What’s love got to do with it?

According to research in the UK, 40% of respondents consider financial responsibility a far more attractive quality in a potential partner than physical appearance.  

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we wanted to pop the question: is there anything businesses can do to help their customers lead happier, healthier lives?

Let’s talk about debt baby, let’s talk about you and me

If you’re wondering what businesses have to do with their customers’ love lives, the answer might surprise you! Research by credit financial marketplace ClearScore reveals that Brits are more than twice as likely to say ‘I love you than talk about their finances.

To the Brits, a potential partner’s ability to handle money is a far more attractive quality than being empathetic, outgoing or modest. At the same time, talking about personal finances with a significant other remains taboo. In Britain, one in five don’t discuss personal finances within the first year of dating and one in ten don’t do so until after marriage.

These are interesting results, given the difficult economic reality, we’re living in. In Britain and all across mainland Europe, many people have either been made redundant or are unable to find paying gigs as a consequence of lockdowns and social distancing measures.

Don’t hate the player, fix the game!

The truth of the matter is that businesses can actively play a role in preventing arrears. In doing so, you’re helping your customers be more successful in their personal lives as well.

The first thing you can and should do is put the customer first. In practice, this means making it more efficient and more user-friendly for your customers to pay by digitizing your credit management processes.

Next up, increase the likelihood of getting paid by offering multiple types of payment reminders that are personalized based on customer demographics, payment history and even literacy level.

Lastly, broaden your payment options and expand your payment methods. Give customers options like ‘pay later’ or ‘pay in instalments’ while also providing all popular, global, regional or even local payment methods; from debit card to Apple Pay. This way, there will always be a solution that works out. Adopt the mindset that your customers want to pay, but don’t always know all the options available to them.

By helping your customers identify novel ways to pay, they can avoid costly legal procedures that push them into problematic debts.

The Alphacomm Way

At Alphacomm, we’ve made it our mission to humanize the debt collection process. We believe businesses should take a holistic approach that factors in the personal situation of consumers, as individuals.

We assist both businesses and debt collection agencies in doing so by arming them with payment reminder tools that truly empower debtors and enable them to find a fitting solution to getting out of arrears. By offering customers more payment options and broadening your range-their-payment methods, businesses are able can convert rates and prevent problematic debts that could lead to terminations.

With over two decades of experience in the customer-friendly collection of outstanding invoices, Alphacomm is a trusted veteran and a proven specialist within the field.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your dunning results, feel free to reach out to us.