Profession pawnbroker

Pawnbrokers offer loans to clients by securing them with personal objects or items. They assess the personal items given in exchange for the loan, they determine their value and amount of loan available and keep track of inventory assets.

Knowledge

• Debt collection techniques

  The techniques and principles used to collect overdue debt from customers.

• Debt systems

  The processes needed to obtain goods or services before payment and when a sum of money is owed or overdue.

Skills

• Handle financial transactions

  Administer currencies, financial exchange activities, deposits as well as company and voucher payments. Prepare and manage guest accounts and take payments by cash, credit card and debit card.

• Communicate with customers

  Respond to and communicate with customers in the most efficient and appropriate manner to enable them to access the desired products or services, or any other help they may require.

• Maintain client debt records

  Preserve a list with the debt records of clients and update it regularly

• Assess customer credibility

  Communicate with customers to assess whether their true intentions are in line with what they claim in order to eliminate any risks from a potential agreement with the customer.

• Negotiate on asset value

  Negotiate with asset owners or parties involved in handling the asset on the monetary value of the asset for selling, insurance, usage as collatoral, or other purposes, in order to secure the most financially beneficial agreement for the client.

• Manage pawnshop inventory

  Monitor the current inventory of the pawnshop and ensure that there are never too many or too few items present in the inventory. Adapt pawnshop procedures in order to optimise the inventory status.

• Identify customer's needs

  Use appropriate questions and active listening in order to identify customer expectations, desires and requirements according to product and services.

• Decide on loan applications

  Take into account the risk assessment and analysis and perform the final reviewing of the loan application in order to approve or deny the loan, and set in motion the necessary procedures following the decision.

• Analyse financial risk

  Identify and analyse risks that could impact an organisation or individual financially, such as credit and market risks, and propose solutions to cover against those risks.

• Maintain records of financial transactions

  Collate all the financial transactions done in the daily operations of a business and record them in their respective accounts.

• Collect customer data

  Collect customer data such as contact information, credit card or billing information; gather information to track down purchase history.

• Determine resale value of items

  Examine items to search for any damages or signs of deterioration and take into account the current demand for used goods of the item's nature in order to set a likely price at which the item can be resold, and to determine the manner in which the item can be sold.

• Perform debt investigation

  Use research techniques and tracing strategies to identify overdue payment arrangements and address them

• Estimate value of used goods

  Examine items owned by an individual in order to determine its current price by assessing damage and taking into account the original retail price and the current demand for such items.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB