After a decade working with multiple clients to improve their C&R Software Debt Manager systems, we often find that there are a multitude of issues that have built up over time which could have been avoided. These impact collections performance, operational performance and customer outcomes.
Collections can be a challenging area at the best of times and, with shifting priorities and limited resources, being proactive and reviewing your BAU system design and configuration is often not a priority.
Here are 4 habits that we recommend you integrate into your regular system management to ensure your system runs as efficiently as possible and supports your collections and recoveries objectives.
Habit #1: Keep your design and configuration documentation up to date
When asked to assess a Debt Manager BAU system, it surprises some people when the first step we take is to check whether the design and configuration documentation is fully up to date and reflects the latest release.
Although the Agile project methodology appears to steer teams away from being ‘document-driven’, we don’t recommend that this is taken literally when it comes to Debt Manager projects, especially with design and configuration control.
Assessing whether Debt Manager is working as expected relies on having an accurate benchmark to compare to i.e., does what is currently running production match what is reflected in the latest design documentation?
For some organisations, this is seen as a low priority, and can be challenging if teams are working in silos and only maintaining their own versions of documents. However, keeping designs in a master repository should be high on the priority list to save time in the long run and mitigate the risk of engineers not knowing if the build in Debt Manager is accurate.
Pro Tip: Make sure that documentation reflects the business outcome and objective the system configuration is intended to support and the decision making and rationale that supported this. Documentation without context is meaningless.
Habit #2: Run regular portfolio surveillance checks
You don’t know what you don’t know!
Even if your design documentation is accurate and we are confident that it matches what is built in production, that does not always mean there aren’t hidden issues in the system.
Most collections operations have reports in place to identify exceptions, as well as a defect process. However, these may not identify some of the most common issues affecting customer accounts.
We’ve discovered accounts ‘stuck’ in the system on numerous occasions with volumes that can range from 20, to several hundred or even thousands of accounts. Or where the accounts are not following the correct process, there could be several reasons for this, such as:
- Legacy strategies being ‘lifted and shifted’
- Unexpected agent actions and the system being unable to move the account
- Changes elsewhere in the Debt Manager ecosystem causing unexpected issues in other strategies
- Unknown defects
Being able to run proactive portfolio surveillance checks across your Debt Manager system is essential as they can detect issues that the regular reports don’t pick up. By quickly identifying issues and root causes, you can minimise the risk of detriment to customers and your business. Even if the portfolio surveillance checks turn up absolutely no issues, this will give you the confidence that all is well.
Pro Tip: We recommend running these periodically, at least monthly, alongside any release specific regression tests.
Habit #3: Automate manual processes
Are your collections colleagues doing work the system could be doing for you? This often happens where teams are working with a manual process as opposed to an automated strategy.
For example, strategies that sit outside ‘mainstream’ ones (such as vulnerable) are often highly manual, dated, and require the team to take all actions.
Regular reviews of all manual processes can result in automation opportunities, which will lead to greater efficiencies, a streamlined customer experience, and reduces the risk of error that comes with human intervention.
Pro Tip: Regularly review strategies with a high level of manual actions and also migrated legacy strategies which are unlikely to have been updated for some time
Habit #4: Optimise existing builds
Debt Manager has functionality that is more suited to certain designs and requirements. Often configuration remains unchanged as it is performing as expected however, the actual build may be taking too long to execute during a batch run.
It is important to be close to the run teams and maintain good relationships to proactively identify long running jobs or other configuration that may be getting ‘locked’ and having knock-on effects.
Something often overlooked is active redundant code within the system. It is essential to avoid accidental triggering that any redundant code is made inactive.
Being proactive allows you to optimise existing builds and potentially gain efficiency savings. By efficient we mean configuration that runs quicker and still delivers what you need – often something can be done more than one way so understanding of run times is key.
Pro Tip: Get close to your Run Team and be aware of any other incidents being reported which may be configuration taking too long to run.
Closing thoughts
These are just some examples of areas we would encourage every organisation using C&R Software Debt Manager to look at to ensure the system is running as efficiently as possible, as well as making the best use of your team resource.
If you’re looking to implement or upgrade your system, assess current usage, leverage the latest capabilities, or resolve any existing issues, feel free to contact our expert team for help.
We have unrivalled knowledge of C&R Software's Debt Manager platform (including all legacy versions), spanning 25 years and over 25,000 person days direct experience. Our independent advice combined with pragmatic delivery transforms collections technology to deliver better customer and client outcomes..
Find out more about how we can unlock the full potential of your Debt Manager system
About the author
Scott Penman
Lead Consultant
Arum
Scott has more than 20 years’ experience working with financial services organisations to improve their collections and recoveries operations and strategies. He has helped clients migrate, troubleshoot, optimise and improve their Debt Manager systems and is in the unique position of being able to bring both systems and business viewpoints to the table, which has been valuable when working with multi-disciplined teams.
With thanks to Mike Knight, Lead Consultant at Arum, for his contributions