Total CollectR LLC – Leveraging Next-Generation Artificial Intelligence to Improve the Customer Experience, Increase Cash Collections, and Reduce Costs

“Total CollectR was built, tested, and refined at an active collection agency serving national clientele, serving millions of customers over a multi-year period.”

Debt collection is becoming more challenging with each passing day, and companies operating in this space must change their strategy to stay ahead of the curve. Total CollectR LLC was founded by collection executives who wanted to develop an innovative solution to meet the demands of the complexities of today. The firm empowers customers to resolve delinquent accounts using the communication channels they prefer.

Jordan Akins, CEO of Total CollectR LLC, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review on how his company collects more money and increases customer engagement using next-generation artificial intelligence.

Interview Highlights

Q. Could you tell us about your background prior to taking on the role of CEO at Total CollectR LLC?

My exposure to the receivables management business began in 1988 when my father decided to leave his job as a cashier at a large chain retailer to pursue a job as a Collection Representative at a national collection agency. That decision would prove to be extremely beneficial, as he excelled in this line of work and would go on to become a top-performing representative at that organization.

After seeing how rewarding the industry could be, from both a financial and personal development perspective, I decided to follow in his footsteps. In 2007, I accepted a position as a Collection Representative at Portfolio Recovery Associates, one of the nation's largest publicly traded debt buyers and collectors. During my tenure, I earned the recognition for being one of the company's top performers, joining an exclusive club of the top 25 representatives out of more than 3,000 employees.

I would go on to work at several other collection agencies before deciding to open my own company in a spare bedroom of my home in 2010. Through hard work and an undying commitment to success, I was able to grow that business to more than sixty full-time employees over two states, selling my interest in that business to a law firm.

After, I worked in several executive-level roles, including at a large financial services company with locations throughout the Midwest, in which I built their Collection Department from the ground up.

Q. What is the team like at Total CollectR?

It has been said that a good leader would prefer to manage a company that has an average idea and a dream team versus a company that has an exceptional idea and an average team. We believe we have the best of both worlds, an excellent idea, and a team with a proven performance record.

At every level of our business, our team works as a single unit to move our organization to the next level. From the developers and other technical staff who put in countless hours to build an exceptional product to those who work to support our customers and everyone in between, we have rockstars on our team, and they put on a rockstar performance on an almost daily basis.

I could not do this without them, nor would I want to!

Q. What makes Total CollectR LLC highly relevant in today's times? Could you give us some context?

Collecting a delinquent account has never been easy. Thanks to recent world events, this has only become an even bigger problem. Credit grantors and collection agencies are faced with a wide variety of challenges today, including:

• Finding labor willing to take on a difficult role at an affordable pay rate.
• Rising costs of tools and resources limit the number of collections attempts a credit grantor can make on a delinquent account.
• Technology has, in many ways, making it more difficult to contact and collect from customers using the standard playbook.
• Compliance is more important than ever before; one small mistake could result in hefty fines and penalties.

Total CollectR is a Virtual Collector and Debt Negotiator that completely replaces the human component of any collection agency or collection department. It is capable of doing everything that a human Collector can do and is enhanced with next-generation artificial intelligence.

Tell us about the convenience and speed of your AI-powered agent and debt negotiator.

Total CollectR is capable of performing the work of multiple agents in a matter of minutes. It can reach customers faster and serve many more customers simultaneously than a team of live agents trying to accomplish the same goal. It is simple and easy to use for both the credit grantor and their customers. Configuration is simple and easy to manage from an easy-to-use Administrator Control Panel.

Q. How can your platform help improve the customer experience, increase cash collections, and reduce costs?

Total CollectR empowers the customer by providing them with unique options for their financial situation. The platform is dynamic and uses artificial intelligence to drive the collection approach. In addition, the platform communicates with customers on the channels that they prefer. This results in increased recoveries.

Our software puts borrowers in control of the collection process. In doing so, borrowers feel empowered to resolve their accounts. The amount of money wasted on ineffective methods, dealing with lawsuits, and managing collection staff can be slashed drastically with Total CollectR. The idea behind Total CollectR was to minimize collection costs while analyzing customer preferences to plan the approaches that deliver, increasing the chances of successful debt recovery. As AI plans and executes each step of a collection process, certain ethical issues become non-existent, improving customer experience.

Q. Experts predict that failure of trusted algorithms is bound to happen. How can you make your solution foolproof?

I do not think there is a single system in the world that is genuinely perpetual. Algorithms require constant monitoring and refinement. They should change over time, adapting to the world in which we live, which is constantly undergoing new development.

Our data science team is constantly monitoring our algorithms and fine-tuning them almost daily. In addition to this, we have made significant investments in developing new versions of our algorithms that take into account new datasets and other variables that may not have been available or a factor worth considering before.

Q. Although it would be great to turn on the computer and leave for the day, automated systems do require monitoring. How can we prevent potential technological failures in such a scenario?

Our software was built with guard rails to prevent issues related to technological failure. These guard rails prevent serious issues from ever occurring. While we agree that all systems require some level of monitoring (you would not drive a vehicle without occasionally checking the gauges), our platform has undergone a significant amount of testing to ensure its smooth operation. Total CollectR was built, tested, and refined at an active collection agency serving national clientele, serving millions of customers over a multi-year period.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

It's hard to predict how things will be in the future. Our progress is steady and rising. We are expecting challenges; every venture has its ups and downs, but let me say this unequivocally - we are prepared and well equipped to tackle and resolve challenges head-on. Yes, there are exciting things on the way for sure. We have the plans drawn up. We are ready to move forward with our objective, and we won't stop until we are the market leader. We are focused on being the best Virtual Collector and Debt Negotiator in the marketplace today and will continue to work towards that goal.

“We are focused on being the best Virtual Collector and Debt Negotiator in the marketplace today and will continue to work towards that goal.”