subject: Is Compassion And Understanding Possible In Debt Collection? [print this page] The debt collection industry has long been thought of as the BAD GUY of society. Only hiring thugs and criminals who couldn't get a "real"job. The truth is, the collection industry is full of hard working, compassionate, understanding people. Many of whom have been through hardships themselves. These are people who have college degrees and or families. Yes it is true, there are definitely some bad apples. We hear about them more and more as the economy suffers, but like we"re always told, don't let a few bad apples spoil the harvest.
I recently spoke with Aaron Eckley from Pioneer Capital Solutions Inc, a nationwide collection agency, and he stated to me, we look for new hires that have an understanding of hardship. The reason we do is that they seem to be more compassionate and understanding when it comes to collections. They tend to want to help the consumer rather than browbeat them into paying. We want to find a helpful solution that all parties can feel comfortable with. We beleive that collecting bills is more about finding out the reason for non payment, then trying to help the consumer to deal with not only our bill but potentially several of their other debts in a timely manner.
The debt collection industry is a multibillion dollar industry creating thousands of jobs and recovering millions and millions of dollars for companies that otherwise would lose that money. I believe this is mostly due to the good guy collection techniques used by thousands of collection professionals. Believe it or not, collection agencies are a great benefit to our society. Here are some facts gathered from a 2011 Ernst & Young study done in conjunction with ACA International showing the impact of collection agencies in Minnesota:
Returning Assets
Gross Amount Recovered: $1.8 B
Providing Minnesota Jobs
Direct Collections Jobs: 4,765
Direct Payroll: $183 M
Direct & Indirect Jobs: 9,458
Direct & Indirect Payroll: $363 M
Paying Taxes
Direct State / Local Taxes: $19.3 M
Direct Federal Taxes: $17.8 M
Total State / Local Tax Impact: $38.0 M
Total Federal Tax Impact: $34.5 M
Giving Back to Minnesota
Charitable Contributions: $1.5 M
Employee Volunteer Hours: 17,500
Sources: Ernst & Young, 2011 www.acainternational.org/impact & U.S. government
