You have seen many articles and other items on New Year’s resolutions, weight loss and how to have a great year. They typically come right at the beginning of the year and after several of these, you probably get the point. So, as we close out this first month of 2012, we thought this was a great opportunity to give you a few tips on how to get your accounts receivables back on track and lay the ground work for a profitable year.

Invoice on time and at regular intervals: Always set time aside to invoice. If you don’t have time, hire someone to do it. Send out invoices at the time of service or set a time each month or week to do it.

Follow up in a timely manner: When invoices go unpaid after a 30-day period, send a statement to that customer and place a gentle follow up call. Ask how their service was and bridge into the unpaid invoice.

Decide when to step up collection efforts: While you need to gauge this yourself, we recommend entering into some type of collection procedure after 60 days. A letter stating that the overdue account will be sent to your debt collection agency if not taken care of immediately sometimes solves the problem.

Turn your accounts over: After 60 days, it may be clear that the customer does not want to pay or is having issues. Have a third-party collection agency such as APR take over your collection efforts. It will save you staff time and in many cases, get you paid much quicker.

We look forward to helping you in 2012 and we wish you a profitable year ahead. Check out the video on our basic tips;

Since Tuesday, I have been reflecting on the company call with the 2011 results. The year has been productive and certainly the result of the staff’efforts and the ownership’s direction. Of more importance in my mind is the level of communication here.

Having been a director of several corporations I can honestly say I have never seen as much information disseminated to staff. It is refreshing and without parallel in the corporate world that I know. It provides encouragement to perform at a high level as the company recognizes staff accomplishments and sets up for another year.

I for one sincerely appreciate being a small part of the whole and readily recognize that APR is a great place to work. Thank you for that opportunity.

So I had the good fortune of attending a trade show this weekend, specifically the South Carolina Association of Heating and Cooling Contractors (SCAHACC) annual show in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.   I love having a chance to meet many of my clients face to face.  For some clients, this was our first opportunity to meet in person and it’s always great to be able to put a face to a name.  

The theme of the show was ‘Mission Possible’.  There were plenty of educational sessions (both technical and business) that were great learning opportunities.  I sat in on a technical session, accidentally (did you know there are 7000 ‘grains’ of water per pound by volume?), an economic outlook session (the economy is starting to rebound, albeit slightly) and a session on non-verbal communication hosted by body language expert Jan Hargrave (I now have the ability to tell when someone is lying and someone is telling the truth, so watch out!).  While the session on body language was informative and very entertaining, I probably got the most out of the session on customer service. 

Without going into too much detail, the session covered how customers have changed over a very short period of time, specifically how they find out about products and services.  Everyone can remember where they were on September 11th, 2001, but how did you hear about it?  Did someone tweet you?  Facebook post perhaps?  Of course not because both were not invented at the time.  Nowadays, information about virtually everything is accessible by a few mouse clicks or taps on a smartphone.  

Everyone has heard the adage that a happy customer will tell 1 person about you, an unhappy customer will tell 15.  It is more important to keep your customers happy than ever before and the session covered ways to do that.  Though the session was geared toward HVAC contractors, there were a lot of take-aways that still apply to collections and most other industries.  The presenter gave many ideas and strategies to improve customer service and I can happily say that most of the recommendations are already policies and procedures that American Profit Recovery uses! 

When most people hear ‘collections’, customer service is probably the last thing they are thinking.  It is great to work for a company that prides itself in being different and puts customer service to the forefront.  From being able to reach a live person during business hours (rather than an automated voice prompt system) to have dedicated customer support reps for each client our collection agency (in my biased opinion) is an industry leader in this area.

Talking to clients who tell me that their business is doing better, whether tremendously better or just slightly better, in-part due to our collection efforts is always great to hear.  Thank you to Leigh and the staff at the SCAHACC, I had a great time at the show and look forward to next year’s show (where I hear there will be a mechanical bull!).

We love getting out of the office and this month, we have a few great opportunities to do that and meet existing and potential customers. Two of our areas of expertise are dental and medical collections and the other is lawn care collections. We’re at Yankee Dental Congress this coming week and next week, we’ll be at New England Grows, one of the leading trade shows in the country for the green industry. The show is held from February 1-3 and we’ll be at Booth # 2311.

New England Grow gives us a huge opportunity to get in front of the many business owners we serve day in and day out. Working with lawn care and landscaping professionals is a big part of our business and something we know well. With hundreds of these businesses across the country entrusting their receivables to this collection agency, you have to wonder why.

Here’s just a few reasons why:

Countless Endorsements: We have been endorsed by some of the leading organizations in the green industry, software companies that serve these businesses, franchise groups and others. I’d say we have more endorsements than any of the other collection agencies around.

Flat fee Collections: With our flat fee system, many small businesses can now afford to utilize the services of a third party agency. Our system is not only affordable but actually saves a client time and money. And the resources they might normally use to track down late payers can now be used to service customers and look for new ones.

Experts in the industry: We have many on our team that are industry experts. They know the lawn care and landscaping business and know what it takes to get you paid and keep your customer after the collection process.

So, it’s no doubt why we spend time at New England Grows and many other trade shows that cater to lawn care and landscaping professionals. Check out the video below to find out more about what we do to keep these pros in business;

I just saw a report that consumer borrowing has surged as a sign that maybe, consumers are feeling a bit more confident. While confidence is a good thing, sometimes it can get us in trouble. There is nothing wrong with borrowing money in the right circumstances and there is certainly nothing wrong about consumer confidence.

However, now that you have seen all the morning shows take on the topic of New Year resolutions including fitness, weight loss and money, it’s time for us to bring it up again. Here’s a few tips for staying on track in 2012 and not getting into trouble with your money and too much debt.

Pay extra on your credit cards: If you’ve racked up some debt on your credit cards during the holidays, it’s time to address that. We all know whether we like to admit it or not that paying just the minimum on your cards, it will take forever to pay them off. Paying just a little over the minimum can drastically reduce the time it takes to pay them off.

Transfer balances: Many of us are getting inundated with those blank checks from our credit card companies. If you’re like me, I just shred them but if you’re having trouble, it might make sense to use them as long as you follow the rules and make future payments on time. One issue with these offers is if you fall late on just one payment, all your effort to reduce your debt can be virtually wiped out because the interest rate will jump back up.

Monitor spending: Keep track of what you spend. Monitor your food shopping, entertainment, gas and other household expenses and see if you might be overdoing it a little. Just that fact that you are looking at this on a regular basis might open you eyes to something.

Spend less: Not much to say here…You can always find something to cut out if you look hard enough. You would be surprised once you take a hard look at your monthly spending, how much you actually are spending that you were unaware of.

Take care of unexpected bills: Taking care of unexpected bills such as medical, car repair, veterinarian and others right away will help preserve your credit and help you avoid being sent to a collection agency.

I’m sure you’ve glanced by a few articles on how to beef up your finances for the New Year. As someone who has worked at collection agencies for many years, I have seen what can happen when you lose sight of your finances. Don’t let this issue take a back seat. Take time to go over the above and turn these things around.

Once again, we’re taking a few days and going to Boston for the Yankee Dental Congress. This is one of the premier dental events anywhere in the country and the largest in New England. They call it a meeting but it’s more like an industry event. YDC will be held January 25-29 at the Boston Convention and Expo Center and we’ll be at booth #1831 so be sure to stop by.

Why do we spend so much time here? That’s simple. We have earned a reputation in dental and medical collections as a company that not only get these professionals paid for their work but tries very hard to keep their patients coming back after the collection process. When we are at YDC, we hear many stories from our dental professionals about how we’ve collected their office fees, saved them time and money by allowing their staff to make the patient happy instead of tracking down late payers and kept their patient for them. Something not all collection agencies can say.

In essence, we make the collection process so much simpler for these professionals. A dentist or doctor should not be worrying about when a patient pays them. With a few internal procedures and the help of a third party like APR, we are helping these practices focus on what’s important; the patient.

When we get out of the office and spend time with these dentists and office managers we find out so much about them and what they really want so we can’t wait to get on the floor and start talking. We hope to see you there so we can tell you more about what we have to offer. (if you’re not already doing business with us…)

In the meantime, check out this short video on dental and medical collections and here what some of our customers have to say.

For the third year, our Michigan and Massachusetts offices have adopted local families for the holidays. These families give us their wish lists and we do the best we can to fulfill them. In Massachusetts, we helped a family of five – a family that the Boys and Girls Club, who we’ve worked on a number of other community projects with, matched us up with. And in Michigan, we elected to help a family of eight – a mom, a dad, and six daughters- who Volunteers of America introduced us to. Both families are great people who are going through some hard times and we’re so excited we were able to help.

Our employees have been able to donate in two ways: by paying for casual dress days or by choosing an ornament from the ‘Giving Tree’ with gift suggestions. It’s been fun to watch the contents under the tree grow over the past couple of weeks. We have everything from toys for the kids, to silverware and dishes for mom.

The holidays can be hard for any family but especially those who can’t afford gifts for their children. Our employees aren’t required to give anything but every person in our office seems to have really enjoyed helping local families! We delivered the gifts last week and it was amazing to be able to give back. As a collection agency, our work is often times serious but being able to break it up in this way is great for the community and for our team. It’s a fun way to get involved and it definitely helps everyone get into the holiday spirit.

As we close the book on 2011, we hope you had a chance to give back in some way and we look forward to an amazing 2012 full of happiness, health, prosperity and good fortune.

Check out the short video of our Adopt a Family efforts and see you in 2012!

An unfortunate sign of current economic times is foreclosure especially as we wrap up another holiday season. A once sporadic occurrence is now quite common due to the multitude of consumers affected by so many factors. Consumers faced with foreclosure may feel as though they are saddled with an irreparable financial life sentence however, there are places to turn for help and advice and ways to take back the fiscal reins of your life. As you know, we have talked about the ACA Education Foundation’s Ask Dr. Debt program; It has been particularly useful to those faced with foreclosure; the website has helped many navigate the unknown waters of the situation by answering questions related to their unique situations.

Recently a couple who lost their house in 2008 wrote to Ask Dr. Debt for advice. They were concerned about the possibility of repairing their credit so they may be in a position to buy another house sometime in the future. The best way to improve chances to be eligible for a mortgage in the future is to take steps to build your credit score today. If you have credit cards, be sure to pay at least the minimum balance each month on or before the due date. Also be sure to satisfy car loans, student loans and other loans on time each month. Pay other bills including utilities and rent on time as well. Exhibiting conscientious fiscal habits builds credit scores and increases a consumer’s chances to qualify for a mortgage in the future.

Although foreclosure is an anxious time full of uncertainty, it is good to know there are places, like askdoctordebt.com to turn for help and answers to pertinent questions.  This collection agency is proud to contribute to the ACA Education Foundation which funds the Ask Dr. Debt program. We have helped fund the foundation’s efforts in a number of ways and feel it’s an invaluable service to those struggling with these issues.

In a recent report I read I found out that nationwide, more and more businesses are taking more time to pay their own bills. We have all heard about consumers and their increasing lag time on paying bills but what we don’t hear about is businesses and their ability to meet their obligations.

This statistic is troublesome as it relates to very small businesses: “Smaller businesses with one to four employees saw the most notable change in percentage of dollars considered severely delinquent, going from 9.8 percent to 12.3 percent compared with the previous year.” Some of these smaller operations have a harder time getting capital or loans to keep them up and running. Some of these businesses end up being turned over to collection agencies and I have to believe that some of these could have been avoided.

This is a perfect example of an economic chain reaction and what could be a circle of people not paying their bills. One very important bill that we know a business needs to pay on time is their payroll. Payroll as you know is what all employees look forward to on a regular basis. It’s also what allows consumers to pay their own bills; which in turn, helps a business make payroll. See where we’re going with this?

 If you’re a business that cannot meet that obligation with cash flow, you’ll need to borrow that money and of course, pay it back when you do have cash flow. Many other expenses come with running a business that directly affect the employee such as health insurance, safe working conditions, and many others items an employer needs to pay for to take care of their staff. As business owners we know this. But does everyone appreciate this? What many either don’t understand or choose not to is that without cash flow, a business could fold and leave all their staff members without a job.

As we wrap up another year and another holiday season, it’s important to set some new goals as business owners. We need to somehow educate our customers that we rely on prompt payments to keep our employees happy; that we will be happy to work out arrangements to spread out payments if they need to; and that we truly appreciate them as a customer and will work with them to resolve any outstanding debt issues.

Today our MA team will deliver gifts to a local Marlborough family who is struggling this holiday season. This annual charity initiative which was suggested by an employee 3 years ago, is one of my favorite little projects at APR. It’s a challenge to buy for someone you don’t know … but it’s a thrill to play Santa!

Some of our MA Employees

Thanks for getting me in the spirit APR … hope this warms yours!