Digital First - The path to sustainable debt collection of tomorrow

The DIAGONAL Group has always been committed to environmental protection and sustainability. It was not enough for the company just to save electricity or separate waste - it wanted more! The company wanted to take a big step towards becoming a green company. The debt collection division had the greatest potential for this. The Digital First campaign was born out of this motivation. With this idea, the company succeeded in revolutionizing the debt collection segment once again.

How the DIAGONAL Group did this and what came out of it can be found in this article.

The idea for sustainable debt collection

The DIAGONAL Group had the idea of revolutionizing debt collection. Debt collection should become more sustainable, as over 380,000 letters were sent in 2019. A letter sent by post generates around 20 grams of CO2, from paper to printing to dispatch. That's not much for one letter, but with 380,000 letters, it's a whopping 7.6 tons of CO2 per year! This is where the DIAGONAL Group had the greatest potential for savings. However, the challenge was to work in an environmentally friendly way and at the same time achieve the same success for the clients.

The company came up with the idea of replacing letters with emails as far as possible. The DIAGONAL Group is known for its highly automated processes, so the technical implementation was not a challenge. The digital processes and server capacities simply had to be expanded. At the same time, binding communication at eye level has always been a key success factor for the company. The big question was therefore whether the conversion of the collection letters would generate the same level of commitment with defaulting customers as the letter. The task was to find out! 

A test run with selected clients was to provide clarity. Parts of their communication were replaced with emails. A complete success! The implementation rate remained high. Now it was clear: whether letter or email made no difference. The Digital First campaign was ready for all mandates. 

Successful debt collection with success for the environment

Since the launch of our Digital First campaign, the DIAGONAL Group has been able to convince over 90% of clients of the environmental project. This has led to a reduction in company-wide mailings of around 38%. With the Digital First campaign, the DIAGONAL Group was able to avoid sending around 120,000 letters in 2021. This has saved around 2.4 tons of CO2 so far! Digital mailing has even more advantages: Communicating by email not only saves resources and protects the environment. It also saves time. While sending a letter can take up to three working days, sending an email only takes minutes. 

The DIAGONAL Group has shown the way: Sustainable debt collection is possible at all levels. Humane, economical and environmentally friendly!