ATLANTA -

Credit unions continue to gain market share from traditional banks as consumers seek lower fees, competitive interest rates and more personal service. Many credit unions are offering a robust suite of services, including auto loans, as a way of winning and keeping clients.

While credit union offerings have grown to match that of larger financial institutions, their approach to providing those services — including collections and repossessions — is still unique and much more personal.

This more personalized approach also applies to the way credit unions do business with their vendors, and the way credit union officials expect vendors to do business with them. Repossession agents especially have an opportunity to set themselves apart with this growing segment of auto lenders through excellent, personalized service — and they would be wise to do it.

First Things First

According to Jodee de la Cruz of Mountain American Credit Union, “Repossession agents need to pay close attention to our cultural nuances if they want to maintain relationships with credit unions.” De la Cruz says part of her strategy is to hire independent agents directly, not through forwarders.

As she puts it, “We prefer to use our own agents. We even get to know the drivers and they understand why we have certain requirements and expectations.”

Those expectations include at least two updates per week for every outstanding assignment, and that most communication about each assignment is executed and tracked through AutoIMS. While Mountain America Credit Union is able to avoid a great number of unnecessary faxes and phone calls this way, they still keep strong relationships with their repo vendors.

De la Cruz added, “We are very aware of the number of drivers each of our agencies have on staff, some of whom we’ve known for over 15 years. That kind of dedication is important. We want to know that our repo vendors put us first, just like we do with our members.”

Names and Numbers

Numbering nearly 8,000, federally insured credit unions boast about 90 million members with $679 billion on deposit, thus representing significant market potential for most repossession agencies. As suspected, winning and keeping credit union repo assignments typically requires agencies to earn individual trust and develop relationships over time with each credit union.

Dan Schooley, of Bellco Credit Union in Denver, says he’s relied on a handful of repo agencies for many years. When asked what sets an agency apart, Schooley mentioned, “A high degree of professionalism and quick response times. We expect our vendors to mirror our approach with Bellco members.”

A key ingredient to that approach is respect. “For instance,” Schooley continued, “we don’t ask our agents to attempt collections, but if a member does offer to pay during repossession, agents will often call us on the spot so that we can discuss a payment plan and help the member avoid the repossession.”

While it may at first sound daunting to build exemplary relationships with credit unions like those outlined above, there are a few simple considerations to ease the process for agency personnel:

—Acknowledge that credit unions are proud of the organizations they represent. Whether a branch of the armed forces, a corporation, a university, a community, or something else — be aware of the organization, its membership and its values, and ask how those values would affect the collections and repossession process.

—Credit unions rely on personalized service as a major differentiator, and value similarly personalized attention from their vendors. Chances are agents who rely on forwarders or other middle-men for assignments won’t see many from their local credit unions. Yet, if agencies are prepared to provide frequent assignment updates, employ enough drivers to keep up with demand, and embrace credit unions’ preferred communication tools, then a direct approach is probably in order.

—Credit unions are typically regional, which can be a major advantage for repo agents with similar geographic coverage. Agencies should compare their coverage area with the membership radius of the credit union branches they would like to serve, offering the results of those findings to the collections manager at the credit union to get dialogue started.

As credit unions continue to grow and broaden their auto portfolios, so will their demand for repossession services increase. Repossession agencies should consider their approach to this significant market segment carefully for greatest success, and credit union personnel should take comfort knowing that highly professional agencies are standing by to represent them in a fashion consistent with the principles that guide their credit union.

Joe Miller is director of customer service for AutoIMS and RecoveryIMS. For more information, lenders can visit www.autoims.com and agents can visit www.recoveryims.com.