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Volume 63, April 2009
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In This Issue:
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Staffing a Collection Law Firm: Hiring, Training and Motivating Collectors
by William Sturm, Jr.
There is both good and bad news with the current economy. Of course, we are all aware of the bad news that is repeated to us daily by the media. The good news is that there are more talented people, then ever before, looking for jobs.
Hiring
Before we start searching, the first thing we need to decide is what talents are important to us. In my case, I look for collectors that can sell. I believe that to collect money efficiently, the collector must be persuasive in dealing with the debtor. The collector must be an efficient and encouraging salesperson, showing the debtor that it is to the debtor's benefit to pay off the debt. We also want our staff selling the idea that it is better for the debtor to pay now rather than later. On the other hand, if collectors try to dictate terms to the debtors, or are being rude or abrasive to them, collector complaints will increase, collector morale will decrease and monthly
collection totals will drop. Read the complete article, Staffing a Collection Law Firm: Hiring, Training and Motivating Collectors.
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Press Releases
IAT announces completed integration and successful use of Payment Vision® Gateway Svcs by both hosted and site-premised customers
IAT, a leading provider of communications solutions for the collection industry and related markets, announced today that integration with Payment Vision®, the popular payment gateway powered by Autoscribe Corp, is complete and is being used by clients to successfully automate payments. Interactive collection messages can include self-service payment options with real-time authorization by Payment Vision. IAT clients who contract with Payment Vision enjoy the simplicity and profitability of real-time payment verification with both hosted (CT Impact®) and site-premised (CT Center®) "Demand for Payment" dialogues. Debtors can pay by ACH, credit and debit card, completely
unattended. Payment Vision Gateway Svcs are hosted in a SAS70 Type II, PCI compliant environment and require zero IT resources to implement. The payment plug-in features a web-based administrative console which provides a real-time view to all payment activity.
Read the complete Press Release, IAT announces completed integration and successful use of Payment Vision® Gateway Svcs by both hosted and site-premised customers.
Flock Advises Employee Buyout of Plaza Associates
Flock Advisors, an M&A advisory firm specializing in the collections and business process outsourcing industries, is pleased to announce its successful leadership of the acquisition of Plaza Associates by senior management and employees.Flock led the capital raise and structuring for the purchase of 100% of the equity of Plaza Associates from the original founders. The creation of a fully leveraged Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) enabled the management team to lead the buyout financed in part through a senior credit facility from RBS Citizens, N.A.. This transaction is believed to be the first fully leveraged ESOP in the collections industry.
Read the complete Press release, Flock Advises Employee Buyout of Plaza Associates.
Executive Change: Collect America, Ltd. Names Paul A. Larkins President
Collect America, Ltd . ("Collect America" or the "Company"), a leading purchaser and servicer of charged-off receivables, announced today the appointment of Paul A. Larkins as President. In this capacity, Mr. Larkins will oversee the Company's day to day operations and strategic initiatives, working in close partnership with the Company's Chairman, CEO and Founder, Scott Lowery.
"We are very excited to have Paul join the leadership team at Collect America as we continue the growth and development of our organization," said Scott Lowery, the Company's Chairman and CEO. "Paul brings over 26 years of experience in financial services and technology businesses to our team and we welcome the addition of his leadership skills and demonstrated ability to develop multi-billion dollar enterprises. Most importantly, Paul shares my views of the importance of our franchises and employees in meeting our growth objectives."
Read the complete press release, Executive Change: Collect America, Ltd. Names Paul A. Larkins President.
New IAT feature dramatically decreases transfer time on hosted broadcast messages
IAT released IC Agent, a new hosted broadcast messaging feature designed to dramatically decrease debtor transfer time, at IAT's User Conference in New Orleans, LA, April 14 - 17th. A Utah-based dialing technology company, IAT provides both site-premised and hosted dialing solutions for the collection industry. CT Impact broadcast messaging is similar to its site-premised counterpart technology, and it is provided as an affordable dialing option for smaller collection agencies and agencies with older or small-balance accounts.
Traditional broadcast messaging transfers involve first "whispering," or repeatedly speaking through the agent's headset, caller identification such as an account number. The agent must accurately enter it in the computer before accepting the transfer. While the agent listens to the whisper and enters the account information, the debtor is waiting. This could take many seconds and may result in the debtor hanging up before the transfer can take place. Right after the debtor opts to speak to an agent, instead of a whispered message, IC Agent sends the agent a screen pop of key information. The agent accepts the call and the debtor is immediately transferred to the agent. The screen pop
interacts with the agent's collection software to drive it to the proper account.
Read the complete press release, New IAT feature dramatically decreases transfer time on hosted broadcast messages.
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