Ted London

Let’s face it, 2020 didn’t turn out exactly the way any of us envisioned it.  The pandemic turned most of our lives upside down.  It caused devastating effects to our daily routines, our families, our schools and our economy.  Within the collection industry in the United States, State and Federal Governments imposed significant constraints because of CO…

You may be asking yourself, “What is the value of automating collection communications?  Will this truly move the needle?” The answer is definitely “Yes.” More than 25 years ago, I was the lead on a project to implement a new collections system for a client.  As part of that implementation we also implemented a fully automated self-service mechanism to ta…

Most of us understand the dictionary definition of ‘Optimization’: “the mathematical procedures of making something effective as possible.”  What most do not fully appreciate or haven’t seen in operation is how an optimization tool can truly enhance a collection program to increase revenue, make better use of staff, and simultaneously increase the customer experi…

As agencies consider using analytics to enhance their collection capabilities, one of the topics which often comes up is whether analytics can replace administrators in the effective operation of their departments. My answer is that there is no replacement for the decades of experience that administrators have. Analytics is a tool that allows strong managers to supple…

As government organizations resume collections, and collection agencies are permitted to resume collection activities, organizations will need to determine their “ramp up” strategy.  Instead of immediately rushing to heavy-handed collection activities, they will need to think through a stepped approach to reach out to consumers, and try to re-engage them in re-pa…

In previous blog posts, I described the challenges collection organizations have faced during the pandemic, and the use of automated communications as one of the ways to help enhance collections results. Another approach to enhance collection operations will be the use of predictive and prescriptive analytics to better determine and/or predict the situation of individ…

In part one of my blog series, I described the challenges facing collection organizations during the Coronavirus pandemic, limitations on collection activities, staffing challenges, and constantly changing regulations.  When collection activities resume, consumers who deferred payments are likely to be even further in debt, with an even harder time repayi…

During the pandemic most States instituted special rules and directives limiting collection activities.  Some were in place for a short time, others are likely to stay in place for months.  For example, the US Federal Government suspended Student Loan repayments and collection efforts on defaulted loans.  Many US States suspended debt collection activit…

Now more than ever, collection agencies need to improve their bottom line while providing strong customer service to retain and grow their client base. Government agencies have growing inventories without growing budgets, while commercial organizations need to balance collections with customer retention and future profits.  In order to achieve these goa…

Every organization that collects delinquent debt is faced with many of the same challenges: collect as much as you can, do it at the lowest possible cost, and do so in a way that is the least intrusive as possible.  It is rare for any debt collection organization to want to significantly expand their staffing.  Often, the goal is to do more with the same, or…