Summary:
Our customer journey is key to our empathetic approach
Customers can view debts and set up payments in our portal
Phone team with case-managed support
Community visits our to agree sustainable plans
Wellbeing and vulnerability checks throughout each stage
Hardship and vulnerability processes with referrals to financial counsellors.
Debt Relief Programme where appropriate
Research-backed results
Our Customer Journey - An Overview
Our highly trained team is dedicated to delivering an empathetic and people-centric experience for our customers. We focus on each person as an individual, learning more about their circumstances, checking for vulnerability, understanding why the debt hasn’t been paid, and building trust through fair and sustainable arrangements.
We fundamentally believe that there’s no substitute for a conversation, and our customer journey is built around our philosophy of putting customers at the heart of everything we do.
Step One: Digital Services
When we are assigned a debt, we are legally required to send the customer a letter advising them of this and the status of their debt. Where we have email addresses and phone numbers, we will also reach out in those channels.
This provides the customer with an opportunity to self-serve through our portal, where they can view details about their debt and set up a payment arrangement.
For some customers, this is exactly what they’re after. The debt may have been incurred during a disrupted period in their life, such as sickness or job loss, but this is behind them and they’re doing okay day-to-day, albeit with the worry of this old debt hanging over them.
But just because it’s digital doesn’t mean we don’t care.
At the time of assignment, we also do a wellbeing check via a leading online platform TellJo. This is a quick survey that explores a variety of facets of vulnerability and flags cases for our team to follow up on.
This could be setting up breathing space, referring them to a community support service or submitting their debt to our Debt Relief Committee.
Step Two: Phone Services
If a customer doesn’t set up an arrangement on their own or calls or emails us to discuss their debt, our phone team picks up the case.
Customers are assigned a case manager who looks after their file until completion and works with them closely to manage their debt.
At this stage, our highly trained team also looks for evidence of vulnerability and wellbeing issues and can help them get financial or budget advice from a local financial counsellor, or refer their case to our Debt Relief Committee.
We know life sometimes finds new ways to throw curveballs at people, so if a customer needs to take a break from repayments or adjust their repayment amounts, our phone team can action it immediately.
Step Three: Community Services
A community visit is the final step in our customer journey, but it is the heart of our business as we fundamentally believe face-to-face is the best way to build trust and understand our customers.
In most cases, when we’ve progressed through the first two steps without any response, the file will be referred to our community services team for a visit at their last known address.
Our team works right across Australia, and we never show up unannounced, with emails, text messages, or letters in advance of our visit to let customers know what to expect. We also give them the opportunity to involve a support person if required.
On the doorstep our agents can quickly ascertain a customer’s situation and work directly with them to really understand their financial position, building a sustainable repayment plan to get them back on track.
In many cases, this is actually the customer’s preferred way of dealing with us, and it is consistently our highest-scoring NPS channel.
Debt Relief Programme
Where a recovery doesn’t align with our values or would leave the customer in a worse-off situation, we have a Debt Relief Programme their case can go through.
An internal committee will assess the evidence, looking at their situation, their ability to repay, the nature of the debt, and why they couldn’t repay it before deciding what to do. We also consider debt relief for all customers who engage with a financial counsellor at least three months.
A Better Way to Manage Bad Debt
Our customer journey is the key to our better customer outcomes.
At every step we engage with customers in an empathetic way, seeking to build trust and truly understand them and their situations. From automated, to phone, to community, we are there to support our customers to get them back on their feet and engaged with the economy once again.
When your organisation works with us to manage the debts of your customers, you can be sure they are being looked after and treated with empathy and respect. Our way is a better way to manage bad debt – better for them, better for your brand, better day-to-day, and better financially.
