The One Constant in Collections? Change.
If you’ve worked in collections for any length of time, you know this: nothing stays the same for long.
Cloud infrastructure and collection systems evolve. Cybersecurity threats shift constantly. Regulations update, new oversight rolls in, and client expectations climb higher every year. And consumer behavior? Always adapting—faster than ever.
So how do we keep up? The answer, I’ve learned, is simple: Always be learning.
Before I began my collections career, I had the opportunity to work at Jim Rohn’s personal development company, Adventures in Achievement. We organized seminars and workshops focused on self-growth and lifelong learning. It was a formative time—and one lesson stuck with me more than any other:
“Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.”
In the high-pressure, target-driven world of collections, it’s easy to put development on the back burner. But if your collectors, team leads, or executives stop learning, you don’t just risk falling behind—you risk falling apart.
Change Isn’t the Enemy—Stagnation Is
Collection agencies are built on routine—but they don’t survive by staying routine – they adapt.
Regulatory changes from the state regulators, and the changes at the CFPB, new contact methods, shifting client oversight expectations, and even economic volatility all create pressure to adapt. An agency that clings to “how we’ve always done it” becomes inflexible—and inflexible teams don’t grow.
Jim Rohn said: “It isn’t what the book costs. It’s what it will cost you if you don’t read it.”
It’s the same with training, coaching, and skill-building. The cost of not learning—missing new compliance rules, failing to motivate collectors, losing touch with modern performance management—is far greater than the cost of investing in development.
One suggestion here is to avail yourself of Networking opportunities whenever you can. For creditors, whether a vendor manager or recovery manager or auditor – one networking group you’ll want to know about is the Recovery Management Network – a group of peers that meet monthly with teleconference calls and annually with a tie-in meeting at the Collection and Recovery Solutions event. Or, if you’re a collection professional at a credit union, you might enjoy networking with your credit union peers on a monthly call with the Credit Union Peer Group. Networking and attending industry related events are sure fire ways to beat stagnation and grow your skills and knowledge.
Work Harder on Yourself (and Your People) Than the Portfolio
It’s easy to push your team to focus on numbers. It’s harder—but far more valuable—to build a culture where people are actively developing themselves.
That’s what Rohn meant when he said: “If you work hard on your job, you’ll make a living. If you work hard on yourself, you’ll make a fortune.”
Collectors who learn new skills—negotiation, empathy, compliance detail, resilience—become more effective. Managers who study coaching strategies and communication build better teams. Executives who stay curious lead through uncertainty instead of reacting to it.
For collection management, one of my favorite training courses I’ve seen in action is taught by Ken Evancic, “Bump It Up! Boost Your Collections Success”. It is offered as a virtual class – but even better in person. Ken delves into communication skills with his BUMP formula of Build A Relationship, Understand the Situation, Match a Solution and Process the Deal. This course is just one example of ways managers can provide actionable insights and skills to navigate challenges and achieve success.
As a leader, your job isn’t just to manage performance. It’s to develop capability. People who are learning are people who stay—people who care.
Make Learning a Habit, Not a Reaction
Many agencies wait for a problem—poor results, bad audit scores, turnover spikes—before they start training or investing in people. That’s learning out of fear.
The real advantage comes when you build learning into your culture:
- Micro-learning sessions during team huddles
- Cross-training opportunities
- Call calibrations – emphasizing good calls as well as calls in need of additional training
- Encouraging collectors to share “what worked well this week”
Jim Rohn nailed it: “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”
And your agency doesn’t improve because the market conditions change—it improves because you grow your people.
Learning isn’t just a response to problems—it’s how you prevent them.
Build a Smarter, Stronger Agency Through Learning
In collections, everything changes—compliance rules, contact strategies, even consumer mindsets. And that’s not something to fear. It’s something to prepare for.
Building a culture of learning doesn’t just keep your agency compliant or competitive, it keeps your people engaged, growing, and ready for whatever comes next.
Encourage your teams to attend trainings. Sponsor professional development. Join peer groups.
Creditors can participate in networking calls like the Recovery Management Network or the Credit Union Peer Group. Agencies can enroll collectors and managers in programs like Ken Evancic’s “Bump It Up!” course to strengthen real-world skills. Participate in industry events like Collection & Recovery Solutions or Debt Connection Symposium.
“Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” —Jim Rohn
And “better” isn’t a destination. It’s a habit.
Everything changes. So stay ready. Always be learning.
Author: Judy Hammond
judy.hammond@resourcemanagement.com
Judy Hammond is founder and President of Resource Management Services, Inc. The corporation was founded in 1986 and specializes in auditing and consulting, serving the collection and recovery industry. As President of Resource Management Services, Inc., she has more than 35 years of experience with an emphasis on operational reviews for compliance and operational effectiveness of collection operations, both for creditors’ internal collection and recovery operations as well as collection agencies and attorneys. She has worked with top banks and financial institutions, utilities, credit unions and telcoms, (and their vendors) and has conducted many Best Practices projects. She is author of various industry publications: “Comprehensive Agency/Attorney Usage Study,” “Comprehensive Agency/ Attorney Usage Study II” and “Collect More From Collection Agencies”. Her work with creditors who were looking to sell debt for the first time, and subsequent Buyer/Seller research was the foundation for the second corporation, The Debt Marketplace, Inc. She worked with Dennis Hammond as co-founders of the Debt Buyers’ Association, (now RMAi), building the foundations for industry standards, as well as the original code of ethics. She developed and produced two industry conferences, Collection and Recovery Solutions and Debt Connection Symposium & Expo, from their inception in 2002 and 2006, respectively, to 2022. Prior to starting her own company, she worked with two large collection agencies.
