Voicebots - A Use Case - Debt Collections, how does the bot handle it?

This is one of the most powerful use case for a neat and sophisticated voicebot. With debt collections on the rise, scaling and costing the collection of debt is a tricky service to actually make good margins against.

The smaller debts are too costly to collect and the timeslots for success are really tight, but when it does not matter whether you are making 10 or 1000 calls an hour, the bot can scale and be cheaper than an agent and it is easier to train.

So how does it work, well give it a listen and find out.

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Our latest series of podcasts, concentrates on voice and how that is going to impact the next few years with tips along the way. Find out more about voicebots here and if you have any subjects that you would like us to discuss then email info@disruptionworks.co.uk with the subject Podcast and we will see what we can do ;-)

Transcript

0:0:0.0 --> 0:0:6.140
 Sean Bussell
 Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting edition of disruption works chit chat with Sean and Steve. Steve, how you doing today?

0:0:6.260 --> 0:0:14.450
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah. Good. Good. Umm, I've had me bitter COVID now. So I'm and I'm over it and and pleased to be the render it. Thank you very much.

0:0:14.640 --> 0:0:16.930
 Sean Bussell
 OK. And the rain dance has paid off.

0:0:17.200 --> 0:0:26.60
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah. And we got some rain. So it's all cooled down a little bit. You know, so latest podcast weather report, yeah, we had some Thunder last night and that was lovely.

0:0:32.500 --> 0:0:32.920
 Steve Tomkinson
 Thanks.

0:0:26.230 --> 0:0:33.620
 Sean Bussell
 Did did you go out and do Andy to fray from the end of Shawshank Redemption when it wrecks array?

0:0:36.350 --> 0:0:39.810
 Sean Bussell
 Pick up, pick up some grass or something in your hands. Wet grass.

0:0:41.170 --> 0:0:41.920
 Sean Bussell
 Yeah.

0:0:43.150 --> 0:0:47.330
 Sean Bussell
 I don't quite remember what he says. He just scream, aren't you? Does he did something?

0:0:35.940 --> 0:0:50.660
 Steve Tomkinson
 No, it shouldn't. I should have done. Uh, it was just a missed opportunity. That was, I should have done that. That would have been great. Yeah, no, didn't. Ah, ah, I die. I can't remember. I don't know. You're the one that brought the they film reference up.

0:0:51.440 --> 0:0:53.610
 Sean Bussell
 Ohh you ought. You might remember it anyway.

0:0:53.900 --> 0:0:54.150
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:0:59.880 --> 0:1:0.200
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:0:53.930 --> 0:1:4.400
 Sean Bussell
 Umm, OK. Just wanted to focus on something very, I guess particular today. Umm, it's a bit of a hot topic I guess in our in our world and we're having a lot of.

0:1:11.50 --> 0:1:11.360
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:1:18.630 --> 0:1:18.970
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:1:25.400 --> 0:1:25.650
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yep.

0:1:5.50 --> 0:1:29.940
 Sean Bussell
 Good conversations with existing and new clients around uh, this subject matter. So we're talking today about voice bots, voice automation and particularly around debt collection. So typically these businesses have contact centers or they outsource this to a contact centre, numerous people ringing all day trying to get hold of people to say you owe us a couple of quid.

0:1:30.800 --> 0:1:31.880
 Sean Bussell
 Can you make payment?

0:1:32.600 --> 0:1:39.30
 Sean Bussell
 Steven, it is it's, it's, it's nice he wrapped as possible. How could how could a bot do that that job?

0:1:39.890 --> 0:2:0.740
 Steve Tomkinson
 Well, a lot of the the problems you got is trying to connect to people, though. Money for starters. And like you said, there's a lot of people making calls and not connecting leave just leaving voicemails. And that is it's just not a very effective tool and it doesn't.

0:2:1.300 --> 0:2:12.240
 Steve Tomkinson
 Uh doesn't connect properly to the people, are there? You can't keep retrying the same people because you know the the time is precious, whereas a bot can do it. Whatever you need to do it.

0:2:13.620 --> 0:2:22.960
 Steve Tomkinson
 Do big challenge. We've had conversations with at the moment is the fact that they don't necessarily want to pay overtime for low hanging.

0:2:23.470 --> 0:2:46.610
 Steve Tomkinson
 Umm, I kind of debts that are consumed, ones that will be around in the evening and trying to man that kind of process is a problem. But call enjoying the day is not effective because they're at work and they're not interested and you know you're never going to get that conversation. So it doesn't matter what a bots doing that. So you can call any time, but also framed around that is the bot can do.

0:2:47.300 --> 0:3:17.180
 Steve Tomkinson
 Callbacks negotiated callbacks with. You know I can't deal with it now. OK, that's no problem. When's best call to call back and all that can be done. Really, naturally. And they'll go away like calling back tonight. OK, but 8:00 o'clock. Yeah, fine. OK, I'll call you at 8:00 o'clock. And off it goes. And it calls back at 8:00. O'clock without fail, it doesn't matter. It'll call back. But at least you then have this contact point with the that you're trying to collect, which is really important.

0:3:22.660 --> 0:3:23.20
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yep.

0:3:27.520 --> 0:3:28.190
 Steve Tomkinson
 Course.

0:3:43.410 --> 0:3:43.720
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:3:17.460 --> 0:3:47.650
 Sean Bussell
 So let's talk through the actual process, because essentially it is very scripted. Someones gonna call someone. So I ring your lobster shack sees lobster shacks and I say, hey, Steve, you are US £40. Look at your account, you are as £40 for your electricity bill last month. You haven't paid it. Are you able to make payment today? It's very uniform, isn't it? Very. It's just down a single track with that. And then your response seeing me.

0:3:47.790 --> 0:4:2.20
 Sean Bussell
 Yes, I can. No, I can't pretty much. So it's a very easy for the bobbsey to manage that conversation. And even if the conversation goes in a bit more of a complex direction, the bot can still handle this. So no, I can't make a payment fine.

0:4:8.490 --> 0:4:8.800
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:4:3.670 --> 0:4:21.280
 Sean Bussell
 When can you make payment? And you we can like you say. Go through that and negotiation of saying well I can make payment next Monday or if you give me a ring this evening I'll have my credit card with me. I'll be able to sort out there or you know we're just struggling at the moment. I'm not sure what we're gonna be able to do about it. And so this is very.

0:4:22.70 --> 0:4:29.360
 Sean Bussell
 Scripted journey that that this is on anyway, which makes it a really good candidate for just automating that journey.

0:4:29.700 --> 0:4:58.510
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah, absolutely. Because The thing is, it is a robotic task and that's also the problem. Why you can't get people to do it. Uh, you know, because it is, you know, soul destroying call to try and make. You're not connecting most of the time. So you're not feeling any achievements in it. So from a human's perspective, it's a really hard job to do, you know and and a lot of the Costa against doing that is prohibitive when you're trying to do the load value. So like the 40 quid you're talking about for the lobster shack.

0:5:3.70 --> 0:5:3.480
 Sean Bussell
 Yeah.

0:4:59.670 --> 0:5:8.100
 Steve Tomkinson
 You wouldn't even bother trying to collect it because it's too low. You know the volume is, it needs to be above 100 pounds, baby or whatever your break point is. But.

0:5:8.950 --> 0:5:39.250
 Steve Tomkinson
 Remember, this is can be a completely self-service journey for the bot that it doesn't need to be any human involved. If you don't want them to be. You know we can connect to a payment service, take it's the easiest thing in the world for a bot to take credit card details and payments and all that type of stuff over the phone. It's just that easy like an agent would do. And the stats that are coming out now are that the bot is easily as good as a live human agent from a performance perspective. A collections performance perspective.

0:5:39.400 --> 0:5:45.470
 Steve Tomkinson
 It is doing the same level of job. It's been as effective. So you you kind of go well, why?

0:5:46.560 --> 0:5:52.800
 Steve Tomkinson
 Why have her humans in the loop? I mean, look, there's always gonna be something that's a bit too complicated or just.

0:5:53.640 --> 0:6:19.360
 Steve Tomkinson
 Obtuse or something that's out of out of the shape. But those can be very warm. Transferred over anyway, so it doesn't really matter when that, if, if, or when that happens, you know you can always pass over to the human. Then at that point, but you've actually got a connected call, somebody on the phone that's you're in the negation with. And you know, there's going to be an com for that debt. And that's it that you know that is it. That's the job done.

0:6:24.660 --> 0:6:25.340
 Steve Tomkinson
 It's interesting.

0:6:39.410 --> 0:6:39.840
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:6:19.800 --> 0:6:50.270
 Sean Bussell
 And from for from a human perspective, it's it's a complex inquiry. So it's, uh, you know. Yeah, it's more interesting. And I think actually when you look at it from the customers perspective, whether that's a member of the public or, you know, someone who runs a business, I think it removes a lot of the needle that can be in some of that conversation. Someone gonna write will you owe us £40? You're right. I'm struggling, mat. Well, we don't care. The thing is, the bot can do that in the Nice branded way and just be super friendly all the way through. So you can stay on brand.

0:6:50.740 --> 0:6:51.20
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:6:50.760 --> 0:7:9.270
 Sean Bussell
 But also from that consumers perspective you it kind of removes some of the embarrassment should we say in terms of having to discuss with someone that you you're struggling to pay the £40 or whatever you might owe them where it's actually when that's an automated conversation. I think it removes it removes some of that embarrassment as well.

0:7:9.0 --> 0:7:21.170
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah, well, that's it cause it's not a human on the other end. So you, you know, you're not gonna have no argument with the with the bot either. You're just gonna go. Yes. No. Or you know, I can't do it now or whatever the the the the response says.

0:7:20.160 --> 0:7:22.340
 Sean Bussell
 Been. Yeah, there's no. There's no judgment.

0:7:22.510 --> 0:7:52.920
 Steve Tomkinson
 No, there isn't. It's not judging you. It's just doing a service and you know we you can take all the details about promises of payments and things like that. Uh, you know, which we you would have as an agent call as well and all that can be then be integrated into the entry or CRM. So that push through. So you have a live update or whatever the call is. So if you've got some collaborative approaches and you're trying to collect debts and there is some humans in the loop they have a full update of when the bot phoned what was said on the call et cetera et cetera.

0:7:53.0 --> 0:8:3.40
 Steve Tomkinson
 It's just done, you know, so all that processes is very straightforward. You know, this is now not rocket science. It's pretty straightforward stuff, you know.

0:8:15.10 --> 0:8:15.350
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:8:3.770 --> 0:8:21.780
 Sean Bussell
 So another element of this is that uh, I I I could be on the call to to Steve loves a **** so I could be from Steve loves to **** happy to make the pain that can you can you ping me a link or send me something to so I can make payment online rather than over the phone or a bit tied up just at this second. How would something like that work.

0:8:21.840 --> 0:8:39.550
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah. Well, again, just similar scenario to a warm transfer. Instead of that you're doing, you're sending a link to their phone. What we tend to do is we tend to hang on the phone for a minute and just confirm that they've got the link. Even so, that the bot is there. Going right? I'll hang on. Have you got the link? Yeah, you know.

0:8:38.610 --> 0:8:40.190
 Sean Bussell
 Also, this is an SMS.

0:8:40.490 --> 0:8:59.960
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yes, so that's right. So you sent in a text message to the phone and am, you know, and you're waiting to see if they've got it. And then you can then say confirmed text messages received done. You know, all those boxes are ticked. You know that that's right. And let's be honest, once they've got that text message, there's a good chance they will do that payment.

0:9:11.270 --> 0:9:11.680
 Sean Bussell
 Yeah.

0:9:0.680 --> 0:9:17.910
 Steve Tomkinson
 If we don't, and if there's not a payment done, then they go back into the into the mill again and then you go back and go. We sent you a text. We did the thing, you know, you've got a whole follow up process because the history is there. So you know what to do next. So the whole process is pretty straightforward.

0:9:18.580 --> 0:9:26.410
 Sean Bussell
 So if you ring, if you were the boys spot and you rang Steve's lobster shacks mobile, we didn't answer, but we saw on this call we rang it back.

0:9:26.810 --> 0:9:27.160
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:9:27.530 --> 0:9:35.120
 Sean Bussell
 What's the price? Do I go to? Do I go into some business IVR? Do I go to the contact centre? Where does Michael go? And I try and ring you back.

0:9:35.450 --> 0:9:50.160
 Steve Tomkinson
 I will live bot would automatically pick that call up, and because they're the number may be unique to the bot anyway, but also we've we've done the outbound so we recognize the number coming back in straightforward so.

0:9:49.250 --> 0:9:52.250
 Sean Bussell
 Is that because we're integrating into the data sets and systems?

0:9:51.660 --> 0:10:23.380
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah, absolutely. Well, we're already holding the data for those calls that have been made. So if we've then generated an inbound, we automatically can manage that inbound. So then we can have the inbound conversation again, yes, I called you about the slightly different intro, but then the rest of the process is exactly the same. We'll euros £40. When can you pay, you know, and you can go through all the stuff like if you can't pay then within 30 days, then we're gonna have to take it to collections.

0:10:23.780 --> 0:10:29.510
 Steve Tomkinson
 You know she can have all the same conversation that live agent had on the inbound as the outbound, it doesn't matter.

0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:32.70
 Steve Tomkinson
 You know the way.

0:10:30.370 --> 0:10:39.960
 Sean Bussell
 Yeah. OK. And and essentially once they've called back and you've informed them as to why you're calling, actually the the conversation is it's identical as it was when you were trying to bring them anyway.

0:10:49.900 --> 0:10:50.310
 Sean Bussell
 Now.

0:10:39.130 --> 0:11:0.210
 Steve Tomkinson
 Exactly the same. Yeah, exactly the same. There's no difference in process because it wouldn't be any difference in process. The script is the same. So why would you? Why would you change it? Remember, these are always only going to be charged, so you're only getting charged on the connected call as well. So you could actually not connect to anybody forever.

0:11:0.310 --> 0:11:8.140
 Steve Tomkinson
 I'll say it on there. You know a contact center, you just can't, you know, not connecting to anybody. Well, you're not gonna. You're not charged unless you connect to somebody.

0:11:8.720 --> 0:11:14.500
 Sean Bussell
 Anyone that's worked in the contact centre, I've had minimal experience by being on the sidelines. If you like that.

0:11:21.140 --> 0:11:21.510
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:11:16.680 --> 0:11:24.590
 Sean Bussell
 You know that you could work an 8 hour shift and not speak to anyone that day. Those things happen, but it's still cost the business circa £100.

0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.530
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah. Yeah, that's right. So.

0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:33.80
 Steve Tomkinson
 Now.

0:11:26.950 --> 0:11:34.680
 Sean Bussell
 So what and what you're saying is that you, you you're not paying for the you're not paying for the bots shift, you're just paying for the bot when it actually.

0:11:34.990 --> 0:11:35.690
 Steve Tomkinson
 Can actually call.

0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:42.460
 Sean Bussell
 The next support, so it's essentially you could say it's like performance based, isn't it because you're only paying when it's actually doing something.

0:11:43.40 --> 0:12:0.930
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah. And also remember that the shift is when ever the shift you want it to be is you know so like we mentioned it, if it's an evening called, it doesn't matter you know it'll do 24/7 if you really want to. Although I think you maybe get short shrift from somebody phone is to collect a debt at 2:00 AM but.

0:12:0.460 --> 0:12:2.520
 Sean Bussell
 But they work nights and they've told you that's when.

0:12:2.10 --> 0:12:30.330
 Steve Tomkinson
 Well, hey, you know and yes, that could happen. But you know, I think it's unlikely to be frank, but the but yeah, it doesn't matter. So you can then have that manned at whatever's the optimal time for your collections process, you know, and we're talking to contact sensors and people like that who have different clients with different needs and different shapes. And we just optimize that particular bot journey and script for that client.

0:12:37.140 --> 0:12:37.420
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yep.

0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:44.330
 Sean Bussell
 So let's say that I as a debt collection agency, I've got 2000 calls a data make. But I absolutely know the best time to ring people is between 12:00 and 2:00 in the day and six and eight in the evening.

0:12:44.510 --> 0:12:45.170
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:12:52.40 --> 0:12:53.530
 Steve Tomkinson
 Well, yeah, absolutely.

0:12:45.610 --> 0:12:54.380
 Sean Bussell
 How does that work? It is the bot just loaded up with the calls and it just works through them one by one or how? What's the process? Can you just weight it to say right? Just make the calls between these hours only.

0:12:54.630 --> 0:13:17.630
 Steve Tomkinson
 Well, this is the point, and I think we've touched on this and previous stuff is the fact that this is totally scalable. So for you to then say I'm going to make 1000 calls from my contacts center between 12 and two in two hours, the amount of people you need to do that would be amazing. You know, you just need so many people to do that. You couldn't do it.

0:13:16.590 --> 0:13:19.240
 Sean Bussell
 No ones coming in to do 2 hour shift either, are they?

0:13:19.290 --> 0:13:26.60
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah, that's right. So all you do is you just go well. It doesn't matter if it's automated, you can have as many concurrent calls as you want.

0:13:27.170 --> 0:13:32.780
 Steve Tomkinson
 So those thousand calls between those two two hours will happen.

0:13:33.490 --> 0:13:49.10
 Steve Tomkinson
 Because it will cause it's a service and it's, you know, it can make multiple calls at the same time. So you can scale it then as much as you want within those optimal times and get the outcomes that you want because you know that that's the right time to be doing it.

0:13:53.940 --> 0:13:54.860
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah, course.

0:13:49.460 --> 0:13:59.430
 Sean Bussell
 And I suppose the the analytics will help inform that that strategy as well. So if if if if either anecdotally or we we speculated that they were the best times.

0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:0.50
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:14:0.390 --> 0:14:6.700
 Sean Bussell
 But it turned out quite wasn't that way. Then you can just kind of do some AB testing, can't you? And move things around?

0:14:29.780 --> 0:14:30.150
 Sean Bussell
 It's.

0:14:7.90 --> 0:14:32.880
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yes, I same principle as any kind of communications really, you know, or you're gonna do is is look at the data and it'll be actual data rather than it being like you said anecdotal. So if you want to run it while to start off with and just say which is the best performing times. If you don't have that much data on it and you're not confident about that then that will soon come out. You'll soon see what the outcomes are at particular times.

0:14:33.250 --> 0:14:41.810
 Sean Bussell
 Good stuff. OK. So let me just see if I can wrap that up then in terms of what the, what the benefits of something like this are massive cost savings against the cost of.

0:14:43.510 --> 0:14:50.210
 Sean Bussell
 Source filling up a contact centre and service can run whenever makes the most sense.

0:15:1.220 --> 0:15:1.830
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:14:51.190 --> 0:15:2.980
 Sean Bussell
 And I guess it puts back on the table those really low debts, low amounts, shall we say that was there was otherwise not changeable because it would cost too much. I was there anything I missed there?

0:15:3.440 --> 0:15:7.220
 Steve Tomkinson
 Uh, well, it's. I suppose it's the the.

0:15:6.620 --> 0:15:8.230
 Sean Bussell
 Just from a bullet point perspective.

0:15:8.190 --> 0:15:21.620
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah. Just just that you're only charged on this success. Really. You know, so that is the is the key to this. You know, you only doing connected calls which is important and to to realize you know that that's massive in this area.

0:15:24.790 --> 0:15:25.160
 Steve Tomkinson
 Yeah.

0:15:28.590 --> 0:15:29.0
 Steve Tomkinson
 No.

0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:42.50
 Sean Bussell
 Yeah, I and and yeah, Monday in the tentative jobs. So hey, why give it to someone? And and you can't get these people anyway. So OK, good stuff. Thanks very much for that, Steve. I hope everyone found that interesting as ever. If you'd like to find out more about this subject or you'd like us to talk about a different subject on the next podcast, do please get in touch. And we've been more than happy to have a look at it. Thanks very much.

0:15:42.930 --> 0:15:43.720
 Sean Bussell
 Cheers. Bye bye.

0:15:42.300 --> 0:15:44.390
 Steve Tomkinson
 Alright, cheers now thanks bye.