The financial industry has been rocked by the persistent economic instability that took the world by storm in 2008. That economic instability has resulted in a significant loss of consumer confidence with a distrust of products delivered as well as how customers are treated by financial organisations. Once trust is lost, it is extremely difficult to regain.
Enter Compliance
In order to gain, regain, or maintain customer confidence, companies need to actively practice compliance. In a nutshell, compliance is the execution of all areas of business activity from initial customer service to providing effective risk management. The target is to ensure that your company is operating openly and correctly, which entails not only the keeping of the letter of law, but expressing compliance in spirit as well.
Compliance is particularly important for the financial industry, since people tend to be less forgiving when it comes to attacks on their finances. The debt recovery sector requires even greater efforts at compliance in order to garner repayments. Wescot, a UK leader in debt recovery, has personally experienced the rewards of compliance efforts over the past several years. Customers respond in surprise to agent contacts which seek to understand surrounding circumstances and provide repayment solutions based on hardships rather than simply demanding payment on amounts already predetermined by the company.
A Different Perspective
The old way of looking at compliance was through the eyes of cost. Compliance consists of numerous company-wide expenses including additional staffing to implement and monitor activities, the altering of practices and procedures, increases in employee training and the production of adequate business models, as well as complying with regulatory guidelines and paying subsequent fees. Expenses of improving compliance were (and in some cases still are) considered as barriers and thus seen as having a negative impact on company performance.
However, a change in perspective is required in order to see compliance as an investment instead of a necessary cost nuisance. Various benefits are provided by complying with customer and regulatory expectations, both of which work to build and strengthen customer trust. Wescot has found that debt collection customers respond more enthusiastically when they receive positive outcomes to their debt situation, such as agents taking the time to understand their plight and the create payment arrangements that are affordable and help to eliminate the debt in the shortest possible time.
To find out more of how compliance can help your debt collection situation, browse this Wescot short bio.