Two Million Experiences: A New Goal Setting Idea for Collection Agencies

My team at insideARM.com will tell you that I’m big on the concept of clearly defined goals.  Over the years, I have come to appreciate what an art it really is to set the right goals, and then to create an environment that supports reaching them as well as a mechanism for tracking progress.

I heard a great story recently about an Australian company called RedBalloon.   They sell what they call “experiences” – you know, like hot air balloon rides, bungee jumps, skydiving, etc.  Word has it that several years ago, after selling 7,500 experiences, the company set a goal of selling 2 million of them.  Wow.  Now that’s what they call a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal).  Evidently on April 1^st they reached the halfway point!  Can you imagine how incredible the goal must have seemed when it was set with only 7,500 experiences under their belt?

This to me is an incredible lesson in how motivating it can be to set a simple, even seemingly crazy goal, and work towards it with unrelenting focus.  RedBalloon has a scoreboard that updates progress in real time.

This got me thinking.  At first glance, debt collection agencies and RedBalloon don’t appear to have much in common.  On the other hand, I think they have a whole lot in common.  First, they both “sell to” consumers (unless you’re a commercial agency), right?  While the actual “buyer” of most collection agencies’ services is a creditor, the revenue is generated by selling the concept of payment to consumers.  Second, while agencies don’t sell vacation-type experiences, they do sell a service (getting out of debt) that in a way can offer a similar type of personal satisfaction or even a life-changing event.

What if debt collection agencies thought of their service this way?  What if goals were set by how many consumers were helped versus (only) how much money was collected?  I know that not all consumer accounts are created equally.  I’m sure that not all RedBalloon experiences drop the same profit to the bottom line either.

I’m just saying.  What a way to shift the conversation.

Stephanie Eidelman is president of Kaulkin Media and publisher of insideARM.com, the most credible source of news and opinion for the professional accounts receivable management (ARM) industry.  She really, really likes goal setting.  (Almost as much as organizing stuff.)