Acronym City!

By Dave Rudd | Published: December 28, 2011

Recently, I was sitting next to our new ACA International CEO, Patrick Morris, and I asked him how he was adjusting to our industry and the new job. He said something similar to this, “I’m learning a lot each and every day. There is so much to learn, but I’m having fun.”

So much to learn? You can say that again!

Welcome to “Acronym City!” I’ve used this term to describe our office many times during the past 20+ years. At IAT (nice acronym, huh!), we seem to find every way possible to create and use new acronyms. The collection industry as a whole is no different. We seem to have the propensity to acronym our way into a whole new language.

For fun, try reading this acronym list out loud without taking a breath:

COO, MSAE, PADD, EFT, ACH, AR, PPMS, DBA, ACA, NARCA, IAT, CT, IVR, ASP, ARM, KPMG, UCLA, LLC, FCRA,CDS, PLLC, ROI, PDF, CM, TM, PCI, PCI DSS, CFPB, FCC, FTC, TCPA, HIPAA, HITEC, HITECH, e-OSCAR, ACDV, FACS, CMMI, ISO, GLBA, PMI, SOP, CSS, ADAD, CRA, FCRA, GDP, CPI, FAX, COM, MAP, ARS, CFS, IFCCE, SQL, IP, CCAE, ESQ, MCE, CCAE, CCCE, PTA, NACS, CAC and CEO. Read More »

Posted in Industry News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

3 Secrets to Collection Success

By Jeryl Smith | Published: December 27, 2011

Location, location, location – the 3 most important things in real estate. Have you heard this? If not, you’ve probably never bought a home. That is the first thing out of a realtor’s mouth. What you really want is a cozy family room, a big kitchen, a large master bedroom with separate walk-in-closets, new carpet, a super theater room, etc. All the realtor wants you to focus on is where the darn house is located and what the relative property values are; and, of course, the highest purchase price you can possibly afford (or not) to increase their commission.

If you could list the 3 secrets of collections success it would be Contacts, Contacts, Contacts.

How can you increase your contacts? How can you get those darn agents to make more calls and talk to more accounts? How can you show more contact attempts to your clients to prove you’re working their accounts hard enough?

Well, you could require your agents to work 15 hours a day. You could eliminate all bathroom, smoking, lunch, and personal cell phone breaks. That would go over really well, wouldn’t it? Read More »

Posted in Predictive Dialer | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to juggle like a clown

By Mark Namba | Published: December 20, 2011

Managing a debt collection operation is like running a 3 ring circus for a Ringmaster. How would you handle all those lions, elephants and tightrope-walkers? Well, what I’d do is hire a lot of clowns to run each ring. Obviously, I am kidding. My circus would be as clown-free as possible. And certainly no clowns named Jack living in unpredictable square boxes. They really scare me!

Don’t be fooled by that crazy hair and big nose; clowns are opportunists. Not only are they great jugglers, they understand their surroundings, their audience and their boundaries and use this to their advantage when trying to get a big laugh from you. You don’t need to be a clown to be an opportunist. You just have to be organized and smart and know how to meet your company’s contacting/collection goals while still following the law.

Also knowing how to juggle definitely wouldn’t hurt.

Juggling multiple phone numbers is the KEY to increasing right party contacts.
Most accounts will have more than one phone number attached to it and some will have many numbers. The more phone numbers you can contact in an account, the more likely you’ll reach a right party and collect the debt, right?

Keeping track of all those phone numbers could be an onerous task if done by hand. Quite frankly, I’d much rather have a migraine headache then tackle such a convoluted list. However, it’s essential to run through the entire list of numbers to increase your right party contact percentage. Read More »

Posted in Debt Collection | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Advice from the sidelines: How to win the game of collecting

By Paul Lowry | Published: December 16, 2011

Have you ever asked yourself, am I using my agents effectively? Here is some advice that you may receive from some agency managers:

“Put agents on the dialer at 8:00 a.m. They can have a 5 minute potty break at 10:00 a.m. and lunch break from noon to 1:00 p.m. Then get them back on the dialer with a 5 minute potty break at 3:00 p.m. and send them home at 5:00 p.m. Tell them ‘I want to hear you talking and collecting money. I do not want to see you otherwise.’ Repeat the next day. This is the best way to utilize an agent.”

No doubt that some agencies probably operate this way, but it is not very effective. This would be like a basketball coach randomly picking 5 guys from the bench and saying “Just get out there and make baskets! I don’t want to see you until the final buzzer!” without any position assignment or guidance. While they may score some points, they will likely lose the game. Read More »

Posted in Debt Collection | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Feinting Can Be a Good Thing

By Ray Fowler | Published: December 13, 2011

In any type of sporting event, the participant or team is going to be looking for a competitive advantage. For example, a pitcher will throw fast balls, curves and change-ups to confuse the batter. A fly fisherman will try a Woolley-Bugger one time and a nymph the next. The participants will feint one way and go the other in an attempt to throw the competition off balance and gain that precious advantage.

A friend of mine is a pretty good basketball player. He is particularly good at baiting the competition (me) into thinking they have the opportunity to steal the ball. He has a knack for holding the ball in such a way, and for just the right amount of time, in a position that you can’t help but think the opportunity is ripe to steal it. However, as soon as a move is made to steal the ball, he’s off in the other direction. Unfortunately, I’ve fallen for it way too many times.

How many times could my friend win the game if all he did was hold the ball in the same way every time he had possession? In all likelihood, every possession would result in the ball being stolen and the competition heading the other way. Read More »

Posted in IVR Messaging | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

  • Experiencing the Benefits of SmartDial

    Experiencing the Benefits of SmartDial®

  • Our team is here to make you look really good in the black

    The IAT Team

  • "We are grateful for the opportunity to work with the IAT team and pursue such a high level of technology. We continually strive to provide our clients with products that improve their productivity and profitability, and our experience is that CT Center has proven to satisfy even the toughest critics in the same manner.”

    Gary Grout, Vice President and Senior Systems Analyst
    The Computer Manager (Debt$Net)