How To boost Collection Rates with SMS Marketing
How To boost Collection Rates with SMS Marketing
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Debt can be a sensitive and emotional topic to a lot of people. And collection companies need to be careful how they’re communicating with their customers about their past dues. They need to find ways to remind customers about their monthly payments without being too intrusive and not invade personal space. Choosing the correct channel of communication is a key factor that will determine an increase in payments.
There are multiple communication channels that debt collectors can use to communicate with clients on a monthly basis and improve their flow of cash. Some include emails, calls, direct mail, app notifications and more. But it’s not just about choosing the right channel, it’s also about using the right strategy. In today’s world, consumers are using their mobile phones more and more. People are never more than an arm’s reach away from their cell phone, and best of all you can reach them when they’re away from their desk. This type of direct messaging is a powerful tool that will make your message be read by your audience.
Debt collections agencies can use SMS to remind their customers of upcoming payments. SMS offers a solution for collections companies that other channels cannot. For example, how long can an email be left unread? Quite a while. Now, how long will an SMS be left unread? Not too long.
Consumers have put SMS as a higher priority in their rank for communication. So usually, no SMS will be left unread. Automatic reminders via SMS will result in higher collection rates for a fraction of the price you’re delivering the text message. Just like email marketing, SMS has a variety of features that will help increase your monthly collection rates. Create a strategy that best works for your customers such as sending reminders, account status, payment confirmations and more. The key is for them to never forget about you and their dues without being annoying like SPAM.
Strategies
Consumers are constantly on the move and busy. With work, life, family, and bills; there are things that are bound to be forgotten. Agents can use some of these SMS strategies in bulk to no only remind their customers but create a sense of brand recognition for them. This will improve customer relationships as it creates organization for them and relieves stress.
Below are some SMS strategies and cases debt collectors can use to send to their database.
Upcoming Payment Notification
Text message platforms work very similar to email marketing platforms. You can set up personalized scheduled campaigns based on the data you have about your customers. These reminders will help reduce collection costs and encourage your customers to pay off their dues. It’s a cost effective method to have cash continuing to flow in the organization.
Text Message Example:
“[First Name], you have an upcoming payment of [Next Monthly Payment] on [Due Date]”
Payment Confirmation
Deliver a payment confirmation SMS to customers. Believe it or not, these simple text messages can come a long way. Thank your customers and inform them of other services you provide.
“[First Name], we have received a payment of [Next Monthly Payment]. Visit https://debtcollectors.com/info for more information”
Building your brand awareness with these texts will increase your recognition and customer payments.
Account Status
For bills and collections, organization and clarity is important. Send your customers a monthly text regarding the status of their accounts. Keep them up to date with their account or any pending information needed.
“[First Name], you have a PENDING status on your account. Please review and complete https://debtcollectors.com/log-in”
Your organization may be adding some new benefits that your customers can take advantage of. But sometimes they’re so busy that consumers don’t know about these benefits that can apply to them. Send them a text when you add a new service or benefit to engage with customers and incentivize some payments
Set-up Automatic Wire Payments
Automatic wire payments. Music to the ears of collections companies’ agents and managers. Having your customers registered to automatic wired monthly payments allows you to not have to worry about that client any more.
Send a Landing Page with you text message to let customers with instructions to set up their monthly payments. The easier you make this process, the more customers will sign up for this and boost your collection rates.
“Never miss a bill! Register for automatic wire payments here and we’ll waive 2% of interests https://debtcollectors.com/wire-payments”
Our customized landing pages templates can include full branding CTA buttons, forms, and much more. Contact us to view some of our landing page templates.
Unpaid Bill Reminder
With marketing, incentives can be key towards conversions. And some customers can forget about some bills they forget. Instead of penalizing them, remind them and give customers the option to settle the monthly bill without fees. This will improve customer satisfaction and they go out of their way to make sure they don’t miss the next month’s payments.
Chat Center
No matter the customer, bills can be stressful. And some customers would want to resolve everything right away rather than wait. Using SMS chats with your agents and customers will help alleviate that ease to clients. Improve customer satisfaction by resolving simple issues, and offer to call them directly if they need more assistance. Increasing these customer interactions will generate more cash flow and payments from your customers.
Text messaging has many benefits and strategies collections companies can use. As a manager, you understand that this is something that is stressful and unpleasant for customers to go through. Offering these methods will help ease their mind, thus increasing collections rates for your organization. If you’re ready to implement these strategies for your business, feel free to contact us. We’d love to help!
