The second year of the pandemic has seen more people in the UK slide further into debt and organisations need to recalibrate their response through empathetic collections.

You don’t have to be involved in collections to be aware that the last 18 months have affected the financial circumstances of a huge number of people.

Treating customers with empathy has been an increasingly important area of focus within the customer experience industry.

We’ve just commissioned some independent research into “Fairness in Collections” to gain a deeper insight into the issues facing people who are in debt.

The pandemic isn’t only affecting us as individuals – it’s affecting us as societies and economies too.

Angela Knowles-Ellis, Head of Telephony at a Capita run contact centre in Darlington, explains how training from bereavement charity Winston’s Wish has helped staff deal with vulnerable customers during the pandemic.

As a market leader in debt management, we are witnessing first-hand the devastating financial impact Covid-19 is having on the personal finances of so many people.

The utility industry has faced consistent challenges with customer satisfaction, and is rated lower than the UK average for transparency, customer ethos and emotional connection.

For many people, the moment of truth with an organisation is when things go wrong - for example, when they fall behind on loan repayments.

Ian Elam, Business Development Director at Capita Customer Management, explains how data allows you to engage with your customers in a very personal way and reduce debt write-offs.