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Facts About Ethics, Professional Conduct and Client Service

From a business perspective, servicing our clients is an extremely important element of
our ethics and professional conduct. Following are some facts about client (consumer)
service:

1. It costs six times as much to attract a new client as it does to keep an old one.

2. A typical dissatisfied client will tell eight to 10 people about their problem.

3. Seven of 10 complaining clients will do business with you again if you resolve the
complaint in their favor.

4. If you resolve the complaint on the spot, 95% will do business with you again.
5. Of those clients who stop doing business with you, 68% do so because of an
attitude of indifference by your company or a specific individual

In summary, all these facts indicate that client satisfaction equals success. They also
prove that good communication skills are of paramount importance in the success of
your business.

Communication with Clients and Prospects
Did you know that the way you dress is a very important mode of communication?
In meeting with clients or prospective clients, an agent should appear clean and neat but
not overdressed. A $1,000 suit usually will not impress your client of your professionalism.
Try to dress on approximately the same level as your client or prospective client. Research
shows that the first item of clothing people observe is your shoes, so make sure they are
clean and polished.

Although it may take several meetings with a prospective client to get their business, you
should anticipate and be prepared to do business on the first visit. One important tool to
have on your first visit is your company brochure, including a schedule of fees. Your
rates should be predicated on a fair profit margin and you should be ready and able
to justify them … not negotiate them. Giving your services away or reducing your
rates as a method of soliciting business diminishes your prospects’ respect for your
professionalism and business acumen.

Whether or not you have closed the deal with your prospective client, ask to be
introduced to the collectors and those who assign repossessions. It is important for
those you may be working with to put a “face” on the Recovery Agency they may be
doing business with. Personal interaction with the supervisor and those in his department
is important for a long-term relationship.

Second only to the recovery of your client’s collateral is the importance of regular
status reports of your activity on the repossession assignment. The collector who
assigned the repossession is responsible to his supervisor on a regular basis as to the
status of each assignment he is handling. The collector’s efficiency rating depends, in