Collection & Credit Insights
July 2004
"Always sweat the small stuff"
This was one of the core principles for creating the great success story of Rudolph Giuliani as described in his book “Leadership”.
With this principle Giuliani was referring to cleaning up New York City by directing his energy at the “small stuff” that can lead to a larger inherent breakdown to a vital city. He was speaking about starting with smaller or less significant problems like removing the vagrants from the traffic intersections who forced themselves upon stopped drivers by cleaning car windshields and then demanding payment. Certainly this smaller problem often led to a much larger issue for the city such as crime.
In our world of collections “sweating the small stuff” could be described as focusing in on the personnel who work with your customers. Is your staff doing their job 100% of the time? Do they make sure information gathered is accurate and complete? Sweating the little things as Giuliani did in his administration can lead to elimination of much larger problems.
Use caution however, and logic when attempting this principle. With the average total cost to send out a bill reaching $13 as concluded from a seminar presented by Quadramed, is there any sense in insisting on repeat billing for a $20.00 balance? This is why the Credit Bureau minimum balance accepted for collection is $25. Believe it or not some businesses have billed a customer who owes only ten or twenty dollars as many as six times! Then they list the account with us to pursue.
Even the national credit reporting companies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian have minimum balance criteria for accepting to their database, as much as fifty dollars in some instances. The reasoning behind these minimum balance restrictions is very simple. The expense associated with the management of such a small balance is prohibitive. Imagine having to investigate a dispute, provide written justification of the debt and notify the bureaus of a compliance condition change to mark the file as disputed; all for a $20 balance.
Always sweat the small stuff. A great idea when looking at the efficiency and productivity of your business and unquestionably an incredibly inventive idea as described by Rudolph Giuliani. Perhaps, however, not so smart a principle when it comes to worrying about whether you bill out or try to collect on a small balance account. Keep this in mind when preparing your next batch of accounts to be listed for collection activity. $25.00 is the minimum and we will probably sweat if we see less.
Thomas Oldani
General Manager
Office Location
Ann Arbor Credit Bureau
(734) 665-6173
(800) 710-4821
Upcoming Events
Michigan Tow Rodeo
August 13 - 15, 2004
Collections Seminar
October 15, 2004
Welcome to Our New Clients
- Blue Fox, Inc.
- Lori Driver
- Livingston County 44th Circuit Court
- Dr. Gene Rohacz
- Dr. Ahmad Beydoun
- Dr. Dean Schueller
People don't care how much
you know, until they know how much you . . .
collect
Phone Numbers
Client/Sales questions
800-710-4821
Mortgage Dept
800-684-2738
Customers to pay bills
800-741-6955
Report payments
734-665-6173
High Payment of the Month
High payment honors this month again go to Jon Kramer. Jon is on a roll and collected $14,366 from a local insurance company. Way to go Jon!!!
Summer Hours:
Summer hours-effective from Memorial Day to Labor Day:
Monday-Thursday 8:30 am to 6 pm
Friday 8:30 am to 5 pm
Oct. Seminar - Just Around the corner
Just a reminder that our next collection seminar will be presented on Friday, Oct. 15, from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. For more information, please call our sales department and we will be happy to get you registered.
Americans Tightening Wallets For Summer Vacations
The average American is planning to spend 5.3 percent less this year on summer vacations. According to the annual Summer Vacation Survey conducted by Myvesta, a non-profit consumer education organization, the average summer vacation will cost $2,252 this year, down from $2,378 in 2003.
"While we have seen a slight rebound in our economy over the past few months, there hasn't been a big enough surge to give people the confidence to spend more on their summer getaways," said Pam Rhode, president of Myvesta. "People who are taking trips are looking for more value and a lower price tag."
Of those taking a vacation, 77.8 percent plan on using a credit card to pay for all or part of their trip, and 29.3 percent plan on taking three or more months to pay for their vacation charges. If the average vacation cost of $2,252 is placed on a credit card and only the minimum payment is made, it will take almost 33 years to pay off the balance and cost an additional $5,687 in interest payments. That calculation assumes an 18 percent interest rate and a monthly minimum payment of 2 percent.
Of those surveyed, 41 percent plan on taking a trip this summer, down from 48.5 percent in 2003. Approximately 53 percent of Americans said they were not taking a summer vacation while 5.4 percent are undecided.
People in the West plan to spend the most on their summer vacations with an average of $2,566. Northeast residents came in a close second with an average of $2,405. Those in the South plan on spending $2,199, and people in the Midwest plan on spending $1,802.
The Myvesta Summer Vacation Survey was conducted May 14-16 in a random telephone survey of 1000 adult Americans. ACA International—June 2004
Pre-Collect Glory Story
Wonder if pre-collect is a service you should be using? One of our clients is very happy they used the service this month, as the initial $2.70 pre-collect fee net them a payment in full of $6800.00. That’s a savings of $2261.70 in contingency fees. For more information on our pre-collect services please call myself or Carol and we can help you decide if it is a service you should be looking at.
Debbie Hundersmarck / Client Consultant
Make Sure You Visit!!
Please join us for the annual Michigan Towing Association “Tow Show & Rodeo” at the Plaza Valley Resort, 5221 Bay City Rd., Midland, MI on August 13-15, 2004. But do not expect to see any cows, horses or sheep as the beauties at this show are the tow trucks themselves. They come in many different shapes and sizes and strut their stuff across the blacktop as proud as any prize heifer.
It is a wonderful family event with activities for all ages. (My favorite is where the husbands are blindfolded in the truck and the wives are telling them “where to go”!!!)
We will be there as an exhibitor and will be assisting in various activities throughout the weekend. Please visit our booth as we would like to thank all of our clients and make sure they know we appreciate their business.
Debbie Hundersmarck
Client Consultant
|
