{"id":920,"date":"2022-07-25T12:50:52","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T12:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/?p=920"},"modified":"2024-04-17T16:00:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T16:00:15","slug":"to-negotiate-or-not-to-negotiate-that-is-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/to-negotiate-or-not-to-negotiate-that-is-the-question\/","title":{"rendered":"To Negotiate Or Not To Negotiate \u2013 That Is The Question"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"689\" src=\"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Negotiate_Blog_2-1-1024x689.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Negotiate_Blog_2-1-1024x689.png 1024w, https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Negotiate_Blog_2-1-300x202.png 300w, https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Negotiate_Blog_2-1-768x517.png 768w, https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Negotiate_Blog_2-1.png 1070w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Corporate guidance on negotiating with state-sponsored airline hijackers or cyber hackers is in its infancy. So, executives at Ryanair and the HSE can\u2019t really be second-guessed on their responses to rogue ultimata. In truth, in both of these recent scenarios there wasn\u2019t scope for too much negotiation \u2013 management choices were limited and feelings of fear and helplessness must have been high. Those same emotions are frequently experienced by customers in financial trouble. However, the better news is that the corporate rule book for customer engagement on debt arrears is far more advanced.&nbsp; And, it needs to be so.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We previously wrote about the almost&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/tailored-support-requires-digital-urgency\/\">28 million financially vulnerable customers in the UK<\/a>&nbsp;but recent news headlines\/data indicate potentially similar debt stresses in Ireland.&nbsp;The acceleration of the vaccine roll-out is hugely positive but the price of enduring Europe\u2019s longest commercial lockdown will be high.&nbsp;Consider the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>More than 900,000 receiving income supports in March 2021&nbsp; \u2013 CSO<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stagnant wages and higher housing costs leave young workers in Ireland worse off than parents \u2013 ESRI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unpaid energy bills of \u20ac90m racked up by families in pandemic \u2013&nbsp; CRU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Average interest rate on new mortgages in Ireland is more than double euro area average \u2013 CBI<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The last data point might seem strange to include as it references the cost of new debt. However, this serves as a proxy for most households\u2019 largest financial burden. Irish consumers already pay higher than average mortgage costs and the stampede for the banking exit by the likes of KBC and Ulster Bank will only exacerbate the existing shortage of credit options for consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>As state pandemic income supports are reduced, banks, utilities and telecoms companies need to be willing to negotiate and support their struggling customers<\/strong>. The regulatory guidance is clear; companies are required to ensure a customer experience that is engaging, compliant and takes account of an individual\u2019s situation in every interaction. The use of digital channels rather than invasive cold calling can be a vital tool in a successful arrears collection strategy. Furthermore, there is industry evidence\u00a0that customers prefer using digital channels to explore and execute alternative payment options.\u00a0 A better customer journey can also deliver the following benefits to the creditor company:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Reduce the cost<\/strong>&nbsp;to collect by&nbsp;<strong>digitally enabling<\/strong>&nbsp;customers and removing the need for collection letters.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Build customer loyalty<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>drive retention<\/strong>&nbsp;by providing two-way communication for debt resolution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Decrease outstanding days<\/strong>&nbsp;as a result of creating alternative digital payment options.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increase brand reputation by identifying vulnerable customers early and targeting them with support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>CustomerMinds has extensive experience in assisting companies to successfully collaborate and engage with their customers. For example,\u00a0we have helped\u00a0a major telco in the UK to achieve a significant improvement in collections resulting in OPEX savings of over \u00a340,000 per month. The digital \u2018self-serve\u2019 option was added to the <a href=\"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/solutions\/collection-arrears\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/solutions\/collection-arrears\/\">debt collections journey<\/a> in July 2020 and the impact can be clearly shown in the chart below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"787\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/2022-07-27-13_50_19-To-negotiate-or-not-to-negotiate-\u2013-that-is-the-question-CustomerMinds.png\" alt=\"Digital Debt Collection Savings Report\" class=\"wp-image-922\" srcset=\"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/2022-07-27-13_50_19-To-negotiate-or-not-to-negotiate-\u2013-that-is-the-question-CustomerMinds.png 787w, https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/2022-07-27-13_50_19-To-negotiate-or-not-to-negotiate-\u2013-that-is-the-question-CustomerMinds-300x176.png 300w, https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/2022-07-27-13_50_19-To-negotiate-or-not-to-negotiate-\u2013-that-is-the-question-CustomerMinds-768x450.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 787px) 100vw, 787px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Smart digital engagement with your customer builds trust and delivers a safer outcome for all parties\u2026including the regulators. The coming debt arrears challenges may be more familiar and slower moving than&nbsp;the healthcare and aviation hijacking crises of recent days,&nbsp;but the resolution mechanism is somewhat similar.&nbsp;<strong>The customer, and not the money, should be the focus for a digitally smart and successful debt collection strategy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like to find out how the Which50 platform can transform your digital journeys and bridge the gap in your digital transformation project, so that you can act quickly to get closer to your customers please fill out the form below and you will receive our monthly newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n<section class=\"ct2\" data-block-name=\"cta-block-two\">\n\t<div class=\"ct2-inner\">\n\t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"hide-desktop\" src=\"https:\/\/app.which50.com\/lp\/13419?src=to-negotiate-or-not-to-negotiate\" width=\"100%\" height=\"420\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"> <p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p><\/iframe>\n\t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"hide-mobile\" src=\"https:\/\/app.which50.com\/lp\/13419?src=to-negotiate-or-not-to-negotiate\" width=\"100%\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"> <p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p><\/iframe>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Corporate guidance on negotiating with state-sponsored airline hijackers or cyber hackers is in its infancy. So, executives at Ryanair and the HSE can\u2019t really be second-guessed on their responses to rogue ultimata. In truth, in both of these recent scenarios there wasn\u2019t scope for too much negotiation \u2013 management choices were limited and feelings of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"To Negotiate Or Not To Negotiate \u2013 That Is The Question | Blog","_seopress_titles_desc":"As state pandemic income supports are reduced, banks, utilities and telecoms companies need to be willing to negotiate and support their struggling customers.  Read on for more.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43,23,8],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=920"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5468,"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920\/revisions\/5468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerminds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}