September 9, 2011
For the twenty months working at the bank, almost every week I could hear our director screaming at someone on the phone. Our director is a gentleman; he is always calm and polite to greet me in the morning. Sometimes I wish I could communicate with him better, he seems to be a man with knowledge, deep traditional culture and value. His yelling perplexed me so one day I decided to find out the reason of his anger from my co-worker.
My co-worker was embarrassed first, and then she explained. Our director is responsible to ensure all bank loans are paid on time. If a customer misses a payment, he has to call that customer to remind (more like “threaten”) him/her to pay. Most of the time, the call embarrasses or even terrorizes the customer. In Azerbaijan, most folks still hold on to their traditional value; still believe in “not able to pay their debts” is a shame, a humiliation. More often than not, t
he director’s call works and the customer shows up next day to pay. If that customer still refuses to pay, every morning that customer will receive an even louder and angrier call from our director.
In America, it is considered unprofessional to threaten any customer. If a customer misses a payment, it is not a big deal. A friendly computerized notice will reach the customer and remain him/her to pay. If the customer is behind the payment more than six months, then the account will be handed over to a collecting agency or bank attorney for legal action. (Something like that order, not 100% sure) Neither the loan officer nor anyone at the bank would make any “threaten” phone call to a customer. Eventually, the loan defaults, the bank forecloses or sells the property. The entire processes may take months or year, and it costs the bank thousands of dollars.
I compare the two methods and could not help but wondering which method is more effective and efficient.
For the twenty months working at the bank, almost every week I could hear our director screaming at someone on the phone. Our director is a gentleman; he is always calm and polite to greet me in the morning. Sometimes I wish I could communicate with him better, he seems to be a man with knowledge, deep traditional culture and value. His yelling perplexed me so one day I decided to find out the reason of his anger from my co-worker.
My co-worker was embarrassed first, and then she explained. Our director is responsible to ensure all bank loans are paid on time. If a customer misses a payment, he has to call that customer to remind (more like “threaten”) him/her to pay. Most of the time, the call embarrasses or even terrorizes the customer. In Azerbaijan, most folks still hold on to their traditional value; still believe in “not able to pay their debts” is a shame, a humiliation. More often than not, t
he director’s call works and the customer shows up next day to pay. If that customer still refuses to pay, every morning that customer will receive an even louder and angrier call from our director.In America, it is considered unprofessional to threaten any customer. If a customer misses a payment, it is not a big deal. A friendly computerized notice will reach the customer and remain him/her to pay. If the customer is behind the payment more than six months, then the account will be handed over to a collecting agency or bank attorney for legal action. (Something like that order, not 100% sure) Neither the loan officer nor anyone at the bank would make any “threaten” phone call to a customer. Eventually, the loan defaults, the bank forecloses or sells the property. The entire processes may take months or year, and it costs the bank thousands of dollars.
I compare the two methods and could not help but wondering which method is more effective and efficient.
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