Effective Communication Archives - Cloud Based Dialer Solutions & VoIP Phone Systems | Arbeit

“Potential Spam,” “Spam Risk,” and “Scam Likely” Labels Impact the Credibility of Your Debt Collection Agency

Alex Villafranca — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 15:00:12 +0000

“Potential Spam,” “Spam Risk,” And “Scam Likely” Labels Impact The Credibility Of Your Debt Collection Agency

The rapid increase in spam, robocalls, and scam calls has made consumers more cautious when answering calls from unknown numbers. As a result, legitimate debt collection agencies sometimes face the challenge of having their calls labeled as “Potential Spam,” “Spam Risk,” or “Scam Likely,” affecting their credibility and success.

Stats on the Impact of Spam and Scam Labels on Debt Collection Agencies:

According to Truecaller, the United States received an average of 58.5 spam calls per user per month in 2020 (1). This situation makes it challenging for debt collection agencies, as consumers may not answer calls mistakenly labeled as “Potential Spam,” “Spam Risk,” or “Scam Likely.”

A YouMail survey revealed that over 50% of respondents were less likely to answer calls from unknown numbers due to the rise in spam and scam calls (2). This reluctance has significant implications for debt collection agencies, as it directly affects their contact and success rates.

Effects of “Spam,” “Spam Risk,” and “Scam Likely” Labels on Credibility:

Decreased Contact Rates: Consumers are less likely to answer calls labeled as “Potential Spam,” “Spam Risk,” or “Scam Likely,” leading to lower contact rates for debt collection agencies.

Eroded Trust: Labels such as “Potential Spam,” “Spam Risk,” and “Scam Likely” can erode trust between the debt collection agency and the consumer. If consumers perceive an agency’s calls as spam or scams, they may be less likely to engage in constructive communication or work towards a resolution.

Negative Brand Image: The labeling of calls with “Potential Spam,” “Spam Risk,” or “Scam Likely” can contribute to a negative brand image for debt collection agencies. Consumers may associate the agency with spam or scam calls, which can hurt their reputation and make it more challenging to establish credibility in the long run.

Lost Opportunities: As contact rates decrease and trust erodes, debt collection agencies may experience a decline in successful debt collection. Labels like “Potential Spam,” “Spam Risk,” and “Scam Likely” can lead to lost opportunities, negatively impacting the agency’s bottom line.

Debt collection agencies must be aware of the issue of mislabeling and take proactive steps to ensure that their calls are accurately labeled and perceived as legitimate by consumers.

Numberlab by Arbeit’s patent pending technology lets you see how your calls are being labeled on real consumer devices and removes negative labels when they appear. See how your calls are being labeled right now, by signing up here.

Sources:

(1) Truecaller Insights. (2020). Truecaller Insights: Top 20 Countries Affected by Spam Calls in 2020. Retrieved from https://www.truecaller.com/insights

(2) YouMail. (2020). YouMail Robocall Survey: Consumer Attitudes and Behavior. Retrieved from https://www.youmail.com/phone-lookup/press-releases/youmail-robocall-survey-consumer-attitudes-and-behavior

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Keeping Your Business Numbers Free of Negative Labels: Best Practices to Follow

Alex Villafranca — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 19:45:39 +0000

How to Improve Your Business Phone Number's Reputation

With the rise of spam and robocalls, it’s more important than ever to make sure your business phone number has a good reputation. When customers see that your number has been flagged as spam or scam, they’re less likely to answer your calls.

Here are some tips on how to improve your business phone number’s reputation:

Use a consistent caller ID. Make sure that your caller ID always displays the same information, including your business name and phone number. This will help customers to identify your calls and be more likely to answer them.

Don’t call too often. If you call customers too often, they’re more likely to mark your number as spam. Only call customers when it’s necessary, and make sure that your calls are relevant to their interests.

Be polite and professional. When you call customers, be polite and professional. Avoid using abusive language or making threats.

Provide clear and concise information. When you call customers, be sure to provide clear and concise information. Don’t ramble on or try to sell them something.

Offer a way for customers to opt out of calls. Make it easy for customers to opt out of your calls. You can do this by providing them with an email address or a phone number to call.

Check Your Business Phone Number’s Reputation

You can check your business phone number’s reputation by visiting the website of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC provides a tool that allows you to search for your business phone number and see if it has been reported as spam or scam.

Improve Your Business Phone Number’s Reputation

If your business phone number has been flagged as spam or scam, there are a few things you can do to improve its reputation. First, make sure that you are using a consistent caller ID. Second, don’t call customers too often. Third, be polite and professional when you call customers. Fourth, provide clear and concise information. Fifth, offer a way for customers to opt out of calls.

Use a Service Like NumberLab by Arbeit

If you’re serious about improving your business phone number’s reputation, you may want to consider using a service like NumberLab by Arbeit. NumberLab is a service that helps businesses improve their phone number reputations by providing them with the tools and resources they need to identify and address potential problems.

By following these tips, you can improve your business phone number’s reputation and increase the likelihood that your calls will be answered.

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Preventing business calls from being labeled as spam

Alex Villafranca — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 13:40:04 +0000

Preventing business calls from being labeled as spam is crucial in maintaining effective communication with customers. Here are some steps a business can take to avoid having their calls labeled as spam:

1. Verify caller ID information: Ensure that the caller ID information displayed is accurate and recognizable. This helps build trust with the recipient and reduces the likelihood of the call being labeled as spam.

2. Obtain consent: Before making any sales or marketing calls, it’s important to obtain consent from the recipient. This can be done through opt-in forms or by ensuring that customers have given permission to receive marketing material.

3. Avoid robocalls: Automated calls are often seen as spam, so it’s important to avoid using them unless they are necessary for providing important information to customers.

4. Use personalization: Personalizing calls by using the recipient’s name and addressing their specific needs can help build a connection and reduce the chances of the call being labeled as spam.

5. Provide value: Calls that offer value to the recipient are less likely to be seen as spam. This can be done by providing helpful information, answering questions, or offering solutions to problems.

6. Respect the recipient’s time: Making calls during reasonable hours and avoiding frequent calls can help reduce the likelihood of the calls being labeled as spam.

By following these best practices, businesses can ensure that their calls are well received and not labeled as spam, which can improve customer relations and increase the effectiveness of communication.

You can also see how your calls are being labeled on real devices with Numberlab by arbeit. Numberlab’s patent pending technology will show you how all of your phone numbers are being labeled on real mobile devices across every network. Once you know how they are labeled we can also assist you in correcting the labels and continuing to monitoring the labels to ensure they stay spam free!

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How To Collect Opt-In Consent On Your Website

Alex Villafranca — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:34:55 +0000

By now, you are probably familiar with opt-in requirements for debt collection.

Agencies who want to use channels like texting and email must collect opt-in consent from consumers for those channels.

If you clicked on the link to visit this blog, you might be tossing around thoughts like these:

“We’re nowhere close to using texting or email. It’s a far off goal for us. Why would we collect opt-ins now?”

“Maybe I can get away with sending texts and emails without the opt-in consent. This should have been the creditors problem.”

You may have even said something along the lines of: “All my agency has is a phone system. Even if we wanted to go to the trouble of collecting opt-ins, we don’t have the technology to do it.”

We hear you, and we’re here to help. We’re going to cover:

Why collecting opt-ins matters right now, regardless of the channels you are using
How to collect and store verbal opt-in consent, even if all you have is a phone system

Why Should You Collect Opt-Ins?

Although we typically think about opt-ins in the realm of modern channels like texting, email or even social media, opt-ins can be applied across any channel – including calling.

The regulators who debt collection agencies answer to look for opt-ins to each specific channel, not one “blanket opt-in” to any kind of communication.

So maybe you’re not quite ready to, say, start sliding into your consumer’s DMs on Instagram. More realistically, maybe you’re just not ready to start using texting. We still strongly recommend you start now.

Starting to collect opt-ins now will give you a huge competitive advantage when that day comes.

The reason we are so passionate about this is because we believe collecting opt-ins does not have to be an operational nightmare.

"Maybe you're not ready to start texting or emailing today. Even if that's 6 months down the line, starting to collect these opt-ins today is going to put you in a really good place to do those communications effectively when you get to that point. "

Kaitlyn Filippi

Product Manager, Arbeit

Are you ready for the best new of all?

You only need two things to collect opt-ins:

A phone that stores call recordings
An excel sheet

Let’s dive in to learning how to get started collecting opt-ins over the phone.

How to Collect Verbal Opt-In Consent Over The Phone

The real-life conversations with consumers – AKA, when you have them on the phone – are one of the best times to ask for opt-in consent.

You don’t need complicated scripting software or integrations, either.

During your conversations, just ask them if you can use other methods of communication to reach them. Some examples:

“Can we text you information about your debt?”

“Can we email you with information about your debt?”

All you’ll need to start collecting opt-ins verbally is two things:

The ability to record your calls
A way to keep track of these opt-ins

Talk to your vendors about their call recording policies and procedures. Under the CFPB’s new rule, debt collection agencies are required to store call recordings for 3 years, so if you are not recording your calls, now is a great time to start.

As for a way to keep track of opt-ins, most collection software offers easy ways to notate accounts.

If you don’t have an easy way to notate your accounts, or you don’t use collection software, we created a free document that can be used to track opt-in consent internally.

No matter how advanced your software is or what tools you have available to you, all you need is a phone and an excel sheet to start collecting opt-ins verbally, right now.

Give yourself the gift of a competitive advantage and the ability to meet consumers where they prefer to be met.

This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; and may not be used as legal advice. Instead, all information is for general informational purposes only.

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How To Collect Opt-In Consent On Your Website

Alex Villafranca — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:16:31 +0000

The best case scenario in the world of opt-ins is for the consumer to initiate communication on a given channel.

It’s great from a compliance standpoint, but it also acts as a clear signal: “This is the method of communication the consumer prefers – act accordingly.”

But let’s back up for a moment and remember the spirit of opt-ins.

When digital communications were clarified with Reg F, Kathleen Kraninger said: “We are finally leaving 1977 behind and developing a debt collection system that works for consumers and industry in the modern world.”

One of the keys to these digital communications, and the reason there is still hesitancy surrounding them, is opt-ins: Agencies should secure opt-in consent on a channel before using that channel. Additionally, in each message, agencies must provide a simple way to opt-out of being contacted.

Building out an opt-in collection process should encompass any channel of communication your agency dreams of experimenting with – even if you aren’t doing it yet.

We believe your opt-in process buildout should also be accessible to you today. It shouldn’t take months to coordinate.

We sat down with our very own Product Manager and Opt-In expert, Kaitlyn Filippi, to learn three ways to collect opt-in consent:

Verbally, over the phone
Through a website form
Via your letters or validation notices

Today, we’re going to focus on the third method – collecting opt-ins via your collection letters.

All you really need to get started with this method is a way to send out letters, and a way to modify them (for the purposes of this method.)

Collecting Opt-Ins Via Collection Letters

If you are sending out letters anyway, this is a great place to include information about the channels you have available, as well as how consumers can reach you on those channels.

There are two methods to get started collecting opt-ins via your letters.

Method One: Ask The Consumer To Contact You First

No matter how communication evolves, the use of a physical validation letter continues to be an effective and compliant way to get information in front of a consumer.

The CFPB took all the guesswork out of what needs to be included on your validation notices.

In addition to all the required information, you may include a conspicuous notice on your letters informing the consumer of their options to reach you.

Here are some examples of what to include:

As long as your operations support a way to receive a message initiated by a consumer, you can begin communicating on the channel right away.

Continue to include an easy way to opt-out, and your chances of a pleasant conversation and a positive outcome increase exponentially.

Method Two: Use a QR Code To Collect Opt-Ins

QR codes are free to generate and are a great alternative to including a URL on a physical letter.

As Kaitlyn shares, asking a consumer to type in a long and tedious website address is a sure way to leave a bad taste in their mouth.

Instead, include a QR code they can easily scan that will take them to any page you want – in this case, an opt-in form.

You need two things to use this method – a QR code generator and an opt-in form. We have great news – both of those things are free, and we’ve included links below you are welcome to use:

Free QR Code Generator

Free Opt-In Form Template

The key to most positive conversations in debt collection is to remove any barriers to entry to starting a payment plan.

Giving the consumer a seamless way to start a conversation with you will put you on the right path.

Conduct Testing To Find Out What Method Works Best For You

As Alex explains, there is no silver bullet to your opt-in collection method. Try out the letter method and see if it works. If it doesn’t, try collecting verbally.

The important thing is to start today, and give yourself a giant competitive advantage when it comes to the future of collection conversations.

Any changes you can make in the direction of consumer preference will be a positive one.

This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; and may not be used as legal advice. Instead, all information is for general informational purposes only.

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3 Ways To Adapt Your In-Office Culture To Remote First Culture

Alex Villafranca — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 13:09:27 +0000

On March 9, 2020, the Arbeit team received a directive from leadership:

“With the coronavirus affecting so many people, we want to make it optional for people to work from home for a while. If you will be working from home please let your team lead know and make sure you have everything you’d need to do so.”

We didn’t know it at the time, but this was the beginning of our transition to a remote-first work environment.

It’s been two years, three months and five days since we all packed up our desks that day.

When we officially sold our office buildings in 2021, our team had to make a decision to fully embrace a remote first culture.

As far as we’re concerned, the “transition” is never-ending; we are always looking for ways to improve our remote-first environment. This felt especially true for us because of our intense focus on culture over the years.

As we continue on this quest, we have learned a few things along the way. Today, we’re sharing a few tools that have made our remote work transition easier and our team just as engaged as we were in the office.

If you would like to hear more voices on the topic of remote work in the consumer finance space, listen to our very own Senior Customer Success Manager Ashley Campanella sit down with Lex Patterson on the Fair Debt podcast!

Wellness Bingo

We created the Wellness Challenge to keep our team focused on – you guessed it – wellness, in every sense of the word. Our movement, community and self-care affects our entire well being, both during our workday and when we log off for the day. It’s a way for us to hold each other accountable for the way we show up for ourselves throughout the month.

How It Works

Our team members can submit their Wellness BINGO boards at any time, and are given points for “Full BINGOs “(5 across) or “Mini BINGOs” (3 across.)

Team members can collect these points and submit them for prizes, lunches or even days off through a program called Assembly, which we’ll talk about next!

Assembly Points

Assembly is used to accomplish one of our fundamental values at Arbeit – team recognition.

When we can’t see each other in person, it’s harder to get a sense of how much we truly appreciate each other – we have to rely on digital communication.

Assembly helps us intentionally acknowledge all the ways we appreciate each other’s contributions and then turn that appreciation into tangible rewards.

How It Works

Managers can send Assembly points to anyone on their team, at any time and for any reason they believe deserves a public shout out.

This shout out appears in a company-wide Slack channel, and is accompanied by a discretionary number of points.

Team members can then exchange those points for prizes like a free lunch, a half day, and more.

You can learn more about Assembly here!

Game Day

Every Tuesday at 2 p.m., our entire team is invited to partake in a virtual game for up to 15 minutes. Some examples of games you can play virtually:

Get Creative - Going Remote Doesn't Mean The End Of Casual Collaboration

Even in the absence of the “water cooler” or happy hours, there are still ways to engage your team and embrace the culture you’ve built with a remote team.

It doesn’t just benefit your employees, either. In many cases, investing in these types of activities can lead to better business outcomes.

We’re always happy to share how these outcomes can boost your employee engagement and retention. Feel free to book a time to chat!

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5 Content Ideas For Your Debt Collection Agency’s Social Media Account

Alex Villafranca — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 19:30:51 +0000

If this is your first time visiting our website, allow us to introduce ourselves: We believe in the power of brand building on social media.

Social media has been an invaluable tool for us to reach and engage our community, without having to necessarily seek it out.

It’s a way for our brand voice and tone to go before us, communicating who we are, what we believe, and what we value.

Finally, it’s been a recruiting tool. Many current employees cite our social media as a way they familiarized themselves with what it’s like to work here.

Now do you see why we love social media so much?

If you are not using social media right now, we understand why.

As far as the industry is concerned, it might feel like another place to get burned, judged or unfairly attacked.

In 2022, it’s a whole new world for social media in debt collection.

Many agencies are trailblazing a path for the industry on social media, taking ownership over their presence and their engagement with consumers.

If you don’t have a dedicated marketing team or content creator, however, it can feel like a huge undertaking to start investing in social media.

How Do You Come Up With Content Ideas For Your Social Media Account?

If we’re being totally honest, getting set up with social media accounts is the easy part.

The hard part is finding new and engaging content to post on a regular basis.

That’s why you came to this blog in the first place, right?

We’re going to share five content ideas for social media that can be turned into graphics, videos, and even ongoing series:

Employee Spotlights
Educating Consumers
Client Testimonials
Your Take on Current Events
Breaking Down Your Agency’s Values

If you’re ready to start posting on social media but just need a little creative juice to get your content flowing, you’re in the right place.

Content Ideas for Social Media: Employee Spotlight

A great place to start on your social media account is to celebrate the employees who make your company what it is.

You can do this in a few different formats:

Post about an employee reaching a certain achievement or celebrating an anniversary with you (i.e. one year of employment.)
Post a static image of your employee and ask them to share a fun fact about themselves, or something they love about working for your company.
Ask your employee to film a video answering a few questions about who they are, what they do, and some fun questions sprinkled in. Here’s an example of what that can look like:

If you choose to go this route, you’ll get an ongoing bank of content to pull from. You might also get happier employees.

It feels good to see yourself being celebrated on a public platform, and it may even spur your agents to share your company’s content to their personal page and communities.

One quick tip for this type of content: Make sure you get permission first

Content Ideas for Social Media: Educating Consumers

One of the best ways to establish a positive reputation is by becoming a go-to resource for every corner of your community.

This is something we have been doing for years through our YouTube channel, Arbeit U.

You can choose what niche you want to dive deep into, and once you have established the topic(s) you want to talk about, you can establish yourself as a true thought leader and expert in that field.

Publish videos, create infographics, write articles – the options are endless and can create a constant stream of content for your social media channels.

Content Ideas for Social Media: Client Testimonials

There has never been a better time to call on your happy clients for social media content.

Social proof is one of the most effective tools to promote your brand on social media.

If you are looking for an agency to draw inspiration from for this topic, American Profit Recovery has been doing this very well for years.

American Profit Recovery collects reviews and compliments from both clients and consumers. By doing this, they are advancing their brand for potential new clients as well as consumers who may be hearing from them for the first time.

Not only is this massively helpful for your brand presence, it’s also an infinite resource.

You can even incentivize consumers or clients to leave these reviews, or use a Google My Business account to collect them.

Content Ideas for Social Media: Your Take On Current Events

The debt collection industry is a tight knit community. Perhaps this is because it is one of the most regulated industries to work in, and in order to survive as an agency, you need the support of your community.

One of the best ways to embrace and immerse yourself in this community is to pay attention to what is going on and start a conversation about it.

Here is an example of what this can look like from TrueAccord.

Taking notice of current events in the debt collection industry, and investing in the implications of them, has a few different benefits:

Legitimizing your agency in the eyes of clients and consumers alike
Helping you find your community within the industry
Advocating on behalf of your peers in the industry

If you aren’t sure where to start finding current events to post about, start with: AccountsRecovery.net, InsideARM, TCPAWorld and ACA International.

Content Ideas for Social Media: Breaking Down Your Agency's Values

A final content idea for social media is to walk your community through your agency’s values.

Choose a few words that you believe represent the core of your agency and what you are trying to accomplish. Then, choose someone from your team to explain why you chose that word, and how you incorporate it into your day-to-day operation.

Debt Recovery Solutions of Ohio does this perfectly:

You’ll be able to get in front of potential clients who may be searching for an agency whose values align with their own.

You’ll also be able to get in front of consumers who may be timid about contacting you to resolve their debt or set up a payment plan.

Want To Talk Social Media?

It’s one of our favorite things to talk about!

Book a meeting below if you want to chat about the how, why and what of social media.

The post 5 Content Ideas For Your Debt Collection Agency’s Social Media Account appeared first on Cloud Based Dialer Solutions & VoIP Phone Systems | Arbeit.

3 Methods Of Recruiting For Debt Collection

Alex Villafranca — Wed, 25 May 2022 16:06:41 +0000

At the time this blog was written, several record highs are circulating in the news cycle:

Record number of employment openings
Record high difference between open jobs and available workers
Record number of employees who quit their jobs

As if recruiting for debt collection wasn’t hard enough.

Unfortunately, it’s going to take more than listing your job on Indeed and waiting for the applications to flood in to get qualified applicants in the door.

Successful recruiting for debt collection will require some unconventional methods to both find, attract, and retain the right people.

The best candidates are probably not actively looking for a new job. You’ll need to get creative if you want to convince them to consider a career change.

We’ll be walking you through three methods of unconventional recruiting for debt collection:

Posting on social media
Regularly evaluate and invest in your software
Simplifying your application process

By making small tweaks to your online presence, employee engagement and hiring operations, you can expect to see an uptick in qualified applicants over time.

Recruiting Method Number One: Post On Social Media

Considering the number of jobseekers is at an all-time low, you may have to get their attention in places where they are not necessarily looking. One such place is social media.

At Arbeit, social media has always played a role in our recruiting. It’s a way for us to put our culture and comradery on display in a way that doesn’t interrupt anyone’s day.

This phenomenon has a name: Social Recruiting.

Some organizations go so far as to believe that social recruiting is taking over traditional recruiting.

Here are a few ways you can engage in social recruiting:

Post about your company culture on your organization’s main channels
Encourage your employees to post about their wins, comradery, promotions, even happy hours! This can be a great way for potential candidates to see what it’s like to work for you firsthand.
Find industry groups and establish a thought leadership presence there. You’ll be able to make a lasting impression on potential employees.
Establish an employee referral program. This will encourage your existing employees to engage more on social media in order to capture the incentive.

You can see a common thread in all these methods – the ability to harness the experience and expertise of your existing team.

The best recruiters you have are the ones who can speak to your company culture inside and out, because they experience it every day

Recruiting Method Number Two: Regularly Evaluate and Invest In Your Software

Imagine that your friend asks you for help with his lawn. He tells you that it’s extremely overgrown, with weeds and grass up to his waist, and he has nearly an acre of property.

You agree to help, and when you arrive, you expect to see a riding lawnmower, or at the very least, a pusher lawnmower.

Instead, your friend hands you a pair of scissors. He plans to cut each blade of grass individually until the entire acre of land looks as even and tamed as a golf course.

This is an extreme example of what it feels like when you expect your employees to get big jobs done with out-of-date software.

Technology in the debt collection space is continuing to evolve. With the breadth of software solutions now available, along with a steep drop in consumers who actually pick up their phone, it seems unreasonable to expect a simple phone system to accomplish the same results it used to.

If it’s been a while since you have evaluated your software, one solution to consider is an easier way for your agents to make calls at a higher volume.

Arbeit Click accomplishes this for it’s users by empowering agents to make upwards of 200 calls per hour, per agent.

Agents are able to move much more quickly through accounts and, as a result, feel empowered to do their job.

When you hear a manager say, ‘Click is up,’ our agents literally run to their desk as fast as they can because they know that’s where the money is going to come from that day. It’s almost like being back in school when the teacher says ‘it’s recess time.’ Click is fun, and it’s productive and they know they’re going to make money off of it, so they run to do it.

Paul Sims

Managing Partner, Advanced Capital Solutions

Whether it’s Arbeit Click or something else, make investments into your software so that your agents feel empowered to achieve their KPIs.

This should be top of mind as you make efforts to recruit and retain your team.

Recruiting Method Number Three: Simplify Your Application Process

If you have ever been in a position of applying for multiple jobs at one time, you might relate to this specific pain point.

Here is a typical application process:

You upload your resume, a cover letter and any other relevant documents
You then fill out all the same information – basic contact information, work experience, skills, etc.
You are brought into an interview where you often regurgitate the same information
If you make it past the first round interview, you are asked to attend a second interview, answering the same types of questions…
Do you understand the frustration yet?!?

It’s definitely understandable that you don’t want to waste time training a new hire who isn’t a good fit or is unqualified. At the same time, there are ways to make sure unqualified applicants do not slip through the cracks without upholding a redundant and tedious application process.

If it’s been a while since you’ve evaluated the effectiveness of your application process, here are some Do’s and Don’ts:

DON’T

Ask candidates to upload their resume and also require them to fill out a form asking redundant questions
Require multiple rounds of interviews that all ask the same questions
Give vague timelines and expectations

Ask either for an applicant’s resume, or for them to fill out an online form. Not both!
If you want to hold multiple rounds of interviews, make sure the purpose and nature of the interview is not redundant. For example, the first interview can be introductory and to assess experience, the second interview can be with a peer who can assess a culture fit.
Make your timelines clear up front and stick by them so the candidate is not left wondering what the status of their application is.

Recruiting for Debt Collection Is Tough, But It's Not Impossible

Maybe the problem with the way we try and recruit humans to work for us is that it’s not very human.

Remember that the seats you are trying to fill will ultimately be filled by real people. The more we can reach them in human ways, the better luck we will have attracting and retaining them.

As always, if you want to talk about recruiting in general or how software can help, you can schedule a time to meet with us below.

The post 3 Methods Of Recruiting For Debt Collection appeared first on Cloud Based Dialer Solutions & VoIP Phone Systems | Arbeit.

How to Use Social Media in Debt Collection To Improve Your Brand Presence

Alex Villafranca — Wed, 18 May 2022 17:17:04 +0000

Until recently, the words “debt collection” and “social media” were rarely seen in the same sentence.

In the past, debt collection agencies steered clear of social media, out of a hesitancy to be easier to find by angry or disgruntled consumers.

As far as the industry was concerned, it was just another place to get burned, judged or unfairly attacked.

In 2022, it’s a whole new world for social media in debt collection.

Many agencies are trailblazing a path for the industry on social media, taking ownership over their presence and their engagement with consumers.

One such agency is Williams & Rush.

After being in business for 11 years, Principal at Williams & Rush Sean Williams steered his agency towards a more transparent online presence after receiving guidance from a consultant.

His team is now well established on LinkedIn, and his website is the number one search result when you Google his agency name.

How Can Social Media and Debt Collection Peacefully Co-Exist?

In November 2021, Reg F gave debt collection agencies permission to use social media as a tool to contact consumers regarding their accounts.

This sparked outrage on what seemed like every corner of the internet, and consumers made it abundantly clear they do not wish to be contacted on their Facebook pages or Instagram DMs.

The question for agencies became – “How can I make my agency accessible on social media without making consumers even more angry?”

In order to find out the answer to this question, we sat down with Sean Williams to learn his approach to social media. We talked about:

The strategy behind Williams & Rush’s social media presence and the content they share
How he measures the success of his social media presence
Specific ways he interacts with consumers on social media (Spoiler alert: He still isn’t doing cold outreach there.)
Tips for agencies who would dip their toe in social media, but aren’t sure how to

You can watch our conversation with Sean or keep reading to master the use of social media in debt collection.

Play Video about how to use social media to improve brand presence

Why Did You Decide To Invest In A Social Media Presence? (0:53)

For the better part of the 11-year lifespan of Williams & Rush, Sean and his leadership team didn’t see the connection between social media and debt collection.

It wasn’t until a call with an IT consultant company in 2020 that encouraged Sean and his team to begin developing a presence on LinkedIn as a way to further establish and gain exposure for their brand.

Social media being a completely free tool for exposure certainly didn’t hurt, either.

How Do You Measure The Impact Of Social Media On Your Brand, And What Has Success Looked Like? (3:20)

Though Sean’s presence on social media is still burgeoning, he attributes social media to a great deal of exposure for his agency.

Once in a while, Sean will receive a call from an individual who saw content on social media from Williams & Rush and was inclined to reach out.

While Sean and his team do not keep specific metrics to measure their success, he sees it as a win every time he is introduced to someone who might not have ever encountered him otherwise.

What Kind Of Content Do You Share And How Do You Engage With Consumers On Social Media? (8:00)

Sean and his team work with an outsourced IT company who packages social media content for them, but he is continuing to humanize his brand as much as he can through individual efforts.

Some examples of this type of content has historically been:

Consumer compliments/Google reviews
Community involvement
Content from industry events
Team bonding events

There are many agencies who can create this content for you, but Sean believes you don’t need to have a dedicated content creator to make social media work for your agency.

What Would You Say To Someone Who Has No Presence Right Now, But Wants To Get Started? (15:30)

Sean’s advice was pretty simple: Just start.

You don’t have to have to have a content calendar or an in-depth strategy. All you need is a LinkedIn account (either for yourself or for your agency) and a camera to take pictures of things you are probably already doing.

You Might Be Surprised By The Impact Of Social Media In Debt Collection

At the end of the day, transparency on social media is a low-risk endeavor that can have massive pay-offs. You might even be pleasantly surprised at the the way your online presence transforms:

Better search results when your agency name is Googled
More networking opportunities with new and existing clients
An easier time recruiting new employees by showcasing your culture

Start with one post and see what happens (and don’t forget to let us know so we can like and follow your posts!)

About Our Guest

Sean Williams is the Principal and CEO at Williams Rush & Associates. Founded in 2011, their “positive collections” approach has made the agency a proven collection industry leader. WRA is equipped to provide your management and staff with superior service that surpasses all compliance requirements and delivers top debt recovery performance at highly competitive rates.

This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; and may not be used as legal advice. Instead, all information is for general informational purposes only.

The post How to Use Social Media in Debt Collection To Improve Your Brand Presence appeared first on Cloud Based Dialer Solutions & VoIP Phone Systems | Arbeit.

What Can You Do If Your Calls Are Being Labeled As Spam?

Alex Villafranca — Thu, 12 May 2022 19:16:51 +0000

It’s a roadblock we hear from our clients often. Sometimes, it affects our own team here at Arbeit.

“My legitimate calls are being labeled as spam. What do I do now?”

The crackdown on illegal robocalls from the highest levels of government has been swift, beginning with the TRACED Act in 2020 and continuing in iterations of enforcement as recently as April 2022.

The problem with swift enforcement is that the kinks are not always ironed out, and as a result, many legitimate callers are experiencing the aftermath of actions taken by the government, carriers and third party “call labelers.”

We’ve covered how call blocking and labeling works extensively in other content, so today, we wanted to talk about what it all boils down to – what you can do if your calls are being labeled as spam.

If you are experiencing mislabeled calls, and your calls are legitimate, you are probably operating in a cycle of frustration. All you want to do is reach consumers to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. How do you do it?

We’ll walk you through four things you can do if your calls are being labeled as spam:

Expand your pool of numbers to meet your call volume needs
Scrub your lists for Right Party Contacts before you start enrolling consumers in regular campaigns
Diversity your contact points across channels
Test and improve the content of your messages

We’ll also cover how you can find out whether your calls are being mislabeled and hopefully offer some hope for the future of the calling landscape. Let’s get started!

Play Video about calls are being labeled as spam

Why Are Legitimate Calls Sometimes Mislabeled As Spam? (1:00)

There are two main factors that can contribute to a call being labeled as spam.

Consumer Actions

Consumers now have the ability to contribute to the way calls are labeled. This has positive and negative implications.

Of course, it’s a good thing that you can now take action when an illegal robocaller is harassing you.

On the flip side, there is nothing stopping a consumer from marking your number as spam just because they don’t want to hear from you. And unfortunately, just about nobody wants to hear from a debt collector.

It doesn’t mean that one consumer’s action against your phone number will immediately result in a giant, ugly SPAM label when you call.

Instead, the data from consumers is crowdsourced and used by third party organizations who take all the consumer’s actions into account.

Call Volume

Call patterns and call volume are also taken into consideration by third party organizations.

We’ve found that the magic number is around 250 calls per day before a number might be flagged.

Third party organizations use all of this data to formulate a label for your phone number.

What Can You Do About Legitimate Calls That Are Labeled As Spam?

We recommend five steps you can take to mitigate mislabeled, legitimate calls at your organization.

1. Expand your pool of numbers to meet call volume needs

Kaitlyn explains that after extensive research and testing, it seems that the “magic number” that keeps your labels in the clear is 250 calls per number, per day.

Take the number of calls you typically make in a day and work backwards to determine the amount of numbers you should have to make sure a single number doesn’t exceed that 250 benchmark.

One single number getting the brunt of your traffic might cause red flags to wave.

2. Pay for a service that can brand your calls for you

A paid solution to the call labeling problem is signing up for a service that can verify and label your calls for you.

You can even arrange your logo to appear in addition to your business name.

It’s an upfront investment, but it’s arguably costing you more in the long run not to invest in solving this problem.

3. Scrub your contact lists for right party contacts

One of the quickest ways to get a call mislabeled as spam is to repeatedly call the wrong person.

Another method (that will cost you nothing but time) is to scrub your lists for right party contacts before you enroll them in a high volume campaign.

You can also use the Reassigned Number Database to confirm right party contacts before you start calling them.

4. Diversify your contact points across channels

Before your mind wanders too far into the weeds of calling, it’s important to zoom out and remember that you have other channels at your disposal to reach consumers.

Across generations, consumers have reported that they are not only open to receiving communication on digital channels – they prefer to.

If all you are doing today is calling, we recommend you simply start with one other channel and closely monitor your results.

5. Test and Improve the Content Of Your Messages

Speaking of monitoring results closely, keep in mind that it might not just be your calling patterns that makes consumers wary of your number – it might be the actual content of your calls.

If you are leaving voicemails or running a Press 1 Campaign, and have experience calls being labeled as spam, try switching up the content of your message and seeing if one particular script performs better or lifts your connection rates.

How Do You Know If Your Calls Are Being Labeled As Spam?

The quickest and most accurate way to find out if your calls are being labeled as spam is to pay for a service that will tell you right away.

If you want to start investigating internally, however, you can monitor your connection rates, or simply call a cellphone from the number in question, and find out.

A Mislabeled Call Is Not A Death Sentence - There's Lots Of Hope

Your gut reaction to a spam label might be to throw up your hands, shut down your computer and give up on finding a permanent solution to this very real problem.

It will take time and potentially money, but there are a lot of things you can do to start working towards clean and effective calling outcomes.

We’ve spent a lot of time investigating why and how call labeling happens, and we’re happy to share any additional information you are looking for when it comes to call blocking and labeling.

You can book time with us below to learn more.

This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; and may not be used as legal advice. Instead, all information is for general informational purposes only.

The post What Can You Do If Your Calls Are Being Labeled As Spam? appeared first on Cloud Based Dialer Solutions & VoIP Phone Systems | Arbeit.