We no longer talk about debtors; we want to see each and every person interacting with us as a customer. Consequently, one of the cornerstones of our strategy for the future is to get the best understanding of customers’ needs and ensure that everything we do is seen through the eyes of the customers. Based on Henry Fords statement, the customers would have been unable to articulate the idea of a car.
I agree that we often don’t know what we need, and we use lots of products and solutions that we never even thought we needed a few years back. I recently came back to Norway, having lived in Sweden for four years. The Swedish tax authorities made it easy to pay taxes, but it was impossible to get a Swedish Bank ID without a Swedish social security number. Trying living without your Bank ID for some time, and you will surely feel the pain!
I agree that we often don’t know what we need, and we use lots of products and solutions that we never even thought we needed a few years back.
In the debt collection industry, we have been focusing on finding solutions for individual cases for our customers. Solving a case is great, but we need to consider if we really have identified the root cause and if we have found a sustainable and long-term solution for the person experiencing financial difficulties. Typically, a problem goes beyond an individual credit card debt or some household expenses that were never paid. What is needed is to take a holistic view, diagnose the problem and identify the right cure.
Keep in mind that what is true for the customer is typically also true for the clients. Clients need to get paid, and the requirement for customers to repay their debt is not only the morally right thing to do; it is also at the core of our society at large. At the same time, for clients it is important that the customers are restored to financial health quickly and at the lowest cost possible. Time is money, and extra fees charged to the customers reduce their capacity to spend.
Typically, a problem goes beyond an individual credit card debt or some household expenses that were never paid.
So, what is a faster horse in the debt collection industry? And what is a car? What are the genuinely innovative solutions for customers and clients? We have a few ideas on our drawing board. Hopefully, one or two of these will be relevant and helpful. However, there are two things we need to do to get it right. First, we need to understand which problem to fix. This requires that we engage and truly understand what is just noise, what are the symptoms and what are the root cause issues. Next, we need to test small and fail fast.
I have a friend who is a very successful serial entrepreneur. His companies have made software that has allowed businesses to transform themselves. One of many things I take away from our discussions is the concept of a “minimum viable product”, a product with enough features to validate – or reject – an idea early in the product development cycle. That’s what we are going to do. We will launch, learn and adapt.
Looking forward to keeping you up to date!
Best, Klaus-Anders
