Introduction
Thank you for your interest in Shaping the Future of Recovery Operations: Data-Driven and Connected. If you couldn’t join us live, here is a quick look at discussion around trends in automation, reporting and analytics, systems integration and cross-functional best practices with our panel.
Primeritus organized a webinar on October 30th, featuring a panel of industry experts with a discussion focused on creating smarter, faster, and more connected operations. Participants included individuals representing stakeholders in each sector of the repossession industry.
Meet the Panel
- Kayla Bradley – Sr. Director of Vendor Operations, Primeritus Financial Services, Inc.
- Tammy Freeland-Cleveland – Assistant Customer Account Manager, American Honda Finance Corporation
- Mike Ruggiero – SVP of Revenue and Relationships, AKUVO
- John Newberry – CEO, Eagle Eye Recovery
Emerging Trends in Automation
Automation Powering Efficiency
The repossession industry is ever changing, and currently we are tracking emerging trends in automation. The biggest impact trends we are seeing are agent auto-assignments, increased pre-approvals, and evolving automations specific to the needs of individual clients. Moving forward, we expect to see the integration artificial intelligence to fill some gaps in the industry. Predictive AI may be introduced into existing automation, cross-platform AI filling gaps in legacy systems, and increased use of AI for pre-scrubbing accounts. We are seeing a rise in customer self-service bots on the lender side, with a positive impact for both customers and lenders. This increased automation saves time to focus on those aspects of the industry that require a human touch. We don’t expect to see automation on tasks that may not be performed the same way each time it occurs or when human judgment will improve decision making and outcomes. Automation in repetitive tasks, customer self-service, and digital communication continue to have the greatest return of investment across the industry.
Data-Driven Reporting & Analytics
Analytics Shaping Action
Key performance indicators are easier to access and more detailed than ever before. Each dashboard has a wealth of data available from scorecard rankings to compliance scores to the granular details of cases. We are seeing increased priority for lenders on backend metrics, focusing on invoicing accuracy and compliance scores over items like recovery percentage. With the volume of data available it is important to look at a wider range of time, such as 90 days, rather than making decisions based on 7- or 30-day windows. Despite the increased availability of data, we are still seeing some gaps throughout the process. Currently, there is not significant available information on items like consumer behavioral data, and some data may be skewed by differing priorities across groups or is simply not shared between groups. Our experts advise focusing your teams’ attention and efforts on analytics that are tied to actions, rather than tracking a wide volume of metrics simply to have the data available.
Collaboration & Systems Integration
Efficiency Through Connection
Collaboration is easier than ever with the ever-growing number of integrations available. Repossession management systems enable real-time updates back into collections systems. Agents and forwarders are able to input case information, documents, pictures, and other updates in the systems they primarily work out of, with collections teams being able to continue working in their own systems rather than both parties having to utilize multiple platforms to make and view updates on open cases. Post-recovery integrations are vital for items like condition reports and invoicing. We are seeing integrations with AI tools becoming more commonplace across the industry for items like sales support and partner research. Currently, the biggest hurdles with integrations across the industry are integrating with legacy systems that may have technical debts and the prioritization of resources when departments have differing needs.
Cross-Functional Best Practices
Fueling Collective Success
Cross-functional best practices continue to evolve with the shifting needs of the industry. Our experts have found success with the creation of fields communications teams, clear communication on gains from process changes for individual teams, and focusing on collective goals. Prioritize building relationships and trust and seek input from each team throughout. Create a common question for decision making that can be utilized across all teams. When setting new goals, start at your base level of people and let those goals influence the goals as you move up levels. When collaborating between parties focus on transparency, with actionable feedback and finding a platform that enables transparency, and create opportunities for relationship building, like site visits and demos. Aligning multiple parties requires thoughtful actions to drive relationship building to move towards shared goals.
Summary
Final Thoughts
Our panelists feel the future is very bright for the industry as a whole. With increases in automation and the availability of artificial intelligence, remain open minded when looking at potential changes and updates. We are expecting to see more automations, integrations, and transparency moving forward. They advise to keep communication clear when working across teams, with a focus on shared goals and regularly addressing pain points. Look at 90 days of analytics when evaluating potential actions and ensure you have the ability to pivot. Overall, our panelists are optimistic about the future of the industry and the evolution that we are seeing.
Missed the webinar but want more?
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Thank you for reading; stay tuned for our next Repo RealTalk session next quarter!