Most libraries using city/county collection services find that the process of transferring data and handling past due patron accounts is a manual effort and requires library staff time. Unique Management has strategic alliances with software vendors and has worked aggressively to find ways to automate the process of transferring data in order to significantly reduce library staff time required. A value must be placed on time required from library staff.
Most city/county collection services are not geared to handle the volume of past due accounts that most libraries have. Consequently, we frequently hear libraries say that city/county services are slow and/or sporadic at processing accounts.
Most city/county collection services are not geared to provide detailed monthly reports regarding status of each patron and summary management information designed just for libraries. As a result, libraries many times are frustrated because they don't receive frequent updates and information for making good management decisions.
Many times city/county collection services will only handle patrons with large balances. Also, libraries many times only turn over large balance accounts because of the staff time required to manually handle all the paper work required. Therefore, past due patrons with small balances are many times not pursued and thousands of dollars worth of materials are not recovered. Unique Management helps recover materials from patrons with balances of $25 and up.
Using city/county attorneys to recover past due library materials dramatically reduces or eliminates the possibility of maintaining patron goodwill.
City/county collection services are not free. Tax payers are having to pay for those services. Unique Management challenges any organization to show that they can send up to three letters and make phone calls to each patron assigned, provide detailed monthly reporting and deliver excellent results for a cost of less than $4.95 per patron.
Most libraries like the idea of using Unique Management to gently nudge past due patrons to recover the majority of materials while maintaining patron goodwill. The more difficult and larger non-responding accounts can then be passed on to city/county attorneys or taken to small claims court if the library desires to do so.
Many times city/county attorneys or collection services are not geared to do extensive skip tracing to locate patrons with incorrect addresses. Consequently, many patrons are never located and the materials are not paid for or returned. Unique Management utilizes five different types of skip traces to locate patrons who have moved and in many cases recovers the materials.
City/county attorneys are usually not geared to credit report non-responding accounts. Unique Management credit reports non-responding patrons to all three of the largest credit reporting agencies in the United States. This way, no matter where a delinquent patron moves to in the country, if they apply for credit it will show on their report that they have a past due balance with your library. Most creditors will require them to pay the outstanding balance before a loan is extended.
City/county attorneys or collection services are more geared to collecting money. Libraries are unique because your main objective is to get the materials back. Recovering materials is considerably different than collecting money. Unique Management's entire service is geared to recovering materials.
SUMMARY: Using Unique Management will cost your library less than using a city/county attorney or collection service. The materials will be recovered for free and you'll save staff time. More importantly, with Unique Management, you'll get better results in terms of materials recovered, maintain patron goodwill, and you'll receive detailed management reports every month.
