In an industry that doesn’t often put the consumer first, Lexop is changing the way companies manage their collection process by taking a more humane approach.
Using a fully digital platform, the team behind Lexop has improved the collection and customer retention process for everyone involved. We had the pleasure of speaking to the Lexop team about how they disrupted an archaic industry and created a product that works.
Firstly, can you explain what Lexop is and how it came to be?
Lexop is a retention software that provides companies with a flexible, frictionless, self-service payment experience for their past-due customers.
With Lexop, companies can reach thousands of customers easily through digital channels. They can also determine the optimal approach to increase the likelihood of payment based on credit score and behavioural data.
The idea of Lexop came from Co-founder and CEO Amir. Not long after deciding to stop practicing as a banking lawyer to pursue his dream of becoming an entrepreneur, Amir got late on some bills. He soon learned how difficult and frustrating it is to be a past-due customer, which inspired him to find a solution.
How does Lexop make the collections process easier for past due customers? What makes it more humane?
Customers should be valued at all times, even when they’re late on their bills. Besides, past-due customers are more vulnerable than regular customers and deserve to be treated with care and empathy.
For example, let’s say Amy missed a few payments of her car loan due to intricate personal matters. She is tech-savvy and rarely answers phone calls from unknown numbers, so approaching her through traditional methods of communication would be ineffective.
Instead, the lending company can use Lexop to send her personalized emails and text messages that empathize with her situation and kindly remind her of her obligations. The email links her to an intuitive self-service platform to set up a payment plan comfortably and in seconds.
Lexop’s contactless capability empowers past-due customers like Amy to resolve their accounts autonomously, saving them from the discomfort and trouble of dealing with agents.
What makes the old/current collection practice businesses use outdated?
Collection tactics haven’t changed much in decades. They’re still very intrusive, rigid, and costly. Past-due customers sometimes have to talk with six different people to make a payment agreement.
What’s more, consumer preferences have changed. According to our 2021 North American consumer repayment preferences survey, 64% stated they prefer to contact their past-due amounts digitally by email or text message.
Past-due customers want a digital transformation. Not adapting to these changes fast enough affects the company’s brand, customer retention, and bottom line.
Why is it important to give customers more flexibility when it comes to past-due payments, has your program shown an increase in successful collections through your flexible payment offerings?
Lexop’s recovery and repayment experience focuses on flexibility, resulting in amazing ROI for our clients. On average, our clients see 21x ROI in less than six months.
Our software offers the best self-service experience in the market and enables companies to effectively reach and engage their past-due customers. In return, the past-due customer benefits from a superior digital treatment that empowers them to resolve their account at their convenience.
What does the make a payment agreement option entail?
With the make a payment agreement option, customers can arrange the amount, frequency, and timeframe to pay their debt. The company is in complete control of the parameters.
For instance, if a segment is less than 30-days overdue, the frequency they can access under this option is weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly.
However, for a segment older than 30-days, the customer can only select to make weekly payments. In some cases, the option to make a payment agreement gets disabled because it has been too long since the last payment was received.
It’s also worth mentioning that Lexop keeps track of all customer interactions with a complete audit trail. Emails sent via Lexop come standard with legal proof of delivery.
After how many attempts to collect a past due payment do you give up/send to a collection agency?
It depends on the business. For some companies, it can take up to 90 to 120 days. Some companies never do and continue collecting payments without reporting the account to the credit bureau.
We are not involved in this process at all.
How customizable are Lexop’s services?
You can choose minimum, full, and installments to repay and several different methods (credit, bank transfer, Interac) depending on the capabilities of the gateway you use.
You can customize every part of the message, including the header, sent-from address, and footer.
How do I integrate Lexop into my business? (is there an online portal, is it a program you download?)
We offer our platform as a service. Once an account is created, we’ll onboard your organization, create your theme and communication templates, and integrate with your existing payment gateway.
From that point on, you can send payment requests either manually, by FTP, or API calls and reconcile with your systems using daily reports or webhook events.
How scalable is Lexop? Can it handle thousands of collection accounts?
At the moment, we don’t limit the number of past-due accounts because we only charge for the monthly volume of messages.
So, Lexop is best suited for mid-to-large companies with a high volume of accounts receivables, including telecoms, financial institutions, and utilities.
Is there any advice you can give to businesses that are currently in the collection process?
Trying to build everything yourself is a dreadful task, especially when you’re just starting as a business. If you can’t engage your past-due customer base effectively, some tools can help you get the most collections possible.
In the beginning, the key is to establish contact. You want to get their attention as quickly as you can.
Payment notices and reminders sent by email rather than regular mail, and payments made online rather than by telephone, are considerable advantages that help adapt to today’s customers’ modern habits.
Our software offers the smoothest way for your past-due customers to settle their accounts, and it saves you thousands of dollars. Our clients have been able to:
- better retain their past-due customers,
- help them resolve their accounts at their convenience,
- and leverage data that allows you to build a more effective collection strategy.
