Unclaimed property may be a behind-the-scenes business process, but it is surprisingly detailed. It takes a focused, meticulous effort for a company to establish the routines required to successfully administer escheatment activities. Of course, it’s worth the effort to keep the company in compliance and avoid penalties and burdens of non-compliance.
The benefits of being in compliance don’t stop with the department that administers unclaimed property. The nature of the policies and processes is such that the benefits spill over into other departments.
Below are 5 ways unclaimed property functions can benefit other parts of your organization. We encourage you to share these potential expanded benefits with decision makers in your company because they can help justify the functions, funds and resources you need to manage unclaimed property—besides just being good for the company.
#1: Resolving customer accounts
Finding customers and resolving dead accounts reduces escheatment amounts and prevents negative press. However, it also benefits a company in other ways. Whether the effort is made to find inactive clients before or after an account is stale dated, customer contact can lead to the reactivation of customers. Depending on the type of property, it can mean an increase in customer accounts. For the sales department, happy reactivated customers also means potential up-sales. For customer service, making a customer happy can lead to benefits ranging from up-sales and positive testimonials to the cleaning up of records. The marketing and public relations departments also will love positive testimonials they can use for advertising and press opportunities.