The letter is no longer in the post

The traditional method of using phone calls and letters to obtain payments is giving way to more modern, efficient and trackable means of contacting debtors and being able to elicit payments from them.

Excel and Telsolutions

Excel Civil Enforcement has partnered up with Telsolutions, experts in the provision of technology solutions for the debt and enforcement industry.

Excel was looking for more effective ways to contact customers which would also allow them to self-serve. The insights from the Telsolutions system enables Excel to determine the best time of day to make contact, based on the actions taken by customers, including outside office hours.

Communications

The forms of contact now being used include automated voice messaging combined with mobile web forms and emails containing trackable links, all integrated into Excel’s case management platform.

These methods of communicating are much faster and more effective, especially as 89% of UK adults own a smartphone, making extra engagement channels available to them which are easy and convenient to use is a key part in enabling payments to be made on the move, and even from overseas.

The mobile web forms take the customer to a micro website where they can pay online, pay by phone, set up a direct debit, schedule a visit or ask a question. They can even pay in cash using a PayPoint barcode.

Excel knows who has read the communication and whether they took any action as a result, as well as those who didn’t read it this is valuable insight into debtor behaviour.

The wording and text used is also carefully analysed using nudge theory and this includes eye tracking which highlights where people are looking on a page and what is most likely to elicit attention and therefore a positive payment result.

Vulnerable customers

An important consideration for Excel was ways of giving better outcomes for all customers, and especially those who are vulnerable.

Because the links in the communications to guides and sources of support are tracked, this can give an early indication of customers who are likely to need support.

Multi-lingual communications

Excel communications are all in both Welsh and English, and this is also extended to the communications delivered via the Telsolutions platform. Google Translate is also installed so that customers can access the messages and the Excel website in over 100 other languages.