and consumer accounts in excess of $50,000 through the portal. The portal offers us significant advantage at month end when a customer needs to make a payment before month-end. The portal offers safe alternatives to speaking with someone on a cell phone while they are driving. The portal demonstrates our commitment to work “with” people who sincerely want to pay their bills but are having a problem – positive approach The portal continues to grow in acceptance and success as our debtors become more familiar with it. One specific application for resolving your bill.
15. When someone visits your website, it’s a special occasion… Evolution of Websites Most companies developed websites reluctantly in the 90’s. Cluttered – Your site should not be “one site fits all”. Distracting colors, flash objects, animations, etc. Your Website should not be an online brochure. Your debtors should not be directed to your corporate site to pay their bill. Websites today are developed for specific applications to focus attention one “one thing”. (television versus print). Get the visual senses involved. Is your Website trying to accomplish too much or not enough? The Internet could be the primary vehicle for communication in the future
16. Focus their Attention – Increase your StickinessMake your Website Functional versus informational Make it Attractive Make it Clean Make it Fast Keep it Fresh Modern Websites should be highly targeted applications – not encyclopedias or billboards. Is your Website Sticky?
17. Step 1 – Build it Step 2 - Promote it ACCESS Promotes its 2mybill.com virtual agent in every communication with the debtor. We put a friendly statement on all notices that notifies our customer (debtor) of the ability to self-resolve online. All outbound messages left include a statement about resolving their account online at 2mybill.com. Inbound on-hold messages also inform the debtor of their ability to resolve their account on-line, Statement Stuffers
18. Statement Stuffer Statement Stuffers are doubled sided- English/Spanish and are distributed with every letter.
19. Some of the benefits of Virtual Collections Enhances traditional collection efforts (recoveries), Lowest cost solution versus human effort (cost), Automated payments versus manual (processing) Impulse Payments (marketing) Positive Approach (public relations) Delivers a consistent message (compliance) Ease of Use for your debtor (customer service). Why use an AVATAR when you can simply have a text based solution?
20. For More Information Contact Tom Gillespie ACCESS Receivables Management 200 East Joppa Road Suite 310 Towson, MD 21286
