SMALL OFFICE COLLECTION SOFTWARE ROUNDTABLE ISSUE SPONSORED BY
USING TECHNOLOGY TO EMPOWER COLLECTIONS
PREVENTING CRACKS IN YOUR COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
3 WAYS TO WOW GOVERNMENTS WITH YOUR TECH
BRIGHTER DAYS FOR M&As IN DEBT BUYING SECRETS OF GOVERNMENT COLLECTIONS
KEY SEARCH ENGINES OF THE INVISIBLE WEB HOW TO GET INTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY COLLECTION
CFPB LAWSUIT SYMPTOM OF DISSATISFIED STUDENTS
TRANSFORMING GOVERNMENT COLLECTIONS INTO CUSTOMER SERVICE
May/June 2017
Vol. 17, No. 3
Debbie DiAlbert, Dennis Johnson and Craig Klein
Collection Advisor P.O. Box 92342 Southlake, TX 76092
5 WAYS TO LAND CLIENTS LIKE A LARGE AGENCY
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Sam Eidson
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Nick Jarman
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Debra J. Ciskey
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Fred N. Blitt
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Harry A. Strausser III
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Ron Brown
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Sam Edens
THIS ISSUE MADE POSSIBLE BY: CDS Software.............................. Inside Front Cover Melissa Data..............................................Back Cover IDI, Inc................................................................... Page 3 CallEvo.................................................................. Page 5 VeriFacts.............................................................. Page 7 DAKCS................................................................... Page 9 CSS IMPACT...................................................... Page 11 Cornerstone Support.................................. Page 15 Sentinel Development Solutions Inc.... Page 27 Simplicity Collection Software ............ Page 27
GOVERNMENT COLLECTIONS
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overnment debt collection is an elusive vertical. Perhaps it is the amount of the required infrastructure that acts as a barrier to entry. Or perhaps it is the experience required that is the epitome of a catch-22. However, every year new agencies manage to get a piece of the pie. What they learn along the way is truly invaluable information. This issue is dedicated to spreading that information. One agency that has much to share is Capital Recovery Systems. Collection Advisor spoke with President Craig W. Klein about what they are doing and how they got where they are. Agency Advisor Sam Eidson understands the process of being considered for municipal utility collection can be difficult. Therefore, Eidson reveals some helpful tactics to land such accounts. Compliance Advisor Debra J. Ciskey provides a refreshing overview of what you could do to make sure your compliance measures are without fracture. Legal Collection Advisor Fred N. Blitt takes a closer look at the CFPB’s action against Navient and what we can all learn from it. Skip Tracing Advisor Ron Brown highlights some search engines that could help skip tracers further explore the treasure trove of information that is the invisible web. Benchmark Advisor Harry A. Strausser III’s column addresses the interests of the agency growth-minded collection professional: how to land clients like a large agency. Technology Advisor Sam Edens shows how to use your agency’s technology to attract government accounts. Collection Industry Advisor Nick Jarman recently spent time talking to industry expert Rick Bonitzer and shares tips that he recommended for government collections. Next issue we will be diving into the credit card collection vertical and evaluating its current state. We will also be taking a closer look at mid-range collection software and mail service solutions. Until next time, we look forward to hearing from you.
T. Steel Rose CPA, ACS Editor
editor@collectionadvisor.com
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May/June 2017
Checklists and Training Tools
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CollectionAdvisor.com ACCESS ONLINE
USING TECHNOLOGY TO EMPOWER COLLECTIONS
ADVISORS 4
AGENCY ADVISOR
How to Get Into Municipal Utility Collection Sam Eidson 6
COLLECTION INDUSTRY ADVISOR
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Volume 17, No. 3
Business Directory
May/June 2017
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Secrets of Government Collections From an Industry Leader Nick Jarman
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MICHAEL LAMM
DBA’s New Identity Represents All Member Groups T. STEEL ROSE
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COMPLIANCE ADVISOR
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LEGAL COLLECTION ADVISOR CFPB Lawsuit Symptom of Dissatisfied Students Fred N. Blitt
Agency Spotlight Transforming Government Collections into Customer Service
Craig W. Klein, president of Capital Recovery Systems
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Small Office Collection Software Roundtable Comparison Chart
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BENCHMARK ADVISOR
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JOSHUA FLUEGEL
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Collection Advisor’s Business Directory
SKIP TRACING ADVISOR
Key Search Engines of the Invisible Web Ron Brown
DEPARTMENTS
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TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR
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Preventing Cracks In Your Compliance Management System Debra J. Ciskey
3 Ways to Wow Governments (And Everyone) With Your Tech Sam Edens
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Brighter Days for M&As in Debt Buying
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5 Ways to Land Clients Like a Large Agency Harry A. Strausser III
FEATURES
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Welcome
Collection Industry Top Product Nominees May/June 2017
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How to Get Into Municipal Utility Collection
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There are many financial products agencies collect on and each one of them requires an acquired niche. One of the most unique products in the collection industry is public and municipal utilities. Both public and municipal utilities offer a range of essentials including electric, natural gas, water, environment waste, telecommunications and cable TV/internet. If your agency is able to get into this sector it can be very rewarding and could lead to more clients within the same arena. One of the biggest challenges for an agency is gaining the opportunity to represent one of these companies. Most utility companies have outsourced to agencies they are comfortable with and don’t want to risk their public image on an unfamiliar servicer, especially if the agency has limited to no experience working their line of business. Your reputation in the ARM industry could be the biggest selling point to one of the many utility companies interested in giving you a chance. Offering a champion challenger competition may help your agency get a foot in the door. Once you’ve been given the opportunity you must make the most of it with compliant and productive recoveries. In order to be compliant you must do more than follow state and federal rules and regulations. You must also understand and meet your clients’ requirements in order to successfully earn their business. In order to understand client requirements it’s important to review their agency manual or, at a minimum, coordinate a meeting to discuss expectations. Next you must communicate their expectations to your team and properly train all departments including accounting, client support, compliance and collections. Timely remits, accurate balance reconciliations, proper treatment of special handling accounts and a professional collection approach are essential to customer satisfaction. In some instances, creditors lack knowledge of regulation in debt collection so they rely on us as the experts to guide them through the process. Understanding the product you are collecting can be essential to your agency’s success. Below I have listed a few questions I ask when onboarding a utility client: 1. What are their disconnect/reconnect policies? 2. Are late fees assessed, and if so, when and how much? 3. Is there a fee charged when disconnect or reconnect occurs? 4. Was a security deposit collected? 5. Would repayment result in reconnection? During the collection process there are a few common situations your agents should consider: the customer you are calling may have a current account at their new address, the customer you are calling may reside with a current customer or the spouse of a current customer may owe from a previous address.
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Agency Advisor Sam Eidson
The average size balance on utility debt is relatively small so it’s critical to implement a strategy that yields results while mitigating expenses. For example: if the client does not require an initial dunning letter at placement you may want to letter upon contact as the law requires. If the client expects letters upon placement, I suggest skip tracing to ensure you have the most current consumer address prior to sending the letter. Now let’s talk about scoring for the highest propensity to pay accounts. Whether you use a credit score or recovery score, the numerical value assigned to each account allows you to segment the business in tiers. The accounts with a higher propensity to pay should receive a comprehensive dialing strategy while the accounts with a lower propensity to pay receive a lighter approach. A few other metrics to use when segmenting the business is payment history, last payment date, recent charge-off, balance size and how long the consumer had their account. Another strategy could include credit reporting. While most utility companies don’t report positive or negative data to consumer reporting agencies, some of them encourage the outsourced agency to report the unpaid debt. Analyzing key performance indicators allows you to determine whether your approach is providing the results needed to outperform your competitors. Contacts, payments and dollars collected are a few of the most important metrics. You can divide total contacts by total payments taken to give you a closing percentage and divide total fee by total payments taken to provide an average size payment. In order to calculate goals that challenge your competitors’ performance, take the net amount placed with your agency and multiply it by the liquidation rate your competition has or projects to have. This will give you the dollar amount needed to collect in order to take over first place. Sam Eidson is the Director of Compliance for Delta Outsource Group, Inc. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Missouri Collectors Association. May/June 2017
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Secrets of Government Collections From an Industry Leader ROUTING SLIP Initials
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If there is one entity that has a leg up on the competition when it comes to getting their debts repaid, it would be the government. Whether the debt is owed to a local, state or federal government entity, those who collect these debts on behalf of the government have some advantages over those debt collectors who are collecting on privatized debts. At the same time, depending upon the Nick Jarman type of debt being collected on behalf of the government, the debt collector also has some disadvantages as well. What is certain is that government collections takes a specific type of debt I asked Bonitzer, in his opinion, what the easiest type of collector to be able to pull in the largest returns. Also, with the government collections to collect was. He responded, “Court vast majority of government debt they do not deal with a statute fines because they have already been adjudicated.” Adjudicated of limitation and are also not dismeans the court system has already chargeable in federal bankruptcies made a formal judgment or decision “In the grand scheme of debt collections, about the problem or disputed matunlike their civil counterparts. Depending upon which body ter. I can’t tell you how many times contact rates with consumers of government and at which level in my two decades of working in the are declining year over year (local, state or federal), the intenARM industry a consumer would sity as it relates to recovering bad tell a collector or I on a phone call and in cases where little to no contact debts varies greatly. For this article, to “just take me to court.” In the information is provided it makes I wanted to provide insight from case of court fines and similar govsomeone considered to be a leader ernment debts that have been adjuit that much more difficult.” in the government collections verdicated and thus have already been tical. Rick Bonitzer, president of through the court system, these Credit Collection Partners in Illinois was just the person. types of debts in particular open up the consumer to several difWhen asked about government collections in general he ferent types of consequences if they don’t pay. These include but stated, “The most interesting aspect of this (government collec- are not limited to suspension of their driver’s license, warrants, tions) is how various entities operate. Some entities are substan- levies and liens. Not paying back government debt tends to have tially more aggressive in debt recovery than others.” much more severe consequences than those of private debts. Understanding which of these are more aggressive in their While government collections certainly has its advantages, recovery of debts is a critical component to understand in the in some cases it also has disadvantages over other types of debts. client/collector relationship. For those that are aggressive in their Such a disadvantage would be locating the right consumer. pursuit of debts, it is going to require the debt collector to be While there are some government debts such as student loans aggressive as well in their overall approach. This doesn’t mean that provide adequate information on the consumer, other types aggressive in the sense of crossing lines or breaking laws, it means such as court fines and traffic tickets do not. This puts the debt aggressive in the work strategy and plan that goes into attempt- collector in a conundrum because they have limited to no coning to collect each debt. On the flip side, those who are less ag- tact information to reach the consumer. In the grand scheme gressive can still work the accounts in a manner that would still of debt collections, contact rates with consumers are declining provide the highest returns. However, they also have flexibility year over year and in cases where little to no contact information to be meticulous in how they go about their business without is provided it makes it that much more difficult. This is why the intense pressure. it’s important when working government debts that there is a
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Bonitzer: “Continually work with your clients in expediting the account placement process. “ validated and surefire front-end match logic process that seeks, identifies and documents the most up-to-date consumer contact data to each account. It is also important to have an ongoing process that assists in locating new consumer contact data as it becomes available. Another difficult aspect pertaining to government collections is finding the right members to fill out the team of collectors, support staff and, most importantly, business development. When I inquired about Bonitzer’s difficulties with government collections he stated, “Locating the right person on your team to lead your sales and client relations efforts. Government is definitely a niche’ market and a true experienced professional matters here more than other verticals.” Bonitzer also went on to say a sure key to failure is, “not having active dialogue with your clients. Granted, that’s not government specific but it’s incredibly vital. Many businesses lose sight of the importance of client retention after the sale is made. Invest in client retention! Similarly, stay well connected in your client’s vendor network. Passing on fundraisers or networking events is a good way to lose valuable client rapport.”
Now that we have a much better understanding of government collections and how they differ from private debts especially, what is the key to ensure success when collecting these types of accounts? “Timely placements,” said Bonitzer. “Continually work with your clients in expediting the account placement process. Perhaps a fresh look at your existing integration framework could reveal some opportunities for improvement. There are so many scams out there and consumers are more skeptical than ever. The shorter the time between offense/service date and contact with your staff, the more favorable your results will be.” The first step to succeeding in government collections is to understand the nuances involved and how it differs from other debts. The next step is to assemble a team that has first-hand knowledge of government collections. The last step is to trust the people and the process in order to give you the best opportunity for sustained success in the vertical. Nick Jarman is the owner of RightAway Consulting & Coaching. Jarman served the last three years on the Board of Directors for ACA International and is the past President of the Missouri Collectors Association.
Preventing Cracks In Your Compliance Management System ROUTING SLIP Initials
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In 2016, the CFPB celebrated its fifth birthday; half a decade; more than 1,500 employees; more than a million complaints in the complaint database. The CFPB is now finding its way in a new administration and fighting challenges to its organization and very existence. Some of the expectations of the bureau cost us money. Some expectations make us better. Some of them are foundational and help us create a positive culture. We are thinking more about compliance every day. A robust compliance management system (CMS) is the foundation and driver for our daily compliance efforts. Five years since the birth of the CFPB is a good time to examine our foundation, check for cracks and fill in gaps in the basic structure. Let’s look at foundational elements of a CMS.
Document Solid Policies and Procedures
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Compliance Advisor Debra J. Ciskey
6. Procedure: Step by step process required to perform the task the policy requires.
7. Records: Where would records be found that shows the policy was followed?
8. Definitions: Define any relevant terms 9. Reference documents: Provide citations for law, rule or
This is the rebar that provides stability and structure for regulation with which the policy seeks to comply. your foundation. Think about your processes, from initial interaction with the customer through closing the deal. If Provide training on policies and procedures and document you have expectations about the proficiency in knowledge and content of interactions, write performance. When you write scripts and memorialize them policies and procedures, you should “Use the categories the CFPB uses in a policy. If verbal disclosures be thinking about how you are going to categorize your complaints.” are required, include them in a to test for proficiency in knowledge script and memorialize them in and performance of the policy. Start a policy. If particular behaviors with the end in mind. How will are prohibited, memorialize them in a policy. Policies should people demonstrate on the job that they know, understand and are reference applicable laws, rules, or regulations – federal, state, applying the policy in the day-to-day performance of their jobs? and local if you have them. Make your training behavior-based by including information related to required and prohibited behaviors. Train Policies Should Be Organized from the perspective that asks, “What do I want people to do Organized documents are easier to find and use. Policies should related to this policy, and how will I know they are doing it?” be useful and they should be used. You can structure your policies If your people can quote your policies chapter and verse, but as you see fit for your organization. The following structure is don’t understand the behaviors that are required of them by the commonly used: policies, the policies are not meaningful. Training should include 1. Purpose: Generally, what does the policy seek to require or the “why” – what are we trying to comply with? Help your folks prohibit? by including examples, scripts, and detailed work instructions. 2. Scope: Who does it apply to? Design training for staff around meaningful information. 3. Implementation: Who is responsible for implementation of For example, pick the top five areas people fail the most, in the policy? aggregate, on compliance audits. Design training that explains 4. Training: How and when is training provided on the policy? the what, how and why. Make it behavior based – what am I 5. Policy: State the policy. supposed to do – or stop doing? How would I do that, and why
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“Respond to consumer complaints, every one, every time.” do I have to do it that way? Provide legal citations and applicable examples from lawsuits and enforcement actions to help with understanding about the why. If you take something away from collectors, give them two things with which to replace it. This assures staff are not working in a vacuum, leaving them to figure it out along the way. You can have the strongest policies and the best training, but you may still receive complaints. Respond to consumer complaints, every one, every time. Consumer complaints can be considered a test of how well our policies and procedures are working. Not only should we respond to complaints but take corrective action when warranted. Corrective action is defined broadly, and if you think about what caused the complaint to occur, the corrective action necessary can be immediately evident. Don’t stop there – analyze your complaint data. Use the categories the CFPB uses to categorize your complaints. Look for the root causes. Use your team to help you pinpoint solutions to the problems that may be identified by complaints. Your analysis of complaints will show you exactly what is needed – follow up training, coaching or disciplinary action. Complaints or no complaints, audit all processes for
compliance with policies and legal requirements. Many processes are transparent to consumers and a breakdown in compliance may not stimulate consumer complaints, yet these processes can be key to the successful operation of our businesses. Take corrective action when it is warranted. Provide remedial training and write ups. Get rid of the bad apples. They are your best collectors? Bite the apple and let them go if they can’t change their behavior to conform with the behaviors your policies mandate. Do not hesitate to eject people who intentionally resist. It’s not easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is. However, developing a good foundation allows you to grow and provides support for subsequent additions – new clients, more staff. Maintain your foundation to prevent cracks in your compliance performance. Every minute you spend fixing a problem that could have been prevented is a minute you can’t use to grow your future and reach your goals. Debra Ciskey is the Compliance Officer at Wakefield & Associates. Inc. She is a member of the board of directors and a certified instructor for ACA International.
One vendor. All the solutions.
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May/June 2017
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CFPB Lawsuit Symptom of Dissatisfied Students
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In January 2017, the CFPB took aim at Navient, the nation’s largest servicer of student loans, when it filed a complaint alleging it created obstacles to repayment by providing bad information, processed payments incorrectly, and failed to act when borrowers complained. Further, the CFPB contended that through shortcuts and deception, Navient also illegally cheated many struggling borrowers out of their rights to lower repayments causing them to pay much more than they might have. At the same time, the Attorney General of Illinois made similar allegations in the student loan servicing sphere. These actions raise issues that resonate with me as they are very similar to the issues we find in retail debt collection. Navient has taken issue with the CFPB’s contention the student loan servicers are the reason for the borrowers’ defaults. In a recent Washington Post article, Navient’s CEO stated when you have customers who have student loans they’ve taken out for schools where they did not receive a quality education, did not have the job or salary they expected as a result of the degree or have failed to graduate, they are dissatisfied customers. As a result, and not surprisingly, under those circumstances, the borrower is not looking for ways to pay for something from which they did not extract value. Further, he said when you have that kind of lack of engagement, it is very difficult to get borrowers into solutions that work. On this point, I am fully in agreement with Navient, as in my experience, it is very difficult to find solutions with a dissatisfied consumer. For those of us with retail auto loans in their portfolio, this is a very similar scenario to the situation where an automobile is repossessed and the consumer does not want to pay the deficiency balance. All of us understand this issue: Who wants to pay for a car they are not driving! Hence, as much as we may want the consumer to call us and resolve the account, they do not feel the need to engage with us. Many times, these consumers express their displeasure by going to the CFPB complaint portal. People have a personal connection to their car; its loss affects all aspects of their life – getting to work, picking up the kids, traveling to the grocery store. Likewise, the educational loans have, perhaps, an even deeper emotional connection. In many cases, these are disappointed dreams, whether the dream career or the excitement of making your family proud. When you combine disappointed hope with the harsh realities of life, the desire to repay these loans decreases. What is the solution to this dilemma? Are the lawsuits by the CFPB and state regulatory agencies providing a solution or are they a way just to seek fines and damages that arguably don’t help the consumer? Some contend that the solution would involve clearer rules and regulations for everyone to follow;
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Legal Collection Advisor Fred N. Blitt
however, that really begs the question as to the root cause of issues with student loans. Is our higher education funding model fundamentally broken? Who is examining higher education costs to determine if there is a better way? With three children in their 20s, all of whom have gone to college, I am well versed in the costs of attending a University. Of course, each of my kids chose an out-of-state school (and yes, I know it’s my own fault). In an era of belt-tightening, it appears that other than death and taxes, the third thing you can rely upon is that the cost of attending college continues to skyrocket. These escalating expenses make less sense and create the strong impression that the old model of going to and paying for college simply does not work today. For example, I have noticed that the large out-of -state tuition bill I was paying included the same level of fees for “on-line” courses. Why am I paying top dollar for on-line teaching? Think about the library at your college or university. This was a place where many of us actually went to study or find a date to the next dance. Why does it need to be so large a building and have so many employees today when the majority of the information a student needs to access can be found on their phone, tablet or computer. Is anyone considering these type of costs? If changes are not made, it may become a vicious cycle where if you want to go to college, you simply can’t pay for it without a loan which ensures the 22 year old, new graduates are going to begin life with a small mortgage-sized debt before they’ve even found a job. We all recall the FTC indicating the debt collection business was “broken” a few years ago. Obviously, the system in which we educate our children is in need of a major overhaul. While the student loan servicers are getting sued, they are not the root cause of the problems. Until the system that makes college more and more expensive is changed, the students who take out loans will suffer. Fred N. Blitt, Esq., is a partner with Blitt and Gaines, PC in Illinois and Couch, Conville and Blitt in Louisiana. He is past president of NARCA. May/June 2017
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5 Ways to Land Clients Like a Large Agency
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There is a recurring theme in many of the management level programs I conduct. I hear it often, and as basic as the concept is to the survival of any business, it is often an area of corporate weakness: the sales function. Certainly, large organizations typically have a sales team that strategizes industries of interest and competitively positions representatives. Individuals often acquire expertise in specific markets and then attack those markets in various ways. The more typical scenario for the average to small collection firm is the owner/manager handles sales which means it never gets done. I continually hear the lament of agency owners and entrepreneurs that they get so caught up in the daily struggles of the industry they never have the thoughtful time to devote to generating more business. There is no sales plan, just a shotgun approach which provides for the occasional attendance at a trade association meeting or the polite ask of a current client for a referral. In time, it becomes painfully clear this approach does not provide the flow of business necessary to perpetuate an operation. In days gone by this casual approach to sales accompanied by the thought, “if you take care of clients they will stay with you forever,” seemed to work for many organizations. Client loyalty, especially on a regional level, ran high for those operations that provided exceptional service, outstanding liquidations and timely responses to client needs. Those days are gone. The bulk of the collections industry is comprised of collection firms in the five to 25 employees level working on a regional or state basis. They are losing their larger clients in droves as mega corporations continue to acquire these operations. These larger creditors have a lineup of significantly bigger national agencies in their pipeline for account placements. Relationships that have spanned decades vanish overnight for the smaller player. Has this happened to your operation? Although some of these decisions are completely out of our control, there are things you can do to better position your firm for competitive sales success:
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Don’t Act Like a Small Firm
One dynamic of smaller firms is that they act like a small player. They have a regional mindset and are short sighted. Expand your horizons. Despite the size of your office, start addressing industry trends and requirements in preparation for potential client requests and mandates. Develop a unique approach or program. Tom Abbott said, “It’s not just about being better. It’s about being different. You need to give people a reason to choose your business.”
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have always maintained what I like to refer to as a consultative approach to our collection services. We aren’t just a bad debt collection agency but an accounts receivable management firm that can address creditors needs on many levels. We become the go-to agency when clients have questions and we often push out industry compliance issues and updates regularly to these partners. It places your organization on a different level than your competitors. Zig Ziglar said, “If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you.” Build trust by being a knowledge resource.
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Anticipate Organizational Change Before it is Mandated Regularly tap into every industry information
resource available to see what the emerging requirements are of state and federal regulators and specific market segment trends. Start upgrading your facility to accommodate security concerns. Develop internal protocols that mirror what larger industry players do.
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Embrace and Understand Vendor Management
Federal regulators have pushed the notion of vendor management in recent years. Creditors are increasingly required to assess the compliance standards and security of the firms they employ, especially if you represent banks and credit unions. Proactively reach out to your clients and ask what they may be looking for from you. Attend a vendor management seminar or webinar and start developing the standard operating procedures commonly mandated. When asked for these documents by a client, you should be able to provide them quickly and in a professional, thoughtful format.
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Develop a Plan After you have your proverbial ducks in
order, prepare a plan for the type of business you want and the footprint you want to develop geographically. We don’t all have to be nationally Continued on page 17 May/June 2017
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BRIGHTER DAYS FOR M&As IN DEBT BUYING BY MICHAEL LAMM
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he year 2017 might be the year mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity finally returns to the beleaguered and overregulated debt buying Michael Lamm industry. In 2014, both Encore Capital Group and Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA Group) made multi-million dollar acquisitions. There was some M&A and recapitalization activity in both the United States and Europe in 2016. PRA Group acquired certain assets from Recovery Management Systems Corp., which complements its insolvency and bankruptcy businesses. In Europe, Lowell GFKL acquired Tesch Inkasso, which follows a previous acquisition of IS Inkasso, a large Austrian ARM firm. In addition, doBank announced it was acquiring Italfondiario SpA, both of which are leading ARM firms in Italy. However, forecasts for additional growth remain limited. PRA Group CEO Steve Fredrickson noted, “Without a pickup in bankruptcy sales volume in the U.S. or an even larger increase in U.S. core and European portfolio sales, we’ll have to adjust downward our long-term internal growth rate goals.” The onerous regulatory environment is largely to blame for this slowdown. Much of the current regulatory regime was borne out of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, and the formation of the CFPB. However, President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress will most likely severely limit or dismantle these anti-competitive regulations. And once that happens, M&A activity and debt portfolio purchases will become more robust. .com
May/June 2017
Donald Trump and the Republicans: Will We See the Oft-Promised Deregulation?
Trump’s famous campaign promise to “Make America Great Again” is partially rooted in a major overhaul of expansive federal regulations. One of the major targets is the Dodd-Frank Act, which was the aggressive legislative response to the Great Recession of 2008. This also produced the CFPB, which is the primary federal regulator and enforcement agency in the consumer finance sphere. Executive authority over the CFPB was greatly expanded by the ruling in PHH v. CFPB, where the D.C. Circuit held the CFPB is not an independent agency and is therefore considered to be under the authority of the executive branch. This ruling essentially allows Trump to replace CFPB Director Richard Cordray. In fact, Senators Ben Sasse and Mike Lee recently sent Vice President Mike Pence a letter encouraging Trump to fire Cordray. These regulations have had a direct financial impact on leading firms. In 2015, both Encore and PRA Group were fined $18 million by the CFPB, ordered to stop collecting on more than $125 million in debts, and refund approximately $61 million to consumers. While the charges were expansive, it is likely this aggressive enforcement regime will dissipate.
M&A Activity In 2017 and Beyond
It is expected to be a robust year for overall M&A activity in the United States. According to a recent Moody’s survey of executives, “75% of respondents expect deal activity to increase. And transactions may be bigger, with 64% of survey respondents expecting deal sizes to increase.”
The debt buying industry will likely experience an increase in volume as well. Deregulation is going to have the greatest impact on this increase. Regulations that extend liability to loan originators for the actions of third party debt collectors as well as a significant narrowing in permitted activities in debt collection have had a serious, chilling effect on deals. 2017 is going to be the year of change for all this. Trump is retaining fellow New Yorker, investor Carl Icahn, as a special economic advisor to identify and possibly eliminate federal regulations that impede business growth and economic development. And DoddFrank is in those cross hairs. As many of the excessive regulations that overburden the ARM industry are brought to a more pro-competitive level, companies like credit card issuers will likely start selling greater volumes of debt. And since they account for approximately 70% of the debt buying market, improvement in this market will ripple through the entire industry. Another segment that will likely experience growth is FinTech and online lending. As millennials begin to take up more of the workforce and business owners, there will be a transition to mobile apps and alternative forms of lending. And this will create new areas of business for M&A activity. These industry improvements may not be fully realized in 2017, and it might take more than a year to repeal the regulations developed over the years. However, as the Trump administration proceeds with its promised deregulation, it will become easier to operate and M&A activity will improve. Michael Lamm, a co-Founder of CAS, oversees the firm’s M&A, consulting, valuation, compliance and regulatory practices.
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Key Search Engines of the Invisible Web
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In this issue, we will once again continue to explore the web data provided by several websites located on what is commonly referred to as the “invisible web.” As I previously stated, these sites are certainly not your “beginner” or “skip guesser” sites. Most of them require certain advanced skills to manipulate, massage and extract data. For the professional tracer to obtain the desired information needed to complete their searches, it is imperative they possess the required skills and a thorough understanding of “exact data extraction techniques.” I have visited and conducted searches on each of these sites to ensure they are working and functional as of February 16. I have had several inquiries from readers regarding a source of more detailed information related to the invisible web. For those of you interested in delving deeper into this fascinating subject, I would recommend the purchase of The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can’t See, by Gary Price and Chris Sherman. This publication provides the key to finding these hidden resources by identifying how to uncover and use invisible web resources, mapping the invisible web, when and how to use it, assessing the validity of the information, and the future of web searching. With that out of the way, let’s look at a few of the search engines available which I feel will prove to be valuable to the professional tracer/cyber tracker. Your typical search engine’s primary job is to locate the surface sites and downloads that make up much of the web as we know it. These searches find an array of HTML documents, video and audio files and, essentially, any content that is heavily linked to or shared online. Often, these engines, Google chief among them, will find and organize this diversity of content every time you search. The search engines that deliver results from the invisible web are distinctly different. Narrower in scope, these deep web engines tend to access only a single type of data. This is because each type of data has the potential to offer up an outrageous number of results. An inexact deep web search would quickly turn into a needle in a haystack. That’s why deep web searches tend to be more thoughtful in their initial query requirements. Below are a few more popular invisible web search engines: • Yippy (www.yippy.com) is a meta search engine developed by Vivísimo that not only combines data from a variety of different source documents, but also creates “clustered” responses, automatically sorting by category. I will enter a person’s name and last known residence and retrieve a large volume of Internet sites with information related to the subject of my query. • SurfWax (www.surfwax.com) is a metasearch engine that offers “practical tools for Dynamic Search Navigation.” It offers the option of grabbing results from multiple search engines at the same time, or even designing “SearchSets,”
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ROUTING SLIP Initials
Date
Skip Tracing Advisor Ron Brown
which are individualized groups of sources that can be used over and over in searches. Now we will look at several subject specific search engines. A subject specific search engine or data site can pool together some mainstream, and not so mainstream databases, dedicated to fields and areas of interest. When I am looking for a person who is involved in a specific industry or area of interest, I find these data sources to be an invaluable tool. While only a handful of these tools can surface deep web materials, all the search engines and collections I have listed are powerful, extensive bodies of work. Many of the resources these tools surface would likely be overlooked if the same query were made on one of the mainstream engines most tracers fall back on, like Bing, Yahoo and even Google. • www.nga.gov/collection/an.shtm - I utilize this site when searching for anyone in the art world. It is up to date and tracks the latest news and artists in the industry. • www.bbb.org - This is the national site for the Better Business Bureau (BBB). I use their information system search to locate the details of ratings, consumer experience, government action and more of both BBB accredited and non-accredited businesses. • www.bpubs.com - This is a business publications search engine. They offer more than 200 free subscriptions to business and trade publications and the site is very useful when obtaining information related to commercial accounts. I hope these sites are helpful to you in your tracing endeavors. In the next issue we will take a close look at some open law enforcement and regulatory sites that help successful tracers locate missing people and assets. Until then good luck and good hunting. Ron Brown is a member of the National Association of Fraud Investigators and the author of “MANHUNT: The Book.” Contact him at rbrown2150@aol.com. May/June 2017
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15
3 Ways to Wow Governments (And Everyone) With Your Tech
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In 2010, the framework for massive technology updates in healthcare was set in motion. It started with the introduction of the health insurance marketplace for the public sector. This resulted in hospitals, medical facilities, insurance companies, claims processors and third-party agencies racing to upgrade systems and technology for patient-account management, privacy and data security, compatibility, and simply to keep up with the changing trends. For the agencies servicing healthcare accounts, technology updates and upgrades were necessary to stand out and to survive as a provider of receivables management services. Now, in 2017 and stepping out of the healthcare vertical, are we about to see another massive technology update impacting third-party agencies? For those in the government space, the answer is probably yes. Without launching a political debate, there is uncertainty surrounding what is taking place and will take place with the federal government as well as with state and local governments. Nonetheless, technology advancement and increasing IT budgets appear to be a priority. A report from Forrester Research published on govtech.com forecasts that IT spending at the state and local levels will overtake IT spending at the federal level as soon as this year and then continuing into 2018.1 More specifically, the report details that the largest investment will be in cloud-based software and solutions. Technological advances are nothing new but there does appear to be an evolving understanding that a fundamental change is underway. Innovation is essential. Younger generations rely heavily on mobile devices and therefore are always “connected.” The device market is growing and changing rapidly. There is an expectation that technology in other markets is keeping up. Increased IT spending at the state and local levels could help to close this gap. We can tie this all together by looking back at the question raised – Will any of this impact third-party agencies? Sooner or later it will so the new question is how can agencies prepare? In my opinion, agencies should upgrade their technology so it stands out as if they were attempting to sell their services to government entities. Essentially, make your operation appear cutting edge. “Appear” is the most important word in that statement because nothing needs to change with your collection process. Instead, pretend you are working a state government contract and are in a position to give them the data they need, the reports they are looking for and the analytics they want. Here are three things your agency can do to stand out:
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ROUTING SLIP Initials
Date
Technology Advisor Sam Edens
1) Data Centralization
Use a data warehouse, data lake, master data management (MDM) system or whatever you want to name it to gather all the data from all your systems. Most agencies have many database systems in place to run the business. Common cases include collection software, client or debtor access portals, accounting software, outside vendor services and a CRM. These are all standalone systems with their own data sets. By getting as much of the overall data as you can into a central location, you are in a position to report on the entire enterprise and to use the data to really understand how the business is performing. To stand out even further, put your data centralization solution in the cloud.
2) Performance Reporting Package
Develop a package of canned reports about your agency’s performance at the portfolio level that rolls all the way up to the entire organization. There is a good chance you already have a pile of client reports to start with. Having a performance reporting package available shows you are ready to take on more business and you have an understanding of what creditors and first parties want to see from their agencies. If your client does not have hard report layout and formatting requirements, use your package to eliminate a large chunk of the new client onboarding work. You will onboard quicker and will not miss reporting deadlines with your new client.
3) Business Intelligence
An element of this includes report development but with business intelligence (BI), you are adding the bells and whistles. A BI solution can be tough to implement because similar to developing a reporting package, you must know the Continued on page 17 May/June 2017
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DBA’S NEW IDENTITY REPRESENTS ALL MEMBER GROUPS
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BY T. STEEL ROSE
BA International completed its 20th annual conference in February and changed its name to RMA, Receivables Management Association. Collection Advisor caught up with Executive Director Jan Stieger to learn more about the changes taking place at RMA. “The name change recognizes our members and our certifications,” Stieger said. “We have law firms, agencies and international members, many of whom are working with debt buyers. The members agreed on the name change.” RMA represents 548 companies who purchase performing and nonperforming receivables on the second-
ary market. Its Receivables Management Certification Program and Code of Ethics is designed to set the global standard within the receivables industry due to its rigorous uniform industry standards of best practice which focus on the protection of the consumer according to its website. The association was founded in 1997 as Debt Buyers Association and is headquartered in Sacramento, California. The challenge is optimism and hope for fair and balanced regulation for the professional, ethical collection of legitimate debt. “We have conversations with clients who may be selling debt again,”
Stieger said. Newly elected association President Mark Naiman announced the new name as part of a change in the association bylaws during the association’s annual conference. “We started as the Debt Buyers’ Association with our membership being primarily debt buyers,” Naiman said. “Our membership has now expanded and also includes collection law firms, collection agencies, creditors, vendors, and brokers. Our goal was to represent all of our member groups.”
5 Ways to Land Clients Like a Large Agency Continued from page 12 licensed. There are still many regional opportunities. Don’t get stuck in the past and perpetuate the shotgun, disorganized approach to business development. It is a process that must change to meet today’s demands of the purchaser of the services we offer. Zig Ziglar said, “You have made some mistakes, and you may not be where
you want to be, but that has nothing to do with your future.” A common slogan in sales for decades when referring to clients has been, “It is the one you are working on, the one you are servicing and the one you just lost.” Realizing this dynamic continues in 2017 and beyond, putting energy into the sales function helps feed your organizational machine with the business flow needed to
maintain growth and profitability. We encourage our readers to submit a “best practice” idea for inclusion in this column. Until next time, I’m in a collection office near you!
This article is continued on www.CollectionAdvisor.com.
Harry A. Strausser III is president of Remit Corporation/Interact Training & Development. Contact him at harry@ remitcorp.com.
“Business Intelligence (BI) is a popular topic these days and there are many good providers in the industry but Tableau offers the best product I have seen.” 3 Ways to Wow Governments (And Everyone) With Your Tech - Continued from page 16 information that is critical and the data points that are key performance indicators. Only when those elements are understood, a slick set of dashboards and analytictype reports can be developed. To really achieve a noticeable BI solution, an outside provider is almost always necessary. BI is a popular topic these days and there are many good providers in the industry but Tableau offers the best product I have seen. .com
May/June 2017
I highly recommend their product and at the very least, it is worth a demo. An initial push to upgrade your technology and keep up with trends does not have to break the budget or involve a massive overall in how your business operates. It is forecast that government IT spending will be increasing in the coming years and a few updates now could reduce the amount of work that may be required later this year or next. Additionally, the element of change is
naturally a challenge and most are comfortable with the way things are but a little change now could ease the pain from a big change coming soon. 1 http://www.govtech.com/civic/Stateand-Local-IT-Spending-to-Outpace-Federal-in-2017-and-2018.html Sam Edens has been with Emprise Technologies since 2006 and is currently serving as Vice President. Prior to his time with Emprise, Sam designed and developed performance and flow management software for UPS.
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Agency Spotlight
Transforming Government Collections into Customer Service
BY JOSHUA FLUEGEL
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he struggle to juggle both consumer and client relations is a very real one in government collections. The scrutinizing eye of the government in government collections is validated by the fact that a third-party agency is an extension of government authority. But how can a collection professional obtain payment when so many actions could be labeled as Craig W. Klein a misstep? However difficult, agencies have found a way. Such an agency is Capital Recovery Systems and its president, Craig W. Klein. This issue’s Agency Spotlight asks Klein how they got into government collections, discovered the means to operate successfully and still be labeled “the nice people” by clients. How did you become involved with Capital Recovery Systems and collections? I founded Capital Recovery Systems (CRS) in October of 1996. My wife Cindy and I actually were the two CRS people who went through the installation of our collection management system in the first week of February 1997. Andre from CR Software spent three days with us installing and training us. At that time we were operating with four dummy Wyse terminals and one shared PC for Internet use. I initially got involved in collections in 1991 with GC Services with their educational recovery services arm. At 34 years old I had gone back to school to finish my degree at Ohio State University. When time and money ran out on me I reached out to my long-time friend Dennis Johnson who was managing the ERS division at the
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time and he gave me a job as an entry-level collector. I spent five years or so learning as much as I could from Dennis and went through what I think is one of the best management training programs. I was intrigued by the industry and I thought there were some things I could do differently that went against the stereotypical view of the industry. My agency was going to be the one “with nice people” and operate in a complaint-free environment. You have to think you can change the world (whether or not it’s realistic) when you take on starting a new business. We didn’t change the world, but I am unbelievably proud of our compliance record and zero FDCPA litigation against us in over 19 years in business.
ability to see anything and everything you’ve done with their accounts, you better being doing things right, doing what you sold them and meeting any due diligence they may require. The same goes with our call recordings. Our clients have access to every call, inbound or outbound. In that situation, you better know that your staff is treating your client’s constituents with professionalism, kindness and accuracy. Our clients are elected judges, law directors, clerks of court and mayors. In fact, it is important that we act almost as ambassadors for those elected officials. Our folks are taught and trained to always keep in mind that the people they are working with are voters who determine who our clients are going to be.
As a collector of government accounts, is Capital Recovery Systems audited? If so, what do you do to make sure the audits go smoothly and do not hinder the collection process? We are audited. When they audit us on-site it has never been a problem whatsoever. Our bookkeeping and reporting processes and our daily remitting of money collected make it easy for our clients to perform those audits. Up-to-date technology gives us an opportunity to make our clients very happy by providing the opportunity to perform audits, report payments, run reports, place accounts and close accounts remotely. We provide them what is called our NAVIGATE System, via our FICO software, which gives them complete access to their accounts and any and all data they need to perform all of those functions. NAVIGATE helps keep our folks focused and a feeling of being held accountable. When your clients have the
What is something Capital Recovery Systems does to ensure things run smoothly in upper management? Just like other successful organizations, businesses and teams, communication is the key. Our upper management team thrives on communication. When you have great people in leadership positions and you empower them with the ability to make decisions, you have the brainpower of multiple experienced people. Our upper management is a total democracy. Rarely, if ever, are decisions made without the input of the entire upper management team. We keep that communication going with off-site meetings and planning sessions where we can mix a lot of work with a little play and fun over a day or two. And of course we meet on regularly scheduled intervals and urgent topics are discussed as they come. Again, having a democracy in a situation allows us to respond and deal with a bad May/June 2017
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Agency Spotlight
“One of the great things the ACA offers is the Collection Notice Review (CNR).” or negative situation with a lot of thought and input from multiple viewpoints. What is something an agency might do that would guarantee failure in government collections? The kiss of death for a business like ours is when our clients are hearing negative things from their constituents. In this industry everyone has to be proactive in complaint prevention and great at reacting to complaints when they happen. I think that holds especially true for anyone in the government-only arena and is even more important than if we were collecting mainstream consumer debt. Our clients are very sensitive to each debtor. Whether or not they owe money, they are a taxpayer and a potential vote. If an agency struggles with complaints they will have poor client retention, which will eventually lead to great difficulty in obtaining new clients. These local governments all have their own associations and word spreads quickly among them. That word goes in both directions. If you’re doing a great job, it is the best and most effective marketing you can have. If the agency is creating complaint calls and shows a penchant for negative treatment, clients will run like the Amazon River during rainy season. With compliance on the forefront, what are some special compliance considerations for government collections? For me, one thought goes a long way in success. If you do things the right way and establish a culture that thrives on it, just about everything you want will work out. The biggest part of being compliant starts with how you treat people, in our case taxpayers and constituents, on the phone and in any verbal communications. Secondly, make sure that all of your written communications are compliant. One of the great things the ACA offers is the Collection Notice Review (CNR). Even if you have on-staff attorneys like we do, having your written communications get the approval .com
May/June 2017
via the CNR is providing a self-assuring redundancy to something that is critically important in avoiding law suits, sanctions and fines by regulatory bodies. Another important component of keeping compliant is call recording. I don’t just mean simply having the ability to record calls, but to use those recordings not only for compliance but for training and to help
CRS collection floor featuring inspirational quotes.
resolve complaints. I can’t tell you how many times we have had a client call, tell us of a complaint that a defendant registered that was nowhere near the truth, and we forwarded the call to the client. Most of the time we were able to turn a negative situation into a positive because we gave the client a picture of how we treat their constituents. I hear comments like, “Hey Craig, listened to the call, not only was he/she lying, but I was really impressed with how your representative handled the call.” How does an agency maintain successful working relationships with government clients? I like when I’m asked this question. During one of our off-site getaway meetings, we started off by asking ourselves that same question. “What do we have to do
to ensure that our client relationships stay solid, long term and mutually beneficial to our agency?” Upper management staff just sort of began shouting out single word thoughts. As I was listening. I was jotting these single word ideas down. Before it was over we all agreed that flexibility, responsiveness, accessibility, tailoring, professionalism, accuracy and kindness would be our buzzwords. If we can meet the meaning of each of these words relative to our clients, we would have successful customer client relationships. One other area which I think is not normally used as part of a business plan or policy setting ideas is this: If we set our policies and guide our procedures in a way that guarantees that “What is good for us has to be good for our clients” never set a policy or process that no matter how good it might be for your business, if it does not enhance our clients’ business or make it better, then we will not set that process. It may seem difficult or you’re not focused enough on your own business, but I have found it to be not only simple but it creates enthusiastic discussions. It’s also energizing when someone comes up with an idea that another one of us can shoot down, because it does not enhance the client’s organization. It is actually a great way to discuss policies and procedures and also think things through thoroughly and completely. What is the best way an agency could get into government collections? The easiest way to answer that question is simply to say it is a difficult and tedious process where there is no such thing as immediate satisfaction. I will also say it takes some luck. As we all know, luck is when being prepared and opportunity end up in the same place. The vast majority of government collection RFP’s require prior experience with clients of similar size and scope. However, there are many opportunities to take advantage of where a competitive Continued on page 20
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Agency Spotlight
“Our folks on the phone are called customer service representatives (CSR) as opposed to ‘collectors.’” Continued from page 19 bid process is not required. These situations always occur in the local government arena. You have to put relationships to work with a solid plan to show the potential client (maybe your friend the mayor) how you can produce revenue that otherwise will never be collected. These can be very good times for agencies trying to break into government collections. “Starving” is the best one word description I would use if asked, what is the current status of local governments’ revenue needs? In fact the same applies to all levels of government from townships all the way through the Feds. Another positive aspect is even when revenues are good and government entities have rainy day funds, in the world of government revenues, there is never enough and the folks responsible for generating and spending those revenues will continue to look for ways to generate more. If I had one piece of advice to give relative to breaking into government collections it would be to start off at the local level, soliciting potential clients that do not have an RFP process or a current RFP. Again, use relationships to get in the door. Based on pricing structure, there are many opportunities to break-in without going through a competitive bidding process. Are there any games or morale boosting practices you use to keep collectors happy and productive? We do a lot of what the rest of the industry does as far as daily contests giving away gas cards, cash and gift cards. CRS uses a different type of bonus program than what the mainstream or majority of agencies use. Based on the fact that we are more of a customer service organization for local governments as opposed to a true collection agency, we use a quarterly profit sharing as the biggest incentive. Each quarter we take a percentage of total profits and divide it up among the revenue generating employees. Our folks on the phone are called customer service representatives (CSR) as opposed to “collectors.” We even advertise
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job openings for CSRs rather than collectors. This style of incentive really promotes team work. When others are responsible for the amount of “extra” money that goes into your pocket a culture of holding each other accountable is a blessing for us. In addition we have bowling night out five or six times a year. We provide food, beverages and all the bowling you want for four to five hours. Our staff really looks forward to these nights. We normally base them on office-wide performance. However if the numbers are not great, we tell them we are going to have a bowling night because their effort was great. Sometimes the greatest effort does not produce the end result you hope for. How is Capital Recovery Systems involved in the community? Our involvement in the community is mostly centered around education. We provide scholarship money for students going to accredited four-year colleges. We have a pretty strict criteria in awarding those funds. We have been doing it for the last 15 years. One of the things I think we do differently is we go to great lengths to be active in our clients’ locations. Last year we raised money from our staff and CRS matched their funds times two. That enabled us to donate to an Alzheimer’s event in Knoxville, Tennessee, where our only tie was our client. CRS participated in nine fundraising events in 2016 in locations where we have clients. Our clients really appreciate our participation in their local charity activities. I am personally partial to homeless and hunger issues and we are active in those activities locally. We try to build a culture within this organization for our staff to see the value in, believe in and live by the words, “you get what you give.” It’s not easy in this day and age when funds for everyone are tight. But our group has been amazing in the level of participation. We have a very high participation rate
in the local United Way payroll deduction program. This program allows them to pick what charity the United Way directs their funds to. My younger brother is very active and a volunteer leader for a South Carolina chapter of Special Operations Wounded Warriors (SOWW). They serve Wounded Warriors of the United States Special Operations Forces with charitable outdoor events, mostly getting disabled veterans out in the field to hunt, which they would never be able to do without SOWW. I’ve seen the guys when they get back from the hunt and it looks like they have just been given new life. We hold a fundraiser each year and for the past five years CRS has been very active with them. Two of us just signed up to participate in their annual golf outing in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. One thing I am extremely proud of is how our employees really stand up when a co-worker suffers from a difficult situation. One example of many is one of our staff had their home broken into two days before Christmas. You can imagine that every gift under the tree, among other things, was stolen. This bunch came to her need and made sure that her children had a Christmas. 100% of the staff helped out in some way or another and they saved the family’s Christmas with next to no time to get it done. What do you enjoy doing in your free time? My biggest enjoyment comes from working in my yard and gardens. It’s relaxing, satisfying and very therapeutic for me. I’m also a big fan of high school football and go to games locally and throughout the state of Ohio. Most recently my wife and I have taken up handgun training and shooting. It is really a great hobby and a way to have an activity with your spouse. We go to the range two to three times a week. Of course it has turned into a competition which makes it twice as fun… when I win that is. May/June 2017
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Small Office Collection Software Roundtable
ENSURING EASY USE AND SUPPORT BY JOSHUA FLUEGEL
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he demands of compliance and the workload in general can put great strain on a small collection office’s valuable yet limited bandwidth. Collection software can ease that workload and keep collectors working at a level of efficiency worthy of success and growth. Not only should the software ease the workload but it should also be easy to use. The use of the
software can be even more accommodating when the vendor of the software guides the user through the product’s lifetime. Collection Advisor sought out some of the industry’s leading minds in collection software to ask them how collection professionals can ensure a product’s learning curve is not too steep and what they should look for in their vendor post purchase.
TONY LAMAGNA Partner of The Computer Manager What should a collection professional do to ensure collection software is easy to use and compatible with his/ her company’s skill set? First step should be to get an in-house demo to put in front of a select group of users (collectors, payment processors, collection manager, client relations) to review the related aspects of the software. What is something important a collection professional
should look for in a vendor for the postsoftware purchase presence? A knowledgeable and accessible support staff, readily available to answer questions and solve problems that may arise in all aspects of the software. Also, someone who monitors the industry and acts upon new rules and regulations that may have an effect on the use of the product.
CARL BRIGANTI President of CSS What should a collection professional do to ensure collection software is easy to use and compatible with his/ her company’s skill set? Does the software offer customization and flexibility or is most of the logic hard coded? Have the company demonstrate how their offering will handle your business processes. A complete demonstration of how to customize and automate your processes should ease all fears and answer all questions. Hard coded logic with no flexibility limits how you can change and adapt quickly to new rules and regulations and hinders maximizing your ROI. What is something important a collection professional should look for in a vendor for the post-software purchase presence? This is a great question that is hardly ever touched in the review process. .com
May/June 2017
Collection professionals need to know the relevance of the software they are purchasing. What we mean by that is – is the platform already outdated? Is the platform based on current technologies that allow for future enhancements and updates? When was the last time there was an update to the software and how often do they add enhanced features and updates? Make sure you aren’t buying stale technology that can’t evolve with a rapidly changing environment. Also are they only software experts or do they offer help from employees that have collection industry expertise? When implementing new processes it’s important that the support personnel understands collections. Trying to relate a process to a support person that only understands programming can be frustrating and time consuming. You need to move your business forward quickly with answers from an experienced collection software provider.
Continued on page 22
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Continued from page 21
LEX PATTERSON President of DAKCS Software What should a collection professional do to ensure collection software is easy to use and compatible with his/her company’s skill set? Look for the vendor partner who asks initial questions centered on your company business model. Questions specific to the type of debt being collected, the profile of clients and how agencies are servicing them, and what the regulatory risks and requirements are to prepare for your business needs. After the initial discovery, make sure to capture workflow and processes you already have in place including how new business is received, how collectors work, and how payments are handled. If you report to the credit bureaus, how you are handling disputes and legal, as well as tracking and communication of those results are key discussion points. Having your business mapped
in this manner and performing a gap analysis between where you are and where you would like to be can be helpful to identify areas that you can focus on when researching technology solutions and their compatibility. What is something important a collection professional should look for in a vendor for the post-software purchase presence? Change will happen, and business problems will present themselves. Therefore, a collection professional needs to have a business partner who is committed to listening and responding to the unique challenges your business is facing not only today, but also in the future. Making sure your vendor partner is agile and flexible in their approach, not only for the technology aspect, but also in all facets of the business is a game changer as you grow your business.
FRITZ SCHULZE Founder and Owner of Comtech Systems What should a collection professional do to ensure collection software is easy to use and compatible with his/her company’s skill set? We recommend that collection professionals purchase a collection platform that offers a wide range of automation to save valuable operator time and decision making, allowing a series of contact events to be planned at the management level, and executed either automatically or at the operator level. We also recommend that collection professionals take advantage of packaged or customized training offers from their software provider to maximize time-saving functionality built into the software. Finally, if you are not using a cloud-based solution, make sure your hardware has enough capacity to effectively run the software you have purchased. A small investment in hardware
may significantly improve software performance which translates to increased operational efficiency. What is something important a collection professional should look for in a vendor for the post-software purchase presence? The ability for any software to scale and utilize new technology as it becomes available is an important consideration. For example, additional modules that allow additional functionality for company expansion without the disruption of migrating to new software. Additionally, the availability of additional letters, reports, utilities and detailed documentation provides valuable additional resource for collection professionals.
DAN HORNUNG President and CEO of ROYDAN Enterprises What should a collection professional do to ensure collection software is easy to use and compatible with his/her company’s skill set? Understanding your agency processes and what gaps you’re trying to fill before searching for software is essential. Then take the time to look under the hood and be certain that what’s beneath the superficial look and feel of the system will actually fit your agency needs. If it takes you four additional
22
keystrokes to accomplish a particular task than it did before, will it make you more money? What is something important a collection professional should look for in a vendor for the post-software purchase presence? The software system is only part of the equation. The agency is best served when their software partner is able to listen, learn and extend their systems to support continual changes occurring in an agency’s business. May/June 2017
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CHRIS ROBERTS President and COO of Sentinel Development Solutions What should a collection professional do to ensure collection software is easy to use and compatible with his/her company’s skill set? Spend the time and effort necessary to assess the solution and be comfortable with the vendor. The two most important things to look for when assessing collection software include flexibility and design. The solution should be easy to configure so it readily supports different approaches, skill sets, and business models. This might mean a little extra configuration work in the beginning but it will be well worth it down the road. In addition, the solution should be logically designed so that the
graphical user interface (GUI) guides users in the completion of tasks. What is something important a collection professional should look for in a vendor for the post-software purchase presence? Post-purchase people should be looking for things like free and responsive levels of support (a human answering the phone every time), free and comprehensive training, good documentation, and things like good interactive learning content.
TOM MOHR CEO of Beam Software What should a collection professional do to ensure collection software is easy to use and compatible with his/her company’s skill set? Decision makers should share software documentation or user manuals with managers and collection agents. They should consider screen sharing during a vendor’s software demonstration too. It’s much easier to get end-user adoption if they’re invited to participate in the selection process.
What is something important a collection professional should look for in a vendor for the post-software purchase presence? Based on my experience, the key to any post-software purchase is service and support. The client relationship should be a mutually beneficial, long-term partnership; not a quick sale for the software vendor. Responsiveness and frequent communication are key. Even if we don’t have the issue resolved yet, we can communicate updates to the customer to better manage expectations. “Pick up the phone.” That’s what I say.
CHRIS CAMPBELL CEO of Simplicity Collection Software What should a collection professional do to ensure collection software is easy to use and compatible with his/her company’s skill set? I believe the answer to this question can be summed up in three words…flexibility, integration and customization. When selecting the right software for your business, make sure you select a software that is flexible and adaptable to the needs of your business. You shouldn’t have to change the way you do business just because you changed software platforms. The collection software platform that you select should be able to easily adapt to your specific business needs and skill sets. Likewise the successful collection software should easily integrate or be willing to integrate with current processes and vendors that you have in place and have worked hard to establish relationships with. Successful collection software should have processes already built into their system that can easily integrate with your current letter vendors, payment processors, skip tracers, credit bureaus, and other tools that you already use to make your collection business a success. If you aren’t already set up with those vendors or tools, the collection software should already have partnerships with vendors in those spaces to help you get set up easily .com
May/June 2017
and quickly. Finally, successful collection software should be customizable. Your software integration should not feel like a square peg being forced into a round hole. The collection software you select should be customizable to your needs. The vendor and software you select should be willing to adapt software processes to your specific needs and should have a level of customization that allows you to cater the software to your specific business needs. What is something important a collection professional should look for in a vendor for the post-software purchase presence? Two questions that should be asked by every collection professional are: “What is the level of customer support provided after the sale?” and “Is the vendor investing in software changes to ensure their software is customer centric and updated with an ever changing industry?”
This article is continued on www.CollectionAdvisor.com.
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SMALL OFFICE COLLECTION COMPARISON CHART GENERAL FUNCTIONALITY
Sentinel Simplicity Development Collection The Computer Solutions Software Manager
Beam Software
CSS Impact
Comtech Systems
DAKCS Software
Roydan
Customized formatting of statements
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Recommends goals and scripts for collection calls
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Partial
Automated faxing
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
Designs custom reports on operator level
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Online, real-time coaching
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Accesses vendor services automatically
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Goals feedback in real-time
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
CHUI environment
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
Secure and customizable remote Web access for debtors
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Champion-challenger tools
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Application development studio
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Integration with Crystal Reports
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
User-defined balance buckets
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User-defined payment types
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
BEAM
IMPACT! HD™ 2.0
Collect!
Beyond
Simplicity Collect
Debt$Net
Trust accounting
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User-defined collection tasks
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
BEAM
IMPACT! HD™ 2.0
Collect!
Beyond
Simplicity Collect
Debt$Net
Asset sales
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Metro2 reporting on post-charge-off
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Recovery management statistics and reports
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Repossession tracking
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bankruptcy/deceased management
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Work by accounts or people (person vs. account-centric)
Account
Both
Both
Both
Both
Both
Both
Both
PRE-CHARGE-OFF FUNCTIONALITY
BEAM
IMPACT! HD™ 2.0
Collect!
Beyond
Simplicity Collect
Debt$Net
Assigns disputes/deduction codes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Identifies and tracks problem invoices
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Coded problems separate from other receivables
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Customer and invoice-level notes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Electronically reproduces/transmits invoices
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
AGENCY FUNCTIONALITY
RECOVERY FUNCTIONALITY
Bloodhound eCollections
Bloodhound eCollections
Bloodhound eCollections
Information on this table is derived from information posted on the Internet and direct questions. The company is the ultimate source and should be contacted directly. All vendors listed also feature: GENERAL FUNCTIONALITY: Work grouped by time zone and collection stage; Sub-clients for a master client; Sub-clients consolidated with the master client to produce a consolidated statement; Related accounts across clients (or sub-clients); Related accounts viewed simultaneously; Individual clients be set up as either gross or net remittance clients; Tracks multiple internal & external contact names/numbers; Integrates with e-mail; Offers automated phone dialing; Monitors individual collector performance, multiple location and database functionality; Ability to generate an individual status report for an account (or linked accounts); Collector alerts, Userdefinable collector/user interface; User-definable client access interfaces; Built-in collection agency templates; and User-defined account matching criteria. RECOVERY FUNCTIONALITY: Pre charge-off collections and recovery; Agency/attorney management; system of record or non-system of record functionality; Standard host interface formats; and Standard agency/attorney/buyer formats.
‘
Business Directory
Analytics & Data Noble Systems Corporation Contact Center Technology noblesystems.com info@noblesystems.com 404-851-1331
The Computer Manager, Inc. Debt$Net Collection Software debtnet5.com sales@debtnet5.com 800-552-8397 Since 1987, Debt$Net collection software has provided collection agencies, law firms and in-house collection departments with one of the most comprehensive collection systems in the industry.
Simplicity Collection Software SimplicityCollect simplicitycollectionsoftware.com sales@simplicitycollect.com 866-791-0224 As an industry leader, Simplicity is the only software provider to offer a web solution with unlimited users, clients, accounts, and custom fields at an affordable price!
Sentinel Development Solutions, Inc. eCollections ecollections.com sales@ecollections.com Noble Systems Corporation is a global leader in customer 515-564-0585 communications, providing innovative premise and cloud Comtech Systems The result of 20 years of industry-leading collections/resolutions for Contact Center, Workforce Management and Collect! covery platform development, eCollections is a comprehenInteraction Analytics technologies. Credit and Debt sive enterprise collection system with flexible configuraCollection Software tion, ease-of-use, powerful payment features, workflow Collection Agencies collect.org automation, and unparalleled reporting and tracking. info@collect.org United Collection Bureau, Inc. 800-661-6722 Collection Support Services 1st and 3rd Party Collection Services Collect! combines ease of use with total integration of functions. Accounts are efficiently tracked from Corporate Advisory the time you receive them until activity is concluded Collection Software Solutions and they are closed. Collect! keeps track of critical M&A Advisory Services, information automatically. Total integration provides Beam Software Valuations, Market Intelligence for seamless and accurate month end invoices and BEAM Accounts Receivable Management statements with full account histories. corpadvisorysolutions.com Software, Beam Cell Phone Identification mlamm@corpadvisorysolutions.com Software Comtronic 215-717-8719 Debtmaster Corporate Advisory Solutions, LLC is a boutique investCDS Software debtmaster.com ment bank and we specialize in M&A Advisory Services CollectOne 800-414-2814 for the Outsourced Business Services (OBS) sector; our collectone.com The Debtmaster® Software along with our industry core focuses are in Accounts Receivable Management info@collectone.com leading Cloud-Hosted environment gives you a reliable, (ARM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), 888-816-3333 powerful, cost-effective collection solution right at your and Revenue Cycle Management (RCM). CollectOne is an award winning suite of debt colfingertips. lection solutions that provides a feature-rich set of Cornerstone automated business processes designed to minimize DAKCS Software Support costs and maximize results. Systems State Licensing Beyond.Net and E&O Insurance CODIX dakcs.com cornerstonesupport.com iMX Collection, sales@dakcs.com info@cornerstonesupport.com Legal and Recovery Solution 800-873-2527 888-445-8660 codix.us/debt_collection DAKCS Software Systems has been an industry leader Cornerstone Support is the premier licensing and insurbquinn@codix.us for over thirty years. Headquartered in Ogden, Utah, ance provider to the collection industry; professionally 404-790-0998 DAKCS provides a one stop shopping solution for a trained to assist you with all of your state licensing iMX is a complete centralized debt collection and diverse client base. DAKCS is committed to providing needs. recovery software solution. Based on the latest technolotheir customer community with all the tools they need gies, iMX Debt Collection includes all the most advanced to succeed in the ever changing VoApps business functionalities supported by native tools. ARM business, today and in the future. DirectDrop Voicemail voapps.com Collection Solutions Quantrax sales@voapps.com Software, Inc. Corporation Inc. 855-737-1596 CSS IMPACT! HD™ 2.0 RMEx VoApp’s patented DirectDrop Voicemail service delivers a cssimpact.com quantrax.com voice message directly to a consumer’s voicemail server carlb@cssimpact.com marketing@quantrax.com – without calling the phone in question. 818-593-4830 301-657-2084 CSS IMPACT! HD™ 2.0 (Enterprise), the industry’s leading ARM | Collections & Compliance Platform delivering decades Quantrax is a high-end collection technology company that has marketed and supported an intelligent collecof deep rooted industry acumen for the ARM, Collections & tion software platform for over 25 years. Compliance sectors. IXP (Lite) also available.
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‘
Business Directory Compliance
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions LexisNexis ® Accurint ® for Collections lexisnexis.com/risk/receivables-management 800-869-0751 LexisNexis Risk Solutions assist debt recovery professionals with increasing workflow efficiencies, gaining greater insight into debt portfolios, collecting more in less time and achieving greater profitability.
Compliance Calling CallEvo CallEvo callevo.com sales@callevo.com 800-478-1084 CallEvo is the only fully compliant TCPA calling platform designed and engineered specifically to address EVERY item in the TCPA. Stop Scrubbing and Start Calling!
Skip Tracing IDI Inc. idiCORE ididata.com sales@ididata.com 855-842-1410 Trusted for over a decade by collection agencies and collection attorneys. IDI provides fast, accurate and cost-effective consumer verification and skip-tracing solutions via online, API, and batch processing. Reduce Cost, Not Quality. Innovis RPC innovis.com 855-601-1915 Innovis is a leading provider of consumer identity information. The company’s RPC solution provides collection agencies with tools to improve contact and recovery rates. LexisNexis® Risk Solutions LexisNexis ® Accurint ® for Collections lexisnexis.com/risk/receivables-management 800-869-0751 LexisNexis Risk Solutions assist debt recovery professionals with increasing workflow efficiencies, gaining greater insight into debt portfolios, collecting more in less time and achieving greater profitability.
LocateSmarter Batch & Online Electronic Payments Skip Tracing Platform www.locatesmarter.com Payscout info@locatesmarter.com ns of Dollars Credit Card 888-254-5501 & Check Processing LocateSmarter is a data provider focused on innovation ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE MANAGEMENT Merchant Services and data quality. LocateSmarter offers skip tracing payscout.com products such as phone append, bankruptcy, deceased, jennifer@apsofga.com cell phone scrubs and more. 800-482-4561 Payscout provides a full range of electronic payment Melissa Data solutions, including credit, debit & HSA cards, check, Listware and ACH transactions, along with multiple software melissa.com integration web payment portals, and the from one greatoptions, payments brand. greg@melissadata.com IKEY Product Suite with the attorney endorsed Reg E 800-542-7434 Let us help your ARM company grow. pport, and more: compliance solution. Contact us at: Melissa offers solutions that empower collection profesM software support sales@payscout.com sionals with the right-party contact information for compliance advocates successful collections and account management efforts. Mail 888.689.6088 Services
egistered ISO/MSP of Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, New York, New York. Payscout Brazil is nPay. Payscout is a registered ISO with VISA EU and Mastercard Intl. Payscout is a registered PF in LAC. arate approval. Copyright © 2016 Payscout, Inc. All rights reserved.
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VeriFacts Payroll Promise verifactsinc.com sclark@verifactsinc.com 800-542-7434 Payroll Promise is designed to support a legal strategy by locating verified full time places of employment. The information returned is 100% guaranteed to be accurate.
May/June 2017 Volume 17, No. 3 Editor T. Steel Rose, CPA, ACG editor@collectionadvisor.com Managing Editor Joshua Fluegel josh@collectionadvisor.com Copy Editor Myrna Nelson Advisory Board/Columnists Fred N. Blitt Ron Brown Debra Ciskey Sam Edens Sam Eidson Nick Jarman Harry A. Strausser III Publisher Angie Rose angie@collectionadvisor.com Production Andrea Bergeron Paul andrea@collectionadvisor.com Subscription Changes Joshua Fluegel josh@collectionadvisor.com The opinions given by contributing authors are their own and not necessarily the opinion of our staff and ownership. All trademarks used are the property of their respective owner.
Collection Advisor (ISSN# 1556-0813) is produced six times a year by Abide Media, P.O. Box 92342, Southlake, TX 76092, 888-610-1144. Standard Mail postage paid at Sussex, WI 53089. ©2017 All Rights Reserved Magazine Publishing Group, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A.
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