Collaboration and communication: the key to crystallising customer needs

Having managed products in a range of industries from media to finance, there is one thing which I’m always asked: “How can we launch the next big industry changing product?” Which means I’m continuously on the lookout for the next game changing, industry leading innovation which will impress our customers and partners. Product managers are always under pressure to be innovative, it’s part of the job description, but the risk is that innovating for innovation’s sake often results in products that may please the developer because they use the latest technologies and the sales team because they have something new and shiny to present to potential customers, but it won’t do what all products should strive to do – solve a problem for a customer. This should lie at the heart of everything we do.

On a recent training course we were asked what we would do in the following scenario. In one hand we had one orange and in the other hand we had two demanding customers both asking for the orange immediately. This was the only orange in the world, so what could we do in this situation to satisfy both customers? My colleagues and I came up with a whole whiteboard full of options for how we could best use the orange. We could cut it in half and get them to share. We could use the seeds from the orange to grow more oranges. We could even eat the orange ourselves and pretend there was no orange to begin with! However, none of these options would result in a satisfactory outcome for the customers. In the end the answer was simple. What we needed to do was ask the customers what they wanted the orange for. This would have resulted in the first customer saying they wanted the peel of an orange to make candied orange peels and the second customer saying they wanted the juice of an orange to add to a cake recipe. In this scenario knowing the problem that these customers were trying to solve would have resulted in the single orange satisfying both of their needs. Simple!

Product management should be all about problem solving and really getting under the skin of what the needs and frustrations of our customers are (regardless of whether those customers are internal or external). All too often customers ask for a specific solution, and in order to please them we build the requested solution only to find that it doesn’t quite do what the customer really needed. Customers are experts in their business line and we are experts in ours. The best products therefore should be created collaboratively with the customer detailing the problems they are trying to solve, providing us with the full context and our teams proposing creative solutions based on industry knowledge and the right technologies and systems.

Regardless of how well we think we know our clients’ needs or because we have worked in the industry for years, nothing beats “voice of the customer”. At TDX Group, we use voice of the customer ourselves and recent developments to our TIX (The Insolvency Exchange) platform are based on feedback from clients and this has delivered improved functionality for all TIX users.

The simplest way to understand what a customer needs is by asking the right questions. This isn’t necessarily: What do you want? It can be: What is the problem you are trying to solve? How are going to use the product? Who is the end user? What are the impacts of rollout and implementation likely to be?

The key then is not just taking the customers word for it. Findings should be backed up with data so that a real benefits case can be created, with tangible metrics that can be used as measures of success, whether that’s cost saving, time saving, reduced complaint levels or improved liquidation rates.

The customer should also be taken on the product development journey by delivering the product or functionality in prioritised increments so that releases are de-risked, benefits are delivered faster and the customer can provide a continuous feedback loop.

It’s this collaboration and being really clear on what problems the product will solve which will really drive innovation and enable organisations to meet the right goals. When a customer asks what a product can do, it is the value proposition that they care about not the product features, and if we are innovating the right product for our customers’ needs we should be able to demonstrate that value proposition in an instant.

Shivani Mistry is Head of Platform Management at TDX Group

Asset Sale: Honing in on non-performing loans

The global asset sale market continues to grow, and within that TDX Group is already an established player in valuation and brokerage services in the unsecured market within the UK, and both the secured and unsecured markets in Spain. As a business we’re expanding this reach into a more globally focussed and structured asset sale function spanning the wider Equifax network and territories.

At a global level one of the greatest challenges, and opportunities, in this space is how to deal with Non-Performing Loans (NPL). In Europe alone, the largest banks hold approximately €1.1 trillion* of NPLs according to recent KPMG analysis.

The NPL problem is now a global one, and what to do about it is challenging Governments across the developed world. In some key countries such as the UK, Ireland and Spain they created organisations dubbed “bad banks” (UKAR, NAMA and SAREB) to manage the problem, whilst Greece and Brazil have changed entire legislative systems to allow the sale of NPLs.

The major difficulty in most countries is the experience and market structure needed to be able to execute NPL sales in a successful manner. NPLs are somewhat of an anomaly in that market conditions are different in all geographies, but that there are also some core similarities which need to be understood locally in order to succeed. At TDX Group, we’ve been operating in this space for 12 years, and have successfully executed more than one thousand transactions with a value of over $20 billion, and this experience will stand us in good stead as we now focus our efforts on a global scale.

How developed is Italy?

With the UK and Spanish markets having already developed, the race is on to find the next market which has the volume and infrastructure to support new growth. Italy has dominated the headlines recently but this market has found it difficult to develop a successful servicing model. Now that the Atlante II fund has been created (the second attempt by the Italian Government to try and bring some liquidity to the market) will this allow the market to establish some of the parameters to function or just add to the issues in an already fragmented market?

The Economist ran with a headline of “Bargain Hunt” in August which suggests that this market may need some support. One of the key areas discussed at a recent summit hosted by Banca IFIS in Venice was that of the Italian legal system and it was claimed that solely by reforming this you can add single digit percentage points to the Italian gross domestic product.

One of the essentials when working with funds and servicers is ensuring that the collections curves are genuinely achievable and the challenge with any new market is the ability to create balance between expected value from the seller and realistic returns from the buyer. The challenge in Italy will be weighing up state backed entities and their returns versus true returns for an investor.

Into Europe or an American adventure?

There has been a lot of talk about other developing markets in Europe and while there are undoubted opportunities to be had in Central and Eastern Europe a number of the markets do not have the large scale volume needed to replicate the UK or Spain. At TDX Group, we’ve taken on projects in Poland and Russia this year and looked at transaction in Greece; where the new regulatory framework for NPLs and the creation of Law 4354/2015 has enabled financial services organisations to consider wider disposal of certain assets.

Finally, another developing market for consideration around NPLs is South America, where we are already actively managing projects in Brazil, Peru, Mexico and Chile. The breadth of opportunity that exists here is very significant as the basic market for NPLs already exists, so bringing in skills and expertise from more developed markets can make a huge difference. In addition, some of the main purchasers are already active in South America (such as PRA and Encore) and we’d expect their presence along with the investment funds to accelerate the expected market growth.

The asset sale market is evolving and we are likely to see a number of exciting developments over the next 12 months – so watch this space.

Nick Ollard is Director of Global Asset Sale Services at TDX Group

 

*https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2016/05/non-performing-loans-fs.html

Debt Market Integrator: Why Her Majesty’s Government decided to act on burgeoning overdue debt

Debt is always going to be an emotive and sensitive issue as many different types of people and businesses fall into debt for different reasons. The biggest area of debt in the UK is money owed to Central Government, which is estimated to exceed £25 billion (of which £5 billion to £7 billion is over 90 days old), and originates from many sources including unpaid fees, taxes, fines and loans, benefits or tax credit overpayments, and unrecovered costs from court cases.

In 2010, the UK Government announced its commitment to addressing this problem and improving debt management by setting up a Fraud, Error and Debt taskforce. The unit set out its vision and roadmap by publishing an interim report in February 2012. This was followed by a National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee review in 2014, which confirmed that there was no integrated approach for managing debt across Government, and that too much overdue debt was being allowed to “age” leading to value erosion.

To remedy this, a public tendering process was held and a joint venture was formed between Government and TDX Group in 2015. The company, named Indesser, provides Government and the wider UK public sector with a single point of access to a wide range of debt management and collection services.

Government can now access services as a single customer, presenting a significant change from 2012 when the Government had over thirty separate contracts for managing debt. In addition, Indesser is set up as a streamlined process, with the fair treatment of individuals in debt at the heart of what it does.  Ensuring that individuals are removed from the stress of having multiple debt collection agencies and parts of Government, approaching them in different ways.

Since going live in mid-2015, Indesser is widely acknowledged to be exceeding expectations and has provided the Exchequer with greater returns than forecast in the original business case. Indesser aims to grow its UK Government services and footprint in the coming months and to use its experience and expertise to help Government’s outside of the UK to address similar challenges. A vision which is strongly supported by the Cabinet Office and the Indesser customer departments.

Sunil Shahaney is Director of Government and Public Sector at TDX Group

The dawn of a new era for debt

As the economic outlook for the UK continues to change based on the result of the EU referendum and greater global uncertainty, we can expect to see a whole new wave of consumers entering the arrears space over the next 12-24 months. These people will have little or no experience of adverse credit, but may find themselves increasingly squeezed by low real wage growth and rising prices, so could fall into debt for the first time.

Following the UK Brexit vote the Bank of England has reduced interest rates, but a 0.25% shift will make very little difference to the behaviour of most high street savers or borrowers. However, this cut is likely to further exacerbate the downward pressure on sterling which will ultimately make all imported goods in the UK materially more expensive and further squeeze consumers.

Over the last few years, consumers have benefited significantly from low interest rates which have ensured affordable mortgage repayments. However, rising import prices are likely to have a material impact on the Consumer Price Index and could ultimately force the Bank of England to reverse its recent interest rate cut and begin increasing rates to maintain inflation targets. This is likely to lead to some difficult choices for the Bank of England over the next 12 months, between measures aimed at stimulating the economy and measures aimed at cutting inflation. We could even see 1970s style stagflation emerging once again!

What does this mean for consumers…

Low growth and rising rates is a perfect storm for the UK’s consumer-focused economy. This combination will further squeeze disposable income for most and will disproportionately impact the middle classes; a group that (in the main) have not previously encountered debt problems and have managed to keep multiple obligations up to date. As real disposable income falls, some of this group will be forced to make hard choices for the first time, regarding which payments to maintain and which to temporarily halt.

…and for creditors?

The situation presents a unique problem in how to manage good, loyal customers who historically have no payment issues but may now fall into short to mid-term debt problems. Creditors will need to use all available data to really engage with these customers and most importantly adopt a longer term “through the cycle” approach to any current debt issues. Creditors who look to follow normal processes to recover debt may well find these customers reluctant to engage and ultimately unwilling to return in future when their debt issues have ended. This is a classic short term recovery versus long term value problem, which only the most progressive creditors will be able to solve.

Stuart Bungay is Group Product and Marketing Director at TDX Group

Bank of England interest rate cuts: A TDX Group view

On 4 August, the Bank of England cut interest rates for the first time since 2009, from 0.5% to a record low of 0.25% and also announced the biggest cut to its growth forecasts since it began making them in 1983. These measures designed to stimulate the economy come off the back of uncertainty caused by the EU referendum result and downward pointing economic markers, like the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). Most importantly, these cuts in interest rates will affect banks, savers, pensioners, the housing market, and ultimately touch every individual in the UK and further afield.

So, who will be the winners and losers as a result of this cut?
An interest rate cut is one lever the Bank of England can pull to attempt to rouse the UK economy, but the situation clearly creates winners and losers depending on an individual or a household’s financial circumstances. Mortgage-holders will see some benefit so long as they aren’t on a fixed rate. Savers and pension-holders will see a decline in their earnings as rates drop. Whilst most loan-holders and credit card debtors won’t see any changes as those rates tend to be fixed.

A turbulent economy creates uncertainty and an increase in the risk associated with it. So, if that is the case, it is likely that debt will become more of a focus for lenders and more to the point the servicing of that debt.

If all goes to plan the stimulus will fuel a consumer-led economy and signs of a healthier economic climate should become apparent. There are risks though. In the long term the low interest rates may tempt homebuyers to stretch themselves to buy, storing up an issue if rates rise again in the future.

The immediate risk is the falling Sterling rate and the impact that will have on the prices of goods and imports. There is likely to be more immediate hardship that will come from the inevitable price increases which will flow through to the consumer and impact their spending.

What does this mean for creditors?
It’s still a little too early to say. Both challenges and opportunities exist within an ever changing economy and how these are likely to play out depends on who you listen to or which article you read.

The underlying decline in Sterling will make goods imported into the UK more expensive ultimately driving up prices for consumers. This creates a risk around reduced disposable income to meet credit payment obligations and a longer term risk around the impact on mortgage repayments from interest rate rises to combat those growing prices.

The impact of increasing debt levels due to customers being unable to pay them down, the increasing levels of hardship and vulnerable customers and the increase in arrears will mean creditors really will have to get to know their customers and their behaviour in more detail.

They’ll have to look at their contact strategies, customer communications and perhaps take a longer term view to rehabilitation and repayment. A one size fits all approach will not be effective in a situation where many creditors are competing for the same debtor pound for repayments.

How can TDX Group help during this turbulent time?
Creditors need to get a head start on their competitors by better understanding their debt portfolio, the behavioural characteristics of individual customers and how best to compliantly collect on arrears. If you’re a creditor who would like to discuss the impact these changes could have on your collections and recoveries strategy please get in touch at my LinkedIn address below.

Richard Anderson is Head of Advisory at TDX Group

Stay vigilant! The best way to help consumers during uncertain economic times.

A few weeks on from the UK’s biggest political decision and the rate of change hasn’t slowed down for a second. We’ve witnessed everything from a Prime Ministerial change, an opposition leadership contest and changing of the guard in front bench politics. 

What does this mean for our economy longer-term? Well, it’s probably too early to say and the outcome of all this change will unfold over the next few years. One thing is for sure, it’s likely to present us with both challenges and opportunities.

So now I’m beginning to think a little closer to home, about the impact these changes could have on people living with financial difficulties and a few things stand out for me.

Firstly, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, recently hinted that fresh stimulus measures are need to re-invigorate the economy, including potentially cutting interest rates¹.  This clearly has pros and cons.  For people with variable rate mortgages this will be positive news and provide some additional relief.  For consumers managing their financial difficulties through a debt solution like a Debt Management Plan (DMP) or an Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) – our data shows that 40% of people in IVAs have mortgages – it will help with sustainability and could enable them to increase their repayments. However, for those people living on income from pensions or savings their finances will be squeezed and they may be more likely to struggle.

Secondly, the pound has dropped against the US dollar which is likely to drive up inflation over time. For people living with or at risk of financial difficulties this may result in a higher cost of living and put them at greater risk of unmanageable debts. A recent survey by YouGov² showed that ‘a third of middle-class people would have to borrow money to pay an unexpected bill of £500’. For people already managing their financial difficulties through a debt solution, could lead to an increase in broken arrangements.

However, this may be balanced by the news that the Treasury has abandoned targets to restore government finances to a surplus³ by 2020, as a result of the requirement for additional borrowing to ensure economic contraction, which could slow the rate of contraction of the welfare state and balance some of the impacts of inflation.

The Money Advice Service published research in March which highlighted that ‘one in six people in the UK is over-indebted, but less than one in five of them seek debt advice⁴’ and BBA retail banking statistics show that unsecured borrowing is growing at a rate⁵ of 6%, coupled with low wage growth and the contraction of the welfare state – all of which begin to place an even greater burden on consumers.

Research by debt charity, StepChange⁶, shows that 50% of people with debt problems tend to wait at least a year before seeking advice, so the most effective way to support consumers during these uncertain times is to look out for early warning signs. Creditors should act quickly to most effectively target their support at the people with the greatest need and put treatment paths in place which both reduce the chance of financial difficulties and provide repayment solutions which can be effectively managed.

So, what should creditors do to support their customers?

1. Use internal and external data to identify customers who are in or at risk of financial difficulties. Whilst your customer may be managing their credit commitment with you effectively, they may be struggling with others. Without reviewing external data the first thing you will see is a customer disengage and move swiftly through the collections and recoveries process.

2. Develop strategies for these customers by proactively engaging them to offer additional support. Taking action early gives your customers more options and simple action now can avoid longer-term problem debt which normally results in recoveries action. If creditors don’t engage and support their customers it is more likely that they will seek debt advice, including accessing personal insolvency solutions, this can often be the right solution for customers but at this point creditors only have limited control.

Richard Haymes is Head of Financial Difficulties at TDX Group

Sources:
1. Pound falls as Bank of England hints at fresh stimulus measures, 30th June 2016 www.bbc.co.uk
2. Third of middle classes too short of cash to pay a £500 bill, 7th June 2016 www.thetimes.co.uk
3. Osbourne abandons 2020 budget surplus target, 1st July 2016 www.bbc.co.uk
4. Press release: One in six adults struggling with debt worries, 10th March 2016 www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk
5. May 2016 figures for high street banks, 24th June 2016 www.bba.org.uk
6. Waiting for debt advice www.stepchange.org

Let’s talk contact not placements

One of the items of debt collection data that needs to be reported to the FCA on GABRIEL is ‘stage of debt placement’ – in other words, how many times a debt has been placed for collection with debt collection agencies (it’s commonly known as recycling). Once a creditor has exhausted in-house attempts to recover money owed on an account, they will often place it with debt collection agencies. Typically a three-placement strategy is deployed meaning if the first agency is unsuccessful at gaining payment, the account will pass to a further two agencies, usually at ~90 or ~180 day intervals.

In capturing this data, the FCA is seeking to understand the risk associated with debt placement, which we wholeheartedly support. However, the reporting of this data is far from straightforward because the way data flows between creditor and agencies is not as complete as it should be (and this goes for the whole customer lifecycle – not just between in-house collections and out-source recoveries – but that’s a topic for another blog!).

Organisations, such as ours, have been seeking ways to capture all customer journey information in one place. At TDX Group, we’re in a good position to achieve this because of our long-term relationship with our panel of agencies and our creditor clients – but what about the rest of the industry? Achieving consistency of data capture and reporting across the board feels like a mountain to climb and it’s one our industry body, the CSA, is working hard at.

So, in the meantime, how about we all choose to think and act differently? Ultimately, a placement represents contact with someone who is in debt, but it’s not the full picture as each agency will make a number of contact attempts within a placement. Knowing your customers’ circumstances and their behaviour opens a world of opportunities to resolve the situation as quickly (efficiently) and fairly as possible.

For example, if you knew someone was very unlikely to pay you (perhaps because they lacked the means), then it benefits all to contact them just the once to verify their situation. This way, you don’t increase their anxiety by repeatedly asking them to make a payment they simply cannot make, and you save the cost of spending £3-£4 on a series of fruitless letters, calls, texts etc.

If you additionally knew that the reason for non-payment was temporary (for example, some sort of financial shock such as losing a job), but they were likely to recover in a few months, then you will create a better customer experience and get better results by holding that account with the agency who made the initial, successful contact – and returning to them in six months’ time to check-in on their circumstances.

The same approach can be applied upstream from recoveries as well. At TDX Group, if we have a client who places accounts to us for recovery and they liquidate quickly and easily, we know they should never have been passed to us in the first place, so we work with our client to identify what the problem was in their in-house collections process.

Now, don’t get me wrong; at TDX Group we’re obsessed with data – and we’re determined to make a difference by ensuring all the data we can capture, is captured in one place – but our drive behind doing this is that we want to know what to do before we take any action. We don’t want to put any account through unnecessary contact attempts, or placements if we shouldn’t or don’t have to. The only reason for placing an account with a different agency should be a discovery about the individual’s circumstances which means it is both valid and reasonable to ask another agency – perhaps a specialist – to try to contact them. Another example would be engaging a specialist trace agency if contact details are not accurate or known.

So, let’s talk more about how and why we’re making contact and what we learn as a result. This is what will drive the biggest shift in fair outcomes and improved performance.

By Richard Anderson, Head of Advisory, TDX Group