Tomorrow (Wednesday the 4th of March) sees our inaugural industry conference ‘Collections in the Digital Age’, and we’ve put together an incredible team of guest speakers and industry experts to deliver what will be an educational, fun and informative day.
We’re looking to break the mould of traditional ‘collections industry’ events by directing the day away from what had become standard subjects (Brexit, GDPR, wider economic issues) to tackling contemporary topics challenging the industry in the 21st century.
Under the spotlight will be key topics such as ‘Understanding the digital customer journey’ and ‘Utilising technology’ to enhance customer experience and understand which tools are working.
Below we’ve listed the areas covered at the event and short bios on the experts delivering each topic:
Technology in Collections.
The customer journey has been at the forefront of most businesses over the past decade. In this session, we’re providing a view of debt collection through the ages and take a look at what can be done to support customers in the digital era. We won’t forget the creditors either: what do you expect and how can your needs be satisfied through advancements in tech?
Delivering this discussion:
James Squires
James Squires, Yorkshire born and bred, embodies the attitudes of CRS and our core values as a business. James joined CRS 6 months ago as Business Development Director from the Data and Technology industry where he was previously a Commercial Director and was at the forefront in leading technological developments enabling his client’s business to deliver more efficient digital customer journeys.
Leaving his flat cap at home, he promises to extort the virtues of his beloved Yorkshire so be ready for plenty of regionally based references.
Tom Hill
Tom, our current Senior Collections Manager, has been with CRS for nearly 10 years and has held several different roles within the business. Starting his CRS journey as a Collections Agent he has then progressed to positions in our Data Analytics, Client Relationship and Solutions Delivery departments before moving back into the world of operations. His in-depth knowledge of our collections processes and how our technology has developed over the years to meet client and customer needs helps him to maximise contact centre productivity and performance against both internal and client KPI’s.
Want to know more about our Tech & Services here’s our brochure:
Download Here
The Big Questions: The Panel.
An interactive session with a wide-ranging panel of experts answering key questions on their processes. Starting with a number of practical topics for discussion and then opening up the floor to allow delegates to seek answers to your big questions!
Our star line up of panellists are:
Lisa Beeching
Lisa has worked in insurance for over 20 years spending her first 10 years at Hastings Direct, working her way up through various operational roles to Head of Operations.
In 2011 Lisa took a sidestep for a few years, becoming Finance Operations Manager supporting the launch of 1st Central Finance, a credit platform for monthly payers. In 2012 Lisa brought the entire instalment operation in house from modelling the default cycles to system behaviours to become BACs certified.
Lisa is currently Head of Supplier Management and Quality assurance at First Central Insurance and Technology managing key supplier relationships across 45 suppliers spanning all operational areas from sales through to claims.
Tony Gundersen
Tony has worked in the Financial Services Sector for the past 30 years at Nat West, Provident Financial Group and latterly as Director/Country Manager for Ferratum Group’s UK operation.
He has held a range of senior positions in Business & Commercial Development, Client Relationships, Marketing and Operations.
Tony believes success is built around good communication and setting attainable (but not easy to achieve) goals.
He has built effective teams capable of delivering excellent results and is passionate about doing things the right way, (first time) creating the environment that will lend itself to the best possible outcome being achieved.
Gary Grey
Gary has been Head of Collections at Spark Energy for the previous two and a half years and a key client of CRS. Gary has held several Senior Strategy positions throughout the Utility and Financial sectors.
With senior management background, Gary’s experience includes Senior Strategy Consultant in different Utility Businesses in the UK including E.On, First and now Spark. Further to this, Gary spent over 5 years at Dollar Financial Group enhancing and honing his strategic skills.
We’re extremely pleased to have Gary join us on the panel today bringing his wealth of cross-industry knowledge to the discussion.
Caroline Burston
Caroline is currently Managing Director of AJJB law heading up the new legal debt litigation specialist business. Into her new role, she brings a wealth of collection experience where she still currently holds her role of Operations Director at CRS, a role which she has held for the past 9 years.
Caroline has worked in the Debt Collection industry since 1993 and gained extensive experience at several collection agencies and solicitors’ practices. Caroline’s is a well-known industry figure and brings extensive compliance experience and knowledge to CRS & is also a member of the prestigious Credit 500.
Industry benchmarking.
Have you ever wondered about the industry norms when it comes to debt collection? Are your processes in line with other companies within your sector and how do they compare versus the market as a whole? We’ll be providing an overview of the ‘typical’ collections & recoveries strategy, how they differ per industry and where the key touchpoints are.
Delivering this presentation:
Tim Anson
Tim joined CRS 6 months ago as Strategy Director. He has 25 years of experience in Financial Services, most recently as Commercial Director at Provident Financial Group where he worked for the 11 years. Alongside this, Tim was also a Board Member at the CFA. Tim has worked for many other FS Businesses including 11 years at HBOS plc where he held several roles including Head Of Halifax Mortgages.
Customer feedback and insight.
We take a look at what customers are demanding from a modern-day business. What are their needs and how fast are they changing? A further analysis into the trends that we’re seeing on the front line of debt collection and how we can use this as a basis to improve strategies.
Presenting these findings is:
Paul Rogan
Paul is an experienced Account Director with a 17-year history of working in the regulated financial services industry.
Paul’s background within the industry has had much focus on lending and collections across both the high-cost short term credit and mainstream sectors and he has built up experience of marketing, sourcing and developing business to business relationships, compliance functions and streamlining end to end customer journeys through recognition that consumer behaviour has become more digital over the last decade.
Leadership in the 21st century
The day will conclude with a light-hearted chat on leadership from former New Zealand international rugby player, Robbie Hunter-Paul.
Robbie Hunter-Paul
The former New Zealand International Rugby star led his professional club team to four Super League titles, two Challenge Cups, three World Club titles and more, in the pressure cooker that is a professional sport.
He now heads up the digital marketing company ‘Xtra Mile Marketing’ and is part of the delivery team for BBC Sport’s Challenge Cup and International Rugby League coverage.
