Build it right. Make it last.
Our firm offers retainer-based consulting to help you build and maintain the collections strategy you envision. We have decades of industry experience and documented success as collections leaders in credit unions, and consultants in the collections space.
We were founded with the knowledge that building a world-class collection function is not achieved through short-term training, but though active partnership to develop culture, leaders, and processes. This takes time, and our firm will work as an active advisor alongside executives and the collection team to guide each step of building a collections function you can be proud of.
Credit unions we have partnered with consistently have teams that are among the most satisfied in the credit union and boast some of the highest retention rates. If you're ready to build one of the best collection teams in the country, let's talk.
We don't train collectors. We build collections departments.
Our approach is rooted in operational leadership and strategic structural planning. We focus on the long-term sustainability of your credit union's collections function, ensuring that every department is built to last.
Great collections performance isn't created by training alone. It's built through people, leadership, culture, process, data, and accountability.
Horizons Collections Consulting works alongside credit unions to build sustainable, high-performing collections operations capable of producing better results long after the consultant is gone.
Your collections department probably doesn't need another training class.
It needs a system.
A system where managers know exactly what they are trying to accomplish.
Where employees understand what great performance looks like.
Where the right people are recruited, developed, and retained.
Where compensation and incentives encourage the behaviors that actually produce results.
Where managers have the information they need to make decisions every day.
And where every stage of the collection process—from early delinquency through charge-off and recovery—is designed to protect the credit union while treating members with dignity.
That's what we build.
We work alongside your team, not outside of it.
Our consultants are current and former credit union executives and collections leaders who have managed through multiple economic cycles and understand the realities of credit union lending.
We don't arrive with a cookie-cutter program and tell you to implement it.
We learn your credit union.
Your people.
Your portfolio.
Your market.
Your culture.
Your challenges.
Your goals.
Then we combine that understanding with proven collections practices to build a system that fits your organization.
Because the goal isn't to make collections better for six months.
The goal is to make your collections department better for the next ten years.
The Architecture
01
Culture
02
Performance Optimization
03
Sustainable Department Building
We build collections departments from the ground up, but will not attempt to change what is already working for you. That's where our experience makes us different. We will help you install a loss mitigation focused culture that is reflected through cohesive teams that are sharp, professional, and high-performing. Your leaders will learn to recruit, interview, and retain the right type of talent, and your incentive programs will be directly tied to measurable reductions in loan loss.
Maximizing credit union collections requires more than just compliance. We teach and implement simple, repeatable, and targeted business intelligence to your collections area. This includes queue management, collector performance tools, and reporting suites that specifically target effective collection and loss mitigation practices. Your collection area will become a well-oiled machine.
Your department will become resilient, scalable, and aligned with the institution's long-term lending goals. We will optimize policy, Board and Committee communication, & forecasting. Your leaders will be able to articulate a clear succession plan, as well as demonstrate preparedness for economic shifts. Our system works even better during times of portfolio stress because it is built around proactivity. No other system will be as recession-proof as yours.
Build a Lasting Collections Culture
The result is a department that does not need to depend on consultants. We help shape culture that will carry on once you no longer need us.
The goal is a collections function that belongs to you—one your leaders know how to manage, your employees know how to execute, and your credit union can rely on for years to come.
The results can be significant. Depending on the starting point and the level of improvement needed, credit unions we have worked with have experienced reductions in overall delinquency and loan losses of **as much as 50% over an 18-month to two-year period **. For many credit unions, that translates into a multi-million-dollar impact on provision expense and the allowance for credit losses.
But the number isn't the most important part.
The most important result is building an organization that knows how to produce positive outcomes again and again.
A great collections department is about much more than collecting past-due loans.
It is about people. It is about culture, leadership, accountability, data, process, and judgment. It is about having the right people in the right roles, giving them the tools and training to succeed, and creating an environment where great performance can be sustained year after year.
That is why traditional collection training so often falls short.
You can train collectors on techniques. You can teach managers how to make better calls. You can bring in a new system or rewrite a procedure. But if the underlying operation isn't built correctly, the improvements rarely last.
We believe exceptional collections performance is built through a lasting partnership, not taught in a classroom.
Our firm works directly alongside your credit union and its collection leaders to build a sustainable, high-performing collections function. We become part of your team, working with your people to identify what is working, what isn't, and what needs to change.
Our consultants are current and former credit union executives and collections leaders who have managed through multiple economic cycles and understand the realities of credit union lending. We've been in the seat. We've managed the people, made the difficult decisions, dealt with changing economic conditions, and lived with the results.
What does a world-class collections function look like?
It starts with the following pillars:
Culture and leadership. Your collection department needs a clearly defined culture and leaders who know how to create accountability while developing and retaining great employees.
Recruiting and staffing. The best collection departments don't simply hire people who can make phone calls. They identify the characteristics and behaviors that predict success and build hiring processes around them. Great teams also have great external vendors. We will help you identify the best external partners for things like software, insurance, repossession, repair, real estate services, and recovery.
Policies and procedures. An overlooked aspect of collection management is creativity with policy writing. Once we learn how you like to lend, we can build policies that reflect your risk management culture and allow the most loss mitigated.
Compensation and incentives. Incentive plans should reward the activities that actually produce results, not simply create short-term numbers at the expense of member relationships, employee retention, or long-term performance.
Data and business intelligence. Your managers should know what is happening in their portfolio, why it is happening, and where to focus their attention. Reporting isn't just about producing numbers. It is about turning those numbers into decisions.
Loss mitigation. Different loan products require different strategies. Your team needs the knowledge and discipline to mitigate losses across every major loan category.
Repossession and foreclosure. Recovery doesn't end when collateral is taken. The process of disposing of repossessions and foreclosures has a significant impact on the ultimate loss—and requires a deliberate, economically sound strategy.
Post-charge-off recovery. Charged-off loans still have value. A well-designed recovery program can produce meaningful returns while ensuring that resources are directed toward the accounts and strategies with the greatest potential.
None of this happens overnight.
Building a truly sustainable collections operation typically requires at least 12 - 18 months of partnership, but can take longer in certain situations. It requires consistency, measurement, coaching, and a willingness to stay with the process long enough for the changes to become part of the organization's culture.
And every credit union is different.
Your market is different. Your members are different. Your loan portfolio is different. Your people are different. Your culture is different.
We don't believe in dropping a cookie-cutter collections program into your credit union.
We bring a proven framework and years of experience, but we build the solution with you. We work alongside your leadership team to understand your vision, your challenges, and the kind of collections department you want to create.
** Results cannot be guaranteed.
Our Promise
We believe so deeply in our model that we do not require long-terms contracts or commitments. All retainers are continent upon your satisfaction with our partnership. We love credit unions, want nothing more than for you to see improvements as a result of our partnership, and stand by our work.