Tasks

1. Arrange for debt repayment or establish repayment schedules, based on customers' financial situations.

2. Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visits to solicit payment.

3. Advise customers of necessary actions and strategies for debt repayment.

4. Persuade customers to pay amounts due on credit accounts, damage claims, or nonpayable checks, or to return merchandise.

5. Confer with customers by telephone or in person to determine reasons for overdue payments and to review the terms of sales, service, or credit contracts.

6. Locate and monitor overdue accounts, using computers and a variety of automated systems.

7. Answer customer questions regarding problems with their accounts.

8. Record information about financial status of customers and status of collection efforts.

9. Trace delinquent customers to new addresses by inquiring at post offices, telephone companies, credit bureaus, or through the questioning of neighbors.

10. Sort and file correspondence and perform miscellaneous clerical duties, such as answering correspondence and writing reports.

11. Perform various administrative functions for assigned accounts, such as recording address changes and purging the records of deceased customers.

12. Receive payments and post amounts paid to customer accounts.

13. Contact insurance companies to check on status of claims payments and write appeal letters for denial on claims.

14. Notify credit departments, order merchandise repossession or service disconnection, and turn over account records to attorneys when customers fail to respond to collection attempts.

15. Negotiate credit extensions when necessary.

Key knowledge areas

1. Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

2. Clerical — Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

3. English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

4. Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

5. Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

6. Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

Skills

1. Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

2. Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.

3. Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

4. Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

5. Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

6. Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

7. Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

8. Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

9. Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

10. Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

11. Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

12. Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

13. Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.

14. Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.