A Q&A with Rory Johnston, Trace & Commercial Manager at McLaren Credit Services

We recently caught up with Rory Johnston, Trace and Commercial Manager at McLaren Credit Services (MCS), which forms part of the Sigma Connected business. 

With extensive experience across the debt collection sector, we chatted to Rory about his role, what he brings to the business, and why the successful long-term strategy of MCS continues to carve out a respected position in the market.

Q. Hi Rory, and welcome to the hot seat for our latest Q&A session. Could you give us an overview about you and your role? 

Rory:

I’ve been at McLaren Credit Services, MCS for just short, for two years now. I was asked to help launch MCS as a DCA into the commercial market and it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I already knew about Sigma Connected and the difference it was making to early arrears collections in the market so it was an easy decision to make.

Essentially, I am responsible for the commercial debt recovery side of the business, delivered from the team based in the UK. I have experience of commercial debt and complaints from both the client side and DCA, so I feel I can bring a broad perspective to our offering, especially in the utilities market.

Q. DCA is a complex specialism which is highly regulated. How did you get into it and what’s involved?

Rory:

I started out in debt collection 12 years ago working for a very well-respected utilities company, referred to at the time as one of ‘the Big 6’, within their Trace department. I then moved onto a trace and collection role, and from there, started working on high value accounts.

In this type of role you really do have to wear many hats. It’s like being a detective, you have to first investigate to identify what the issue is, then look for suitable options to problem solve, and finally, negotiate to resolve the problem. It’s very much about trying to think and do things differently to reach a suitable outcome. 

So this industry suits my inquisitive personality very well, as I enjoy delving deep to build that bigger picture to resolve problems. I am also very competitive and within DCA work companies often have a number of agencies collecting for them. I pride myself on never being beaten in these champion challenge situations.

Currently everyone is experiencing a rise in customer disputes driven partly by inflation and price rises across all products and services. So for me, it’s also about knowing what the client’s standpoint is on an individual dispute, and what queries we need to raise and evidence to support the case. In my experience that helps to speed up the process and reach a suitable resolution much faster.

Q. What are the types of issues clients will look to you and the team to solve?

Rory:

There are a variety of different issues we can be faced with, and multiple reasons why a business may not have paid. It could be something as simple as an invoice being sent to the wrong person, address or department, or it could be there is a dispute with a supplier where things have been left unresolved.

In these types of situations, it’s really key that we have an understanding of who we need to contact, where they are based, if a third party is involved, and what good looks like as a result for our client. 

Q. The team must have to work extremely closely to find resolutions? 

Rory:

It’s imperative we work seamlessly. We typically have one team member working on one case throughout, which means they understand the client from cradle to grave.

With commercial clients there are so many intricate details to look at. So, by having one Case Manager overseeing things, it means they are aware of everything, from tracing the account, the history, and correct contacts. 

That one point of contact is vital so there’s a connection and a professional relationship being nurtured. It’s more efficient and gets much better results or our clients. Some disputes can run for a long period of time. It’s rare within the commercial world to have that one-point contact model and I think that’s a real USP for us.

I am also extremely proud that we are always within first or second place on all our placements. This is due to our approach, our results, and our historic track record with previous and existing utility clients.

Q. Finally, what in your opinion truly makes MCS different?

Rory:

I’ve already talked about our Case Management approach with a single contact to look after every phase of the collection process for a client. That’s a huge thing and like I said, not everyone takes that approach in commercial DCAs. 

We also offer a dialer solution for those clients who feel their debt does not need a case management approach. This creates a hybrid model which allows us to move between the two ways of collecting at any point in order to gain success for the client. 

Having worked for a number of DCAs during my career, I would also say that the level and depth of our tracing is also stand-out and helps to deliver better results for our clients. We utilise Credit Safe and Trace IQ for more in-depth traces as well as the standard information provided by companies house. There are often 3rd party managing agents/brokers that are involved in the invoice validation process that at times need to be contacted. We will always try to find additional information from various sources to assist us in the recovery of the accounts.

Finally, being a new entrant into the DCA market we can be flexible and agile to ensure we get real results for our clients who can be secure in the knowledge, that with the backing of Sigma Connected, a financially secure business, we will be around for the long term. 

For further information, or a wider discussion about the DCA services Rory and his team can provide, readers can contact Rory through rory.johnson@sigmaconnected.com.