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Industry Indaba

It is a very South African tradition to hold an Indaba and talk about topics to try find solutions. 

This month saw a small first go at holding such and indaba for the debt review industry and saw various industry parties meeting in person (and online) to explore if this format can be of benefit to those involved in debt counselling.

Indaba – an important conference held by the principal people in a particular community. It means “business”or “matter”.

For some time there has been a plan for role players to meet with the purpose of discussing best practices within debt review.

So, not so much the Act or regulatory side of debt review (such is handled at forums like CIF) but a meeting to discuss what has worked for some and can work for others.

‘a meeting to discuss what has worked for some and can work for others’

The aim is information sharing for the betterment of the industry.

There is a tendency in many industries for role players to try and obscure information for competitive edge. This can mean that many parties operate in isolation and have no idea of processes or systems that can help them offer better service to consumers.

because debt review is very consumer focused it is very beneficial for people to know what other parties are doing that works well.

While not giving away all one’s “secrets” there are benefits to all in helping your peers offer good service and uplifting performance across an entire industry. Benefits such as a better reputation for the industry. It can help improve the consumer experience (or just make your own internal processes easier).

Hot Topics

Part of the first Indaba was gathering hot topics for future Indabas. 

There are a number of hot topics in the industry but the indabas are focused not so much on problems as much as coming with suggestions for solutions and information sharing on what works best already. This means that while some topics raised were obvious (like clients being poached, PDA fees, transfers, the need for more people in the process etc etc) other topics arose such as identifying those most at risk of dropping out the process as early as possible, best collections methods (how many days to run DebiChecks) and more.

These are not always the typical topics discussed at other forums and meetings. 

It also helped to have parties from various associations such as DCASA, NDCA, BASA members, PDASA and even the media present.

Indabas & Workshops

Though there were only about 20 parties involved in this first testing of the waters Debtfree were told that the plan is to try get as many involved as possible now that the proof of concept has been tested.

The initial plan now appears to be an Indaba every 6 months with a follow up workshop 3 months later where parties can report back on any successes they have had implementing suggestions shared. 

These workshops will also provide a short summary for those who were unable to attend the proceeding Indaba.

There will also be plenty time and opportunity for people to make submissions in regard to topics for future indabas.

All in all it was a rather promising first start to what could become a regular part of the industry and an industry initiative for sharing tips and advice for success in the debt review field.