For collection floors
The pairing gap
When a customer picks up, the call goes to whichever collector is free. Nobody chose that. It is simply how dialers work. The pairing gap is what it costs.
Definition
The pairing gap is the difference between what each right-party contact collects today and what it would collect if every customer reached the collector who is best for them.
Where it comes from
Your dialer knows who is free. It does not know who this customer is likely to pay.
Every collector is the right fit for some customers and a weaker fit for others. Your collectors know this already. They ask for the conversations they can win.
The dialer doesn't use any of that. It routes on availability, so whether a customer reaches the right collector for them is partly luck. The pairing gap is the cost of that luck, added up across every call on the floor.
Why your reports don't show it
Every number you have was made by the same routing.
Each collector's results come from whatever mix of customers the dialer happened to send them. So every report shows averages that already carry the gap inside them, with nothing to compare against.
Coaching, scripts and dial volume all matter, but none of them change who takes which call. The only way to see the pairing gap is to work the same book two ways at the same time.
How to measure it
Split one book at random, before anyone dials.
- Split the book in two at random before the first call, so neither half starts with better accounts.
- Route one half as you do today. Route the other so each account goes to the collector most likely to collect it.
- Keep everything else the same: the same collectors, the same dialer, the same weeks and the same offers.
- Compare cash collected per account reached. Check both halves reached about the same number of accounts, so you know the difference came from the calls themselves.
One live test
What the gap looked like on one telecom book
A North American collection agency split a 170,000-account telecom book 50/50 at random before the first call. One half was matched by BestPair. The other ran on the usual process. Same dialer, same collectors, same weeks.
Both halves reached almost the same number of accounts, 1,082 and 1,058, so the difference was in what each call collected.
The limits matter too. The matched collector took the call only about half the time, because when they were busy the dialer still went to whoever was free. Read the full case study on bestpair.ai.
Your floor
How big is the pairing gap on your floor?
Nobody can tell you without your data. Two ways to get closer:
A rough estimate in two minutes
Put three numbers from your dialer and collections reports into the calculator on bestpair.ai: agents, payments per right-party contact and monthly collections. It is illustrative, not a promise.
Open the calculatorThe answer from your own data
The Floor Assessment measures it from your own call and payment history, collector by collector, and shows what you could do about it.
About the Floor AssessmentQuestions
Common questions about the pairing gap
Is the pairing gap the same as the spread between my best and worst collectors?
No. That spread is about people. The pairing gap is about pairs: the same collector does well with some customers and less well with others.
Closing it doesn't mean sending more accounts to your top performer. It means each customer reaches the collector who is best for them, so every collector gets more of the calls they can win.
Does skills-based routing already close it?
Skills routing sends calls by rules someone set, such as language, balance or queue. It can help close the gap if those rules put each customer with the collector who is best for them. The only way to know is to measure it.
Does closing it change how customers are treated?
Only who takes the call changes. Offers, scripts, contact rules and the collectors themselves stay the same.
Can I measure my pairing gap myself?
Yes, with the split described above. The hard part is choosing the right collector for every account in the matched half. That is what BestPair does, from your own call and payment history.
How big is it on my floor?
Nobody can tell you without your own data. The calculator gives a rough, illustrative estimate from three numbers. The Floor Assessment answers it from your own call and payment history.