The collection industry is changing faster than it ever has. It’s hard to fathom that things were relatively “normal” a week ago and since then, what was down is now up, and what was up is now down. Collection agencies are scrambling to figure out how to let agents work from home as more states force non-essential businesses to close.
The hustle and bustle of a collection agency has slowed to a trickle of inbound calls and inquiries that need to be dealt with on a daily basis. Many clients have asked agencies to stop making outbound calls as people deal with the new reality of self-quarantine and shelter in place.
But this is an opportunity for the industry. To showcase its compassion and its dedication to helping individuals. To spotlight its commitment to compassion and ethics. To take its dedication to training and professional development to the next level.
Recognizing that this is a time of declining training opportunities, the organizers of Collector.Live! — Jack Gordon from WebRecon and myself — yesterday morning announced that they are making all of the content from its three years of events totally free for the next 60 days. All the sessions and presentations from 2018, 2019, and 2020 are now available to be viewed for free by going to https://recordings.collector.live/2020-60-day-access/.
For those who might not be familiar with Collector.Live!, it is the only event aimed at providing educational and motivational content to frontline collection agents.
“This journey in collections, from outside of our industry, it’s a lonely walk,” said Gordon Beck, the president and chief operating officer of Valor Intelligent Processing, during his presentation at Collector.Live! 2020 in January. “You’re not going to have a lot of people patting you on the back along the way. You’re not going to have a lot of support outside of our industry. And it will try you every step of the way. But I promise you, our industry is worth fighting for”
We believe the collection industry will emerge from this crisis stronger than ever. We believe that while we can’t solve the problems of economic uncertainty nor the anxiety that everyone is feeling, we can help the industry prepare for that day when things do return to normal.