What should a collector scorecard measure, and is it fair when collectors work different accounts?
A useful scorecard tracks activity, conversion, kept promises and dollars collected per account contacted, with compliance as a gate rather than a trade-off. A raw ranking is not fair when collectors work different accounts, because it measures the accounts as much as the collector. Compare collectors on the same kinds of account, or on accounts handed out at random, and set targets on kept dollars rather than promises.
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What a scorecard should measure
| Measure | What it tells you | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Activity: attempts, right-party contacts per hour | Whether the dialer and the collector are working | Mostly the dialer’s number, not the collector’s |
| RPC conversion | How often a conversation ends in a payment or an arrangement | Counts a small instalment the same as a large settlement |
| Kept rate | Whether the promises a collector takes are real | Needs one rule for partial payments and grace days |
| Dollars collected per account contacted | Cash, weighing how often and how much | Swings on a few large payments; read it monthly |
| Compliance and quality review | Whether the call stayed inside the rules | A gate every collector must pass, never traded for cash |
Trade press has said much of this for years. insideARM’s Ask the Experts column (2008), answered by Kaulkin Ginsberg, split the job: the dialer manager owns contacts per hour, the trainer or collection manager owns the quality of the conversation, with no compromise on compliance. Christopher Coelho’s "Keeping Score" (insideARM, 2008) describes a weekly or monthly scorecard of a dozen or more weighted measures, each with an expected and an actual figure, so a manager can see which efforts are lacking and coach to them. He also suggests checking logged efforts against the call records, to catch work entered that never happened.
The formulas, and which denominator each needs, are in how to calculate RPC rate, promise-to-pay rate and kept rate.
Why a raw ranking is not fair
A collector’s numbers are the collector plus the accounts they were given. One collector works fresh, large balances; another works small accounts that have been through two agencies already. A floor-wide ranking puts them in one list and largely ranks the lists.
Coelho made a version of this point about contact rates: what counts as a realistic rate depends on the portfolio. Scott Ferris, head of a collections software vendor, writing in insideARM (2020), went further: collectors have different strengths, one with complex medical accounts, another with credit card consumers, another clearing small balances fast, so they should not all get the same work. He argued for judging collection work on net recoveries, what came in against what it cost, rather than calls handled or time per call.
How to compare like with like
- Hand out accounts at random within a queue where you can. Then the accounts each collector gets are alike, and the difference in results is the collector.
- Otherwise compare within the same kind of account, such as the same client and type of paper. Rank collectors inside each, not across the floor.
- Ignore thin figures. A few dozen contacts on one kind of account is not yet a strength or a weakness.
- Use the same period for everyone, so a strong month for the paper does not look like a strong collector.
In our view the order often changes from one kind of account to the next, and a collector in the middle of the floor ranking can lead on one kind. That observation is where predictive pairing starts. Why collectors convert at different rates, and using collector results for coaching.
Quotas and their side effects
Targets work, which is why they need care. "Goals Gone Wild", a 2009 Harvard Business School working paper by Ordóñez, Schweitzer, Galinsky and Bazerman, reviews the research and lists the side effects of goals set without care: attention narrowed to what is counted, more unethical behaviour, distorted appetite for risk, a corroded culture and less intrinsic motivation. The authors compare goals to a prescription medicine that needs careful dosing and supervision.
On a collection floor that is concrete. A quota on promises produces promises that break. A quota on calls produces calls. Pressure on dollars must never push a collector past the rules: under Regulation F, a collector may not call repeatedly or continuously to annoy, abuse or harass, and the CFPB’s text of section 1006.14 sets out the call-frequency presumptions. Your compliance team and counsel decide how targets and rules fit together; BestPair does not provide legal or compliance advice.
Sources
- insideARM, Ask the Experts: measuring dialer productivity A 2008 trade press column on contacts per hour and quality measures.
- insideARM, Keeping Score: managing success with a collector scorecard Christopher Coelho, 2008, on weighted scorecards and coaching.
- insideARM, It’s time to take a fresh look at agent productivity Scott Ferris, 2020, on net recoveries and collectors’ different strengths. He is founder and CEO of Attunely, a collections software vendor.
- Goals Gone Wild, Harvard Business School working paper Ordóñez, Schweitzer, Galinsky and Bazerman, 2009, on the side effects of goal setting.
- CFPB, Regulation F section 1006.14 The regulator’s text of the rule on harassment and call frequency.
Common follow-up questions
Should collector pay follow the scorecard?
That is the agency’s decision. In our view pay should only follow measures that are fair across the accounts each collector was given, and that reward kept dollars rather than promises. A figure built on a handful of accounts is too uncertain to set anyone’s pay.
How often should a scorecard be reviewed with the collector?
insideARM’s "Keeping Score" article suggests weekly or monthly, sitting down with the collector so they can see which efforts are lacking. In our view daily numbers swing too much on a few large payments to coach from.
Does BestPair score collectors?
BestPair does not listen to calls or rate effort, tone or skill. It measures outcomes from the call and payment records a floor already keeps. Those results are estimates with error, for aiming coaching, not for deciding an individual’s pay or discipline.
What it could mean on your floor
Two minutes
Watch the explainer
What your dialer does with the next account, what pairing changes, and what the Floor Assessment measures. With captions.
Watch the videoYour floor
Try the calculator
Four numbers off your dialer and collections reports give an illustrative figure for your floor. It is at best informed guesswork until your own history is measured.
Open the calculatorA live test
Read the case study
170,000 telecom accounts split at random before the first call, and how the result was counted.
Read it
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