Sustainable credit management

Mark de Roode (35) has been active in the credit management and commercial director of POM Netherlands. The old way of getting customers to pay — the same for everyone, with increasingly urgent reminders and stacking costs — doesn't work, he says. “Let's say you're a phone subscription provider. A customer is very late in paying and you are admonishing that customer more and more menacingly. Under that pressure, this customer will eventually pay. But if that person has financial problems, the payment was most likely at the cost of paying the rent or mortgage, the energy bill, or health insurance. The following month, your customer really chooses to pay the rent and not your bill. So what did you get on balance with it? Instead, provide a social payment process so that you really help that customer and give them the peace and space to pay their arrears. Then you're working on sustainable credit management.”

Personal approach

At the heart of such a social payment process is a personal approach, says Mark. “You do that with a combination of resources. First of all, always be respectful. Anyone can get into financial problems, for example due to a life event. Then make sure you know which channel your customer prefers to be contacted via, at what time and with what tone of voice. This ensures a good payment trip. During the Credit Expo, behavioral scientist enters Felix Uhl the stage in front of us. He has been researching large companies for years to find the best way to approach customers. In doing so, he looks, among other things, at what effects a message has on a customer. What tone of voice does someone respond to best? What is the effect of a particular choice of words? It is knowledge that he likes to share and during his expert session, he talks about all his “best practices”. Very interesting and well worth going to.”

Arrange it yourself

What is also important in a social payment process: offering customers the opportunity to settle their debts themselves, says Mark. “We see a lot of people with debts that they are ashamed. The threshold for calling or even emailing a creditor and asking for a payment arrangement is high. If customers can arrange that online themselves, you remove that barrier.”

POM platform

Setting up such a social payment process doesn't have to be difficult. The POM platform — Cases — is ideally suited to facilitate that, says Mark. “With the help of our historical data and the extensive A/B tests that we can carry out in Cases, we know exactly how a debtor prefers to be approached. Through data enrichment actions, you can also request important information, such as the correct phone number and email address. And with our Payment Coach, we automatically help customers choose the payment solution that best suits their financial situation. All communication is in the corporate identity of the creditor organization; POM's name does not appear anywhere. This strengthens customer trust and ensures a clear payment journey.”

Perfect combination

Automating the payment process has even more advantages, says Mark. “This way, people with an outstanding account who just need a push in the right direction make it very easy to pay. This helps you avoid a long payment process where the costs only increase. In addition, debt collection agents save more time for people who really need your help to agree on the right payment solution. So that's how you create a perfect combination of technology and manpower.”