Subscribe to the blog and receive recommendations to boost your CX
Using a debt collection CRM enhances an organization’s ability to anticipate payment risks, personalize collection strategies, and safeguard sensitive customer data. In this regard, the study CRM Systems and their Impact on SMEs Performance: A Systematic Review, conducted by specialists from the University of Johannesburg, indicates that adopting a CRM increases customer retention by between 25% and 40%, boosts sales by up to 30%, and improves operational efficiency by up to 35%.
The study shows that these improvements are the result of task automation, advanced data management, and personalized customer experiences. How can you achieve these same advantages in your own debt collection strategy? Let us take a closer look.
Capabilities that a CRM must include to prevent missed payments and improve results
Choosing the right CRM makes the difference between collecting on time and accumulating overdue accounts. Below are the essential features you should look for:
1. Easy integration with systems: the foundation for a connected and efficient collection process
A strong debt collection CRM must integrate easily with your business systems. The ability to connect via API with billing platforms, payment gateways, and contact channels allows you to centralize real-time information and automate critical tasks. This eliminates duplicate efforts and ensures data is always up to date.
This integration capability leads to more effective collection strategies, whether for early-stage or more overdue accounts. For instance, a CRM connected with your contact center helps anticipate missed payments and prioritize outreach based on the financial relevance of each account. The improvement is clear: management becomes proactive and data-driven, rather than reactive and scattered.
2. Marketing automation y omnicanalidad: combinación clave para cobrar más, en menos tiempo
A debt collection CRM must do more than automate messages. It must also maximize reach, ensuring each message is delivered through the right channel. The key lies in combining marketing automation with omnichannel communication to increase message impact and reduce errors. For this reason, the CRM you choose should include features such as:
- Marketing automation: This helps you to schedule payment reminders, automate recurring workflows, and adapt messages based on customer behavior. It speeds up collection strategies, improves response rates, and shortens recovery times.
- Omnichannel communication: This makes it possible to reach customers through multiple channels —such as email, SMS, WhatsApp, or phone calls— increasing the chances of effective contact. It also enables coordination of all communication from a single environment, raising the overall success rate.
3. Integration of AI agents to scale your strategy while optimizing effort and resources
A reliable debt collection CRM should offer integration with conversational AI agents. These agents can remind customers of pending payments, answer common questions about payment methods or due dates, and even negotiate payment terms.
This type of interaction allows the debt collection strategy to scale automatically, whether through phone calls or WhatsApp, while maintaining an empathetic and personalized approach, as AI agents can access each customer’s history in real time through the CRM. When necessary, they can refer the case to the appropriate human agent. The result: greater reach, lower costs, and more payments successfully recovered.
4. Certified security: the foundation of a trustworthy debt collection CRM
Debt collection involves handling highly sensitive data such as financial information, payment history, bank account details, and contact channels. For this reason, the CRM you choose must hold internationally recognized compliance certifications that ensure your customers’ data is protected at all times.
Some of the most relevant certifications include:
- PCI DSS v4.0: Ensures secure handling of payment card data, which is essential if you process payments through digital gateways.
- ISO/IEC 27001: The most widely recognized standard for information security management. It guarantees effective policies, processes, and controls to prevent threats.
- GDPR: Mandatory if you manage customer data within the European Union. It safeguards user privacy and restricts misuse of personal information.
- CSA Trusted Cloud Provider: Certifies cloud service providers that meet the highest standards in governance, security, and privacy.
Holding these certifications not only strengthens your security infrastructure but also builds trust with your customers and raises the standard of your debt collection strategy.
How to maximize debt recovery from day one: an example of a CRM-based collection strategy
Controlling early-stage delinquency (debts under 90 days old) is essential for the success of any debt collection strategy. According to internal data from Inconcert, this type of debt can account for up to 98% of the total overdue portfolio in many companies. More importantly, once a debt exceeds 90 days, the chances of recovering the money may drop by as much as 85%.
This is why acting quickly and strategically is crucial. How can a debt collection CRM like Infunnel help accelerate payments? Here is a practical example of a strategy:
1. Segmentation by financial impact
Not all debts carry the same weight. Prioritizing customers with the highest financial impact enables resources to be focused on the most critical accounts. Infunnel, as a debt collection CRM, enables users to identify and segment these profiles, so that contact protocols can be triggered automatically based on customer risk and value.
2. Preventive email sending through marketing automation
From early alerts to post-due notifications, a well-designed marketing automation strategy can help prevent payment delays. For example:
- Send a first preventive notice (48 hours before due date): An email is sent informing the customer that the invoice will soon be due. This message may include the amount, description, deadline, and a direct link to available payment methods.
- Send a reminder on the due date: If payment has not yet been made, a second email is triggered, providing payment details and offering assistance in case of questions.
At this point, if the debt remains unpaid, it is time to strengthen the strategy by incorporating higher-impact communication channels.
3. WhatsApp and SMS as high-impact communication channels
Once an invoice becomes overdue (24 to 48 hours later), it is possible to send reminders via WhatsApp offering refinancing options or direct contact with an advisor when a high-risk profile is detected.
The WhatsApp channel can be automated through the integration of an AI agent, allowing the customer to resolve questions directly, confirm payments, or reschedule due dates. This approach can also be reinforced with SMS messages to ensure the reminder is received.
4. Automated calls using AI and predictive dialers
If there is no response after 72 hours, it is time to intensify the efforts by combining phone calls with AI agents:
- Predictive dialers make it possible to launch outbound call campaigns in waves, reaching hundreds of customers without manual effort.
- AI agents such as Inagent handle customer questions, provide clear and empathetic communication, and can even facilitate the payment process.
- All data is synchronized and centralized within the debt collection CRM, ensuring a seamless and efficient customer experience.
Infunnel: your ally to scale the success of your debt collection strategy
Infunnel is much more than a CRM. It is a marketing automation and contact management platform designed to orchestrate the entire debt collection cycle in an automated, secure, and efficient way. Its omnichannel architecture, intelligent data analysis, and ability to connect with multiple systems, such as AI agents and contact centers, help you to scale your recovery operations without losing control.
Would you like to see it in action? Request a demo and discover how Infunnel can transform your debt collection process.
