How do you prove a change in routing actually raised collections?
Split incoming accounts at random into two groups, run the new routing on one and the current routing on the other in the same weeks, and compare dollars collected per account contacted. A random split gives both groups the same mix of accounts and the same good and bad weeks, which a comparison with last year cannot.
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Why last year is the wrong comparison
Comparing this year with last year cannot separate a routing change from tax season, new placements, a change in staff or a week of absences. Any of them can move collections more than routing does. Vendor results often compare different books, different collectors or different months, which has the same problem.
How to set up a fair test
- Split at random, as accounts arrive. Before anyone dials, so nobody can choose which accounts go where.
- Run both groups in the same weeks. Same collectors, same dialer, same outbound process. Only the routing differs.
- Score on dollars collected per account contacted. It counts both how often a contact pays and how much. Why conversion alone is not enough.
- Keep every account in its group. Whether or not the routing was followed on a given call, so the comparison cannot be flattered by dropping awkward accounts.
- Track adherence. How often the collector the routing chose was the collector who took the call. A low figure means the test measures less of the change than it could.
How BestPair measures it
- An 80/20 split. 80% of accounts in scope follow BestPair’s assignments; 20% stay on your current routing as the control group.
- Scored every month on dollars collected per account contacted. The extra is how much more the BestPair group collects per account contacted, multiplied by the number of BestPair group accounts contacted.
- The fee follows the result. The monthly fee is the greater of 10% of the extra and $2,500, so a month with no gap costs the minimum. BestPair does not guarantee a level of lift.
- Adherence on every statement. At least 70% of BestPair group contacts must reach the assigned collector, and both groups’ results are on every invoice.
An example
In a live test at a North American collection agency, a telecom book of 170,000 accounts was split 50/50 at random before the first call. The half matched by BestPair collected $98.76 per account reached against $79.17 on the usual process, 24.7% more, with the recommended collector taking about 50% of the calls. One book in one month, and not a forecast for any other floor. The full case study.
Common follow-up questions
Why not compare this year with last year?
Because too much else changes between the two: tax season, new placements, staff, a week of absences. A year-on-year gain could come from any of them. A control group running in the same weeks on the same kind of paper rules them out.
How big should the control group be?
Big enough to give a stable comparison each month and small enough to leave most accounts on the new routing. BestPair uses an 80/20 split: 80% of accounts follow its assignments and 20% stay on the current routing.
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
Would it be a bad idea to spend 45 minutes finding out?
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