Some callers have hourly quotas, said Melea Seward, a former caller who got mired in debt herself when she was a college student. They get unhinged. But the cold-hearted image may be changing. Now, collectors increasingly say that treating debtors better can be more profitable. Collecting is a competitive sport.
Most debtors have multiple creditors, all of whom are vying for limited resources.
Usually it's a whole bunch that go bad. But they don't bother to say they have 35 bad debts. Roger Willis' firm, Willis Associates of La Jolla, Calif., teaches dozens of collection agencies how to use a personable approach to charm debtors who cower at the sound of a phone ringing. The answers didn't vary. That might include reducing the debt.