In this article, we will be looking at the top 6 things to consider when you are thinking of buying debt collection software.
If you handle any form of debt recovery. You might have considered paying for a system that would manage customer accounts and communication. You might be weighing the pros and cons of paying for a system and whether or not all the hassle is worth it
Debt Collection Software, why is it important?
It doesn’t matter what size your business is. You could be a small business turning a couple of thousand a month or a major corporation turning millions a month. You need to have some form of debt recovery. And we very firmly believe that the best way to do this is to actually have debt recovery software.
Irrespective of how big or small your business is, it is worth the hassle to have the software. It’s worth getting the training for staff, if you’ve got staff to get them trained. Because at the end of the day, debt collection software is going to make a huge difference within your business.
There is an entire industry built around debt recovery. Therefore an entire industry around debt recovery software and solutions. One of the biggest benefits to debt collection software is that it gives you a clear view of the status of your bad debt book.
1 :: Multiple forms of communication
This is a vital feature in any debt collection software. You need to have a system that allows you to use various communication methods. Email or SMS notifications, the possibility of WhatsApp notifications, even E-statement functionalities. Each of these increases the probability that you can get the communication to the debtor. Many businesses perform these actions outside of any billing or debt collection software. And this often results in disastrous consequences for the simple reason that you have no control over the communication that is being sent.
Remember the more actions performed outside of your debt collection software the more unreliable your data becomes.
2 :: Automated Reminders
The larger your bad debt book is, the more difficult it becomes to manage the volume of reminder messages that need to be sent. These reminder messages in my opinion are often the last line defense between your debtor making payment or not. When looking for debt collection software you want to make sure that the system can remind debtors when their payments are due, or notify the debtor when they have not honored a payment agreement.
3 :: Bulk Actions
Another great feature that you want to look for when you are looking for debt collection software is does the software offer bulk actions?
Bulk actions are an amazing feature that allow you to create bulk documents or notification. This allows you to contact a larger audience in a shorter period of time. Bulk actions allow you to create things like settlement campaigns or send notices out with a single action to all accounts is a certain status. These bulk actions allow you to apply intuitive pacing concepts based on the availability of your staff etc.
4 :: Reporting
A really important feature to look for, especially with debt collection software, is reporting. Is the debt collection software you are using or looking to purchase able to give you a definitive report on the status of the accounts. Or dashboards that show you the status of your bad debt book at a glance? What is sitting in 30 days, 60 days, 120 days? When was the last communication sent out? Are you running campaigns? Is it able to send financial reports to your accounting team for them to work on?
This kind of reporting ensures that you as the owner have your finger on the pulse and can see what is happening at any given time on your bad debt book.
5:: Integrity of Your Data.
Remember the more things happening outside of your debt collection software the more unstable your data is. A good debt recovery software will help to protect the integrity of your data. What this means is that your software should not allow staff to delete information, or edit notes. There should be a very clear audit trail on everything that has happened within the software and vitally important everything that has happened on an overdue account.
What this does is, it ensures the credibility of your data. Should the account be handed over for litigation, you can be assured that your data is credible. And have a full audit trail of absolutely everything and this is a really great way to ensure that everything is above board.
6:: Ease of Use.
The last thing you want is to have debt collection software that is difficult or too technical to use. Or where you’re going to have to send your staff for hours and hours of training. You want to have something that’s very quick to learn, fairly easy to navigate, and is able to adapt fairly quickly.
You don’t want to be sitting with something that’s difficult to use because the moment it’s difficult to use, what’s going to happen is your staff are going to go outside that system again which corrupts the integrity of the data.
Conclusion.
There are a number of decent debt collection software’s and systems out there. We firmly believe that debt collection software, like billing or accounting software, is vital for a business. Do when looking for a debt collection system or software do you homework and using the above checklist will be an advantage when meeting with a prospective provider.
Remember that a great debt collection software helps you to keep everything where it should be and gives you the business owner time to actually focus on what you do best, which is running your business. Having software means that you can also manage your workflow, you can see what your staff has been doing, have notices gone out, have follow ups been done, and you are no longer reliant on word of mouth or corrupted data.
If you would like some additional information on our IsoDebt Debt Collection software please click here