How to optimize debt recovery with minor information and process adjustments

Government organizations that handle collections have similar business challenges regardless of agency focus and mission. Let’s face it, debtors can be elusive. They are often hard to find and even more difficult to collect upon when information and processes are lacking.

To accelerate debt recovery, governments must focus on optimization – particularly, streamlining how resources get used in the collections process. While the perception may be that it’s difficult to implement change given limited budgets, staffing constraints or archaic systems, minimal investment in improved data, tools and technology can make a difference.

Governments most often express the below as their top concerns in collections:

1. Difficulty in finding debtors to collect on late tax submissions, fines or fees.
2. Prioritizing collection activities – outbound letters, phone calls, and added steps in decisioning.
3. Difficulty in incorporating new tools or technology to reduce backlogs or accelerate current processes.

By simply utilizing right party contact data and tools for improved decisioning, agencies can immediately expose areas of greater possible ROI over others. Credit and demographic data elements like address, income models, assets, and past payment behavior can all be brought together to create a holistic view of an individual or business at a point in time or over time. Collections tools for improved monitoring, segmentation and scoring could be incorporated into current systems to improve resource allotment. Staffing can then be better allocated to not only focus on which accounts to pursue by size, but by likelihood to make contact and payment. Find additional best practices to optimize debt recovery in this guide to Maximizing Revenue Potential in the Public Sector.