Can Training Cure What Ails the Collection Industry?

by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

With a passion normally reserved for summertime skin cancer scares and new ways to be afraid of air travel, the press has been heaping loads of column inches on the debt collection industry ? particularly FDCPA violations. And now, with the IRS?s plan to outsource tax collection to collection agencies, it?s unlikely this scrutiny is going to level off in the near future.

Most recently, the Boston Globe carried a 4-part serial titled ?Debtors? Hell? that examined the hard-knock life of debtors across the country. Foremost on the story?s list of digs against the collection industry were abusive collectors and the ?any means necessary? way they go about pursuing the repayment of old debt.

These abuses aren?t created out of whole cloth, of course. In all industries there are several bad apples that threaten to spoil the image of the industry as a whole. It takes training, and a commitment to education, to ensure that these abuses remain, for the most part, as they are: isolated incidents.

There is a variety of training programs available to collection agencies both online and in software packages. These are in addition to traditional ?on-the-job? organized training most debt collection agencies offer to new-hires. ?It?s incredibly vital that companies recognize that training is an investment in the future,? says Jeff Freedman, co-chairman and CEO of MRS Associates.

Susann Bouchillon, Director of the International School of Debt Collection, offers an online education program for established agencies. The program, she explains, is unique in the industry as it offers new hires, novice receivables managers, and collection agents ?the critical skills of communication; conflict avoidance and resolution; and negotiation; as well as professional standards of behavior.?

Brian Acker, and his partner Melvin White, are attempting to offer a different kind of training service. They are in the process of starting the Western New York Debt Collection Training Academy. The Academy works by training the un- and under-employed as collection agents, and then finding job placements for them in one of the area collection agencies.

MRS Associates sees value in in-house training as opposed to outsourced training. ?There?s a better sense of control,? he said. ?We?re not against outsourcing training, if the product and pricing were attractive. However, we really feel a strong commitment to training our collectors to be the best employees for our agency. As I said before: training is an investment in the future ? and who better to train your employees than you??

Bouchillon sees her School of Debt Collection as an extension of an agency?s training department. ?Our curriculum is completely malleable. With our skills and expertise, we can fit seamlessly into any organization and really give new and seasoned professionals alike solid, useful, and valuable training. Not everyone has time to devote to training new hires ? that?s just a truth of the industry. But we?re devoted to training.?

Similarly, Acker and White?s Training Academy is devoted solely to training. But rather than grooming new hires, they take individuals and give them a solid background in the fundamentals. The process significantly decreases the ramp-up time new hire training usually takes.

All approaches have their strengths. Mike Ginsberg, President and CEO of Kaulkin Ginsberg Company (the parent company of Kaulkin Media and CollectionIndustry.com), reiterates Freedman?s thoughts about the necessity of training: ?It?s not necessarily a matter of how ? it is, however, a matter of extreme importance. Solidly trained employees are not just going to generate revenue for an agency; they?ll foster a sense of integrity in that agency as well. It would be incredibly foolish to underestimate the importance of training in this industry.?