Collections Management Requires a Plow Horse, Not a Show Horse

The success of the team is determined by the name at the top of the group. What kind of leader are you? 

What strategy have you put into place to constantly give your collectors confidence and competence so that they outperform your competition?  What is your level of commitment to success?  What is your team’s level of commitment to the mission?  Have you communicated the mission?  Do they understand the goals?  Are the goals attainable?  Are you engaged with your people?  Do they respect you?  Do they trust you?  Do they believe that you are working toward making them better? 

These are serious questions, if you don’t know the answers you may be failing as a leader.

The success of your organization depends on the ability of your managers to elicit a complete commitment from your staff.  Underperforming organizations often have mealy mouthed, tough-talk-but-sit-in-their-chairs types of managers.  Market leading organizations have managers that inspire their staff to do things that they didn’t think they could do.  Which is your organization? Leadership often makes the difference between success and failure.

There is a tremendous disparity between talking tough and being tough.  The collections industry is full of tough talking managers that bark out orders and expect that their collectors are simply going to fall in line.  These managers often find themselves turning their staff over, and subsequently blaming their team for their lack of performance.  Collection managers often forget that they are held accountable for results, and that their collectors are the only mechanism through which they can achieve great results.  If you think you are better off without your collectors, try to work through a few thousand accounts on your next shift!  Your collectors shouldn’t be barked at, they should be constantly instructed.

Collection managers should excel at:

(a) communicating,
(b) instilling confidence,
(c) developing competence, and
(d) focusing their energy on results.

I have seen many managers get extremely upset with a collector: “I can’t believe he didn’t follow up with that portfolio the way we needed him to!” Most of the times the frustration is warranted. But how many times did the manager clearly communicate the importance of the portfolio ahead of time?  Ask yourself the next time you get frustrated with your staff, “Was I crystal clear about what I wanted, and how I wanted it done?” 

Experienced managers often forget about how difficult it is to break through and close a big account, or overcome common objections on the phone. Remember that your job is to make them good at it.  Instead of yelling at them when they screw it up, you should work with them so they have the same confidence level you do.  Confidence and competence go hand in hand; you can’t feel good about what you’re doing unless you’re actually good at it.  Put in the work with your collectors and force them to drill it. Our operations manager likes to say, “Don’t teach them just to do it right, teach them so they can’t do it wrong.”

Make sure that you are putting all of your energy towards results. Riding your collectors without purpose, without any teaching or coaching, will not help you reach your long term objectives. If anything, grinding your staff will only lead to increased turnover which won’t help you at all. 

Good management is really tough because it means you have to pay attention to your people all the time.  You must find a way to make your collectors better all the time; this is taxing but necessary.  I read an article a few months ago that referred to great leaders as plow horses, not show horses.  A leader is always working toward the goal; barking orders and looking tough is window dressing. How good can you make your rookies?  How much better can you make your mediocre collectors?  How many leaders will you produce?  You make the difference in your team, the answer to the challenges lies with you.

Gabriel Tavarez is the General Manager, House/Legal at J. A. Cambece Law Office, P.C., a collection law firm based in Peabody, Mass. Founded in 1996, Cambece Law Office employs more than 230 collectors.