Comment by ANGELO J. RAUCCI on February 1, 2011 at 4:21pm

We have a contest weekly called pass the buck, its large cardboard $25.00 bill we start the contest at the beginning of the day and the one left with it gets the 25.00 prize, we run different things through out the day walkins, credit, cards, checks over the phone ect. but we will not say when the contest ends. we will announce it at some part of the day. Good Motivated!!

Comment by PATRICK INGEGNO on February 2, 2011 at 8:57am

First let's get one thing clear; COLLECTION IS NOT FUN!  Therefore to attain the MOST from our collection team we, as managers, MUST give the team a reason to do their BEST.  Every call is an opportunity and knowing how to drive staff productivity is an art.  Just saying "be glad that you have a job" is totally inadequate, even in today’s difficult job market.

Every person has a different button to push to insure maximum productivity and finding that "button" is a difficult job.  I’ve built a career on this premise.

 

Comment by Jeremy Mapes on February 2, 2011 at 9:15am

We used to have a "fuzzy peach" ugly magnet award for the smallest payment received that day.  Collectors had fun getting rid of that and would rib each other when they received it. 

 

Another non-monetary award was allowing them to take an extra break during the day or somethig of the like. 

Comment by Matthew Carpenter on February 2, 2011 at 12:27pm

We also run a daily contest called "capture the flag." Every payment of $100 or more allows the collector to go steal the flag from someone else. The GM has an envelope with a daily time and prize (extended break, Fee, cash, tickets to a movie, gift card, etc. etc.) No one knows the prize or time but the manager. At the given time the person with the flag gets the prize.

 

Also, each $100 plus payment allows the collector to choose the radio station on the centralized stereo. It gives them some control and some just love to change it to a station no one likes to mess with them. Then people are scrambling to get a payment so they can change it again.

 

Mapes, that ugly peach is brilliant! We are going to use that.

Comment by Mike Klemetson on February 2, 2011 at 10:13pm

I highly recommend the books Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics. I know they are the big fad around the traps, but the primary theme is how incentives drive human behavior. Debt Collectors are no different. I've always had the belief we couldn't run a high performing call centre without incentives, but this video by one of the authors of Freakonomics speaking to a group of business leaders in London certainly got me thinking. We've currently made a big change in our incentive framework and some of the noise generated seems to fall in line with this philosophy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdkQwQQWX9Q

Comment by Gary Jensen on February 5, 2011 at 12:06am

I've always tried to inspire the heart. At some point and time the candy bars, Red Bulls, and contests just don't cut it. At one point in time in my career I had to stop and ask myself, "Do people really work for candy bars or is their more meaning to all of this?"

 

Most people, even frontline collectors, have certain human needs which include needing to feel significant, having a sense of contribution, and mainly, having a sense of purpose. In our training course Motivating Employees to Be Their Best, we focus on three elements: Community, Influence, and Openness.

 

Does this mean extrinsic carrots and sticks don't serve a valuable purpose? Certainly not. In fact, fuzzy peaches, contests, and other rewards/awards are often great pick me ups. The problem is that it can become too easy to use extrinsic motivators as the foundation for all energy in the call center. After all, they're much cheaper and easier to manage than the time and strategy it takes to inspire the heart.

 

If you're up for an interesting read, check out Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn.

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