Chasing customers to collect payments you’re owed used to be a laborious task. The labour costs of communicating with debtors via dialling, sending letters and emails, was both time-consuming and expensive. But with the rise of live chats, chatbots and related messaging tools, the debt collection process has been considerably advanced. And chatbots are beginning to entirely revolutionise the collections process.

The Evolution of Chatbots

The 1995 development of an open source chatbot named ALICE was foundational to the updated versions of the technology we use today. ALICE used basic natural language processing to create a more comfortable conversation with humans. Today, the latest iterations of this technology are much more advanced, and in our increasingly digital world, customers expect chatbots. In fact Inc. have reported that 44% of online consumers believe that live chat is an important website feature. And Forbes reports that if you consider younger consumers — those 18-34 found that 60% "regularly use live chat for customer service." When it comes to debt collection and debt recovery, AI chatbots have the ability to ‘self-learn’ and proactively engage with debtors, and provide those who want to self-serve with the ability to do so.

Chatbot Benefits

Chatbot benefits include speeding up response times. Since when you communicate with an individual with a channel they’re familiar with, you’re much more likely to get a swift response. Emails are often ignored, whereas a direct message to someone’s mobile device streamlines the process and reaps greater rewards.  Chatbots can also be personalised and are flexible. Rent recovery software and debt collection software can leverage the power of chatbots to manage and co-ordinate the whole umbrella of omni-channel communications (including SMS, WhatsApp and Email). AI chatbots are also transformative when it comes to debt collection and debt recovery because their end result is a satisfying customer service experience. A chatbot serves as a 24/7 customer experience for those who use it. You can be away from the office, and your communication channels can still be live, actively working on your behalf in the pursuit of the debt you’re owed. This coupled with the reduced human labour costs which are experienced, make chatbot and AI technology an obvious choice for both small and large enterprises who are pursuing debt recovery and debt collection.

Ready To Try Something New?

Automating the debt collection process can minimise your labour costs, and free up staff to work on the critical issues which impact your business. Chatbots, live chat and text messaging are valuable omnichannel tools. Get in touch to learn more about how Lateral’s simple, powerful software can help you meet your targets.