Behavioral scientist Felix Uhl investigates the best way to approach customers
Felix Uhl was shocked when he heard years ago how many people in the Netherlands are deeply burdened by a problematic debt burden. Since then, the founder of The Behavioral Studio has been working to find out how to control behavior in such a way that you prevent the unnecessary escalation of money problems. And how to get people who already have money problems to ask for help earlier. He shares the insights that Uhl has gained about this at the Credit Expo 2023.
With De Behavioral Studio, Uhl — who studied psychology at the University of Amsterdam — bridges the gap between behavioral and communication science and practice in order to improve customer processes. He is convinced that how you approach people determines how they respond. The first thing he looked at to get people with problematic debts to ask for help earlier was the texts in reminder and reminder letters to customers. “We made them less threatening. Because if people can't pay, your letter can still be so threatening, it's pointless.”
Superletter
Eventually, Uhl started an investigation to develop a superletter. “That was in cooperation with various parties involved in the Creditors' Coalition. This is a partnership of large commercial creditors who want to help prevent problem debts. The idea was to perfect the reminder and reminder letters and to offer help in that letter. We tested that letter extensively in practice, but unfortunately it didn't get more people to get in touch asking for help.”
Get help faster
Uhl is currently doing PhD research at Radboud University. In it, he investigates how you can communicate with customers in such a way that people who can pay actually start paying, and that people with money problems ask for help more quickly. In addition, as part of the Consumer Choices Action Plan, he is looking at Freo and Nationale-Nederlanden for ways to get consumers to ask for help earlier when they experience financial problems. “Together with a team of behavioral scientists, we have continuously drafted, sent and tested all kinds of letters in recent years. What works, what doesn't work? Mail to Pay asked me to share these findings at the Credit Expo. By the way, they are very good at testing letters using A/B testing, so see what the response to a letter is. That seems very simple, but in the systems of banks and other financial institutions, this is not so easy. You can do that very easily via the Mail to Pay platform.”
Shared responsibility
Uhl is happy to share his findings. “The text that works, the email that works, I'll show it all at the Credit Expo. It is important that we get the Netherlands financially healthier. That is a responsibility that we have together. Because as a creditor, you know: someone who has a debt to you also has a debt elsewhere. You're rarely alone.”
From carefree to negative spiral
The subject of problematic debts affects him, says Uhl. “When I was still working at Delta Lloyd, I first became involved in the Creditors Coalition. There I heard that one in ten children in the Netherlands lives in poverty and that more than half a million households have problematic debts. I was shocked by those numbers. Also about what that does to people; the stress associated with having problematic debts, the shame. And you know, having money problems can happen to anyone. Life events such as losing your job or losing your partner can cause you to fall into a negative spiral all at once. While before that, you had a very carefree life. That triggered and triggered me to do something about it. We all have to do something about that.”
