March 2001

Listings By Numbers - 1,2,3

Recently one of our clients contacted me and explained he had just sent several new business batches to us.  You see, they needed collection activity performed on a whole bunch of accounts that were aged considerably and they were “cleaning house”.  During the conversation this particular client admitted, to my dismay, that he had sent one batch of new business accounts to another collection agency.  EEE-GHAD! I thought.

Now, of course we know we’re not the only agency out there that would be happy to receive work, but I was surprised to hear it from this particular client.  They have been a long time, very satisfied partner.   I was surprised because we had developed and grown into a wonderful working relationship, like 20 year dance partners grow together and learn to anticipate their counterpart’s thoughts and moves as if they’ve become one unit.   I was even more taken aback by his reason.  He continued confessing that he had sent the accounts to another agency because he was concerned we would be overwhelmed with the volume.  OVERWHELMED?  Now, in his defense, he certainly had no idea how much new business we can handle.  So, I’m thinking it is time to educate some of our faithful.

Did you know?

The American Collector Association (ACA) estimates nearly 400 million accounts will be listed with collection agencies this year.  In 1999 our agency alone received over 98,000 new business accounts from our clients.  In 2000, that number surpassed 100,000 accounts.  In just January of this year our new business listings exceeded 15,000 accounts.  Our staff and support personnel work to recover over twenty percent of the annual listings - far exceeding national averages.  That number computes into millions of dollars being returned to our clients every year.  With annual listings exceeding thirty million dollars we have the ability to deal with a very large volume of accounts.  Keep in mind our technology-based strategies have been perfected over the last 77 years to provide our clients with the highest return on each dollar listed.

Hopefully this will help you put your listings into perspective in comparison to all of our clients.  By the way, that client that admitted he sent a batch to another agency … Well, it turned out the number of accounts for the batch in question was less than one percent of our monthly listings.  So if you ever wonder if your listings might overwhelm us here at the Credit Bureau, keep in mind these numbers and remember that every ounce of our efforts are dedicated and focused to returning the most of your money.  That’s a promise!

Tom Oldani
General Manager

Tax Time!

It’s that time of year again, when the snow is blowing, people are bustling about, bells are ringing . . . sorry, that was last year.  I meant the IRS is calling.  Yes, it is tax time again.

As my grandpa used to say, “You only have to do two things in your life: pay taxes and die.”  Well, he grew up in an era where everyone did pay their taxes, without all the loopholes, because it was the right thing to do for the country they loved—and they didn’t have C-SPAN.

Now tax time means various things to various people.  For some it is a dreaded time of year trying to find enough money to pay the toll.  For others it is Christmas in April because they are getting a refund.  These are the ones we are interested in—and you should be, too!

Remember, with the new E-File, people are getting their refunds earlier and earlier.  Businesses have until January 31 to forward the necessary filing documents to individuals, but once that individual gets their forms it may be too late.  They are running off to H & R Block or doing TurboTax to get that refund—and they can get it in days.

Why all the tax detail?  Because this is the time you should be stepping up your collection activity.  Not at year end because the books are closing—they are going to spend it on Christmas, not your bill.

Make those extra calls or create a special letter that advises them that they still have an outstanding bill with you.  Appeal to their need to resolve their bill and then spend the extra money on themselves.

Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease—if you aren’t calling, someone else is.  Funny that the tax collector always gets her money!

Tina Walther
Client Sales Consultant

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Ann Arbor Credit Bureau, Inc.
311 N. Main   Ann Arbor, Michigan   48104
800.710.4821     734.665.6173
info@a2cb.com