Mary Shores, CEO of Midstate Collection Solutions, shared what she’s learned in the last 25 years collecting debt and working with consumers.
04/08/2022 1:15 P.M.
2 minute read
Connection with consumers is currency.
That’s what Mary Shores, CEO of Midstate Collection Solutions, and creator of the Collection Advantage program, shared in her first ever TEDx talk, “Conscious Communications: What I Learned from Collecting America’s Debt,” which you can watch here.
In the talk, Shores shared with the audience the single most important lesson she learned from working with over 750,000 people in debt: Connection is currency.
Shores emphasized this is important because the number one human emotional need is to feel heard and understood, and we can only hear others when we’ve truly connected with them..
The problem, she said, is that we’re living in a time where we’re more disconnected than ever after months of isolation. The way back to connection is Shores’ simple, neuroscience-based, three-step process that will create deeper connections, enhance communication, and resolve conflict.
This three-step process is part of an online teaching program she hosts, and you can also find tips for conscious communication on Shores’ website.
“Connection is currency in the collection industry. As our culture is rapidly changing, it is a great time to look at how we communicate with consumers,” Shores said. “Upgrading our communication strategy increased my collection revenue by 34% in the first year alone and has changed many lives in the process because changing the way you think about communication will help you in many areas of life! I’ve created a training program for the industry to create science-backed, high converting scripting used by collectors to increase revenue and decrease complaints and lawsuits.”
April is Financial Literacy Month (#FinancialLiteracyMonth), which is a good time to share the link to Shores’ talk .
Building consumers’ financial literacy is good for everyone. It helps consumers understand how they got into debt, how to work with collectors to resolve their account and how to right the ship going forward. It shows clients that you care about their customers. Plus, it helps collectors when consumers trust their motives and the debt collection process in general.
For more resources for your company and to share with consumers, ACA International’s Know My Debt website delivers clearly worded explanations to help consumers improve their financial literacy and resolve their debts.
Related Content from ACA International:
Use Know My Debt During Financial Literacy Month
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