Other Accounting and Related Clerks
This unit group covers Accounting and Related Clerks not elsewhere classified. It includes Betting Clerks, Bookmakers and Debt Collectors.
A morning on the collections floor
You are a collections officer at a credit agency, contacting people with overdue accounts and arranging fair ways to pay. It is 9am. You have fifty accounts to work through, a team leader who listens to calls and a target on the whiteboard that you would like to meet.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I think you have the wrong person. I have never had this account. I have not lived at that address for years. Someone has used my name. Please stop calling me.
Tell her the record says it is hers and she needs to pay or prove otherwise
She is upset, and you are chasing the wrong person. If this is a mistake, you have made it worse. A dispute must be taken seriously.
Stop pursuing, note that she disputes it and send it for a proper check
You record the dispute and stop contact until it is checked. Later it is confirmed that the account was not hers. Checking was the right thing, and kind.
Take her word and close the account on the spot
You meant to be kind, but you cannot close an account without checking. The file needs a review and a record of why.
Your numbers this week are lower than the rest of the team. The others are getting payments on the first call. Maybe push a bit harder? People respond to pressure.
Explain what you are doing and ask him to listen to a few of your calls
Ian listens, hears fair arrangements that last, and agrees the approach is working. You stay consistent and honest. Results matter, and so does how they are earned.
Push harder on every call to bring your numbers up
A debtor complains about being pressured, and the call is reviewed. You are warned, and your numbers do not improve. Pressure is not the same as persuasion.
Agree with him and say nothing else
You avoid an awkward talk, but you change nothing and your doubts stay. Saying what you think is part of the job too.
Put another large bet on the next race. I lost the last three and I need to win it back. I will pay you from the next race. Just do it, mate.
Decline the bet and calmly suggest he takes a break
He is annoyed but sits down for a while. You tell your supervisor and offer the information on support. A pause is a gentle thing to offer.
Take the bet, since it is his money and his choice
He loses again. You saw the signs and did nothing. Responsible gambling is part of your job, not an extra.
Take half the bet and say that is the most you can accept
It looks like a compromise but it does not address his state. You still took a bet from someone trying to chase his losses.
How it went
The floor goes quiet at lunchtime, and you have kept your head through two hard calls. Collections and betting both rely on honest records, firm rules and care for the person on the other side. Would you be able to be firm and kind in the same breath?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The call that started with shouting
A fictional case set in a collections team at a credit agency, and a betting counter at a country racecourse.
The situation
Hanna worked in collections for an agency that contacted people with overdue accounts. One morning she rang a man named Pedro about an unpaid bill. He started shouting at her before she had finished her first sentence, and said he had lost his job, had no money and did not care what the agency did. Hanna had a list of fifty more names and a manager listening in on the line.
What they did
She waited until he paused. She told him she was not there to make him feel bad, and asked whether he would be willing to talk about what he could manage. She checked that she had the right person and the right bill. She told him about the agency's hardship option, explained what it meant, and offered to record that he was in difficulty. She did not pressure him for a payment that day.
How it turned out
Pedro calmed down and agreed to a small fortnightly payment starting when he found work. Hanna's manager said later that the call was the best example the team had heard of staying calm and staying clear.
What would you do?
- How do you stay calm when someone is shouting at you?
- Why does it matter that Hanna checked she had the right person?
- What do you think is the difference between firm and unkind?