Help Your Clients Feel More Confident
Lost In the Woods
Consumers often feel lost in unfamiliar territory when starting debt review.
After all, they have begun an important financial journey that will change their entire financial future but they have limited understanding about everything that happens behind the scenes.
Debt Counsellors play an integral role in helping reduce their concerns about:
(1) whether they have made the right choice to enter debt review and
(2) in helping them feel safe while on this journey.
There are many practical things that Debt Counsellors can do to help their clients feel more confident and thus stick with the process.
Let’s look at some of them.
Make It Easy To Understand
It is important that people who begin debt review, know what they are signing up for.
They need to know the ramifications and make an educated decision they will stick to.
Don’t be like the banks with their tiny hidden clauses buried in the small print of contracts designed to trick and confuse. Make your advertising, your website, your documents easy to understand.
Don’t overwhelm but also don’t skimp.
Do You Have a Contract?
Form 16’s are formal application documents.
While some Debt Counsellors use them as a kind of hybrid Frankenstein contract that mentions fees and also throws in some power of attorney and debit cancellation documents, this is not a great alternative to a well written service level contract between you and the consumer.
Such contracts can set out clearly what you will and won’t do and clearly define what is required of the consumer. It can be also later be referred to by both you and the consumer when in doubt. Make your wording and the obligations of both party’s crystal clear. That way you will be sticking to the requirements of the Consumer Protection Act.
Have a Good Welcome Pack
It’s impossible to cover every aspect of every step of the debt review process when meeting with clients.
That would take months or even years.
Still, even once consumers have enough information to really commit to the process, you will need to later give additional information about the process.
And people forget. So, you may need to remind them of how debt review works.
To help reduce consumer stress about what happens next, set out a road map for your clients of what to expect. Throw in some warnings about naughty behaviour of collections agents or scammers.
Give it to them in a format that they can refer to again in the future to help settle their nerves and answer their concerns.
Answer Your Bloody Phone!
The biggest frustration for any client is not being able to talk to someone when they need to.
So, answer your phone.
With so much technology available these days from chat bots to WhatsApp plug ins the only reason why a consumer would not be able to talk to someone immediately about their situation is outright laziness and lack of concern for clients.
If that’s your policy then your practice is doomed.
Update Your Clients Regularly
Imagine your clients alone in a dark jungle surrounded by scary noises in the dark.
Is that what you want for them?
Do you think that would help them successfully make it through the entire debt review process?
Rather than constantly having to run out and try get more clients, improve your communication channels with your existing clients.
Rather than fool yourself into thinking that talking to your clients is a bad idea, for some bogus reason, pull your socks up and design and implement regular updates with them. They will appreciate it.
And it will help them stick with the process.
Build Trust By Giving Clients Access
Having more information, from more sources can help build trust.
For example, can you help clients log in to platforms like DReX where they can see documents about their debt review?
Do you have a client portal where consumers can get updates, find useful numbers and link?
Can they log in and get info about their payments?
Can you give clients copies of most of their documents?
The more you can give consumers access and information, the more it will build trust in both you and the process.
Use Debtfree Magazine Each Month
The Debtfree team work with Debt Counsellors across the country and send email invites to read the magazine to their clients, on their behalf. This is a part of the Debt Counsellors’ aftercare services.
After all, debt review clients deserve a little extra love and support.
Add it into your contracts or sign up forms when clients so you can give them something specially for consumers in debt review.
And the mag is always free so, it costs them nothing and helps keep them up to date with industry developments.
Educate your clients and they will stick with the process.
Contact us, if you have permission to send clients the mag.
Provide Specialized Training To Avoid Scams
If scammers are trying to lure your clients away then you need to take action to protect them.
Set up online group training or one on one training practice sessions or maybe prepare videos on how to avoid getting scammed.
Your clients will avoid being scammed if they know what to look out for.
Build Confidence in Their PDA
It is not enough to quickly tell your clients that you suggest a particular PDA and then set up a DebiCheck.
They have to trust that their money will be safe. Why not help them build that trust.
Get them to follow their PDA on social media, show them how to read a PDA statement and what it all means.
Invite Clients to Your Offices
While people do like the convenience of dealing with Debt Counsellors electronically, having in-person interactions at your offices can build an additional level of trust.
Larger practices hold open days and even serve snacks and drinks and organise tours. Smaller practices can have clients over for a cup of tea and a check in on progress.
Yes, this takes time and effort, but it will be well worth it when the consumers trust you more and stay in the process longer.
Getting to actually deal with your Debt Counsellor is so much more reassuring than some random admin staff member.
The Effort Is Worth It
For most people, debt review is a 5 year journey.
That’s a long time to stick with something hard.
If many of your clients are not completing the process, then there might be a problem with the help and support you are offering them.
To help people successfully stick with the process, it is not enough to just hope they will trust the process and trust their Debt Counsellor at all times.
That would be naive.
Debt Counsellors need to make an ongoing effort to make the experience better for their clients. That often means going way above and beyond what is simply set out in the National Credit Act.
Rather than offer the least amount of help required, try do more.
Give clients as much information, in as easy to understand language as possible. Act like a guide in the jungle helping protect them from harm and providing a safe environment that fosters success.
If you do, you will help your clients worry less and feel a lot more confident.
