Credit unions are renowned for building and maintaining member relationships that span decades, and sometimes generations. However, even in times of prosperity, a rigid, impersonal debt collection approach can jeopardize those hard-earned relationships and harm your brand.

In the current economic landscape, which has been highly affected by the global pandemic, nurturing your members throughout their payment cycle, even in collection, is more important than ever. With many loan modifications and payment deferrals ending soon, getting members back on track with their payments as soon as possible is critical. Whether you manage collection internally or work with an outside partner, an empathetic approach can strengthen your member relationships and improve your bottom line. Here’s how:

The foundation of empathy is respect and understanding. Putting yourself in your members’ shoes when approaching collection will help put you in a consultative mindset when working to recover past due accounts. Contrary to popular belief, collection can be a very collaborative, interactive process, with advantageous results for creditors who work first to develop a foundation of trust with their borrowers.

For example, consider beginning the collection conversation by asking your member “why” they haven’t made their payment, not just “when” they’re going to. Reframing this basic ­question can quickly get to the core of your member’s inability or unwillingness to pay. Starting from a place of discovery can help put your member at ease and make them more receptive to working toward a solution.

You may also consider employing communication methods that your members are more likely to be receptive to, like email and text. To read more, click here