So, next week is National Customer Service Week and we are really jazzed up here at this collection agency. For those of you who may be reading this blog for the first time and are thinking the words collection agency and customer service don’t go together, you are very misinformed; at least when it comes to American Profit Recovery.

We were founded on many guiding principles and one was customer service. The four partners including myself have spent many years in the collection industry and were not always a fan of how some in this industry prioritized customer service. Aside from ethics and morals guiding us and our desire for our team members to share our work ethic, one of the many things that set us apart is our customer service.

When a business finally decides they need help from a third-party collection agency, they need to be treated properly as sometimes this is a big step for a business. We understand this and go to great lengths to offer superior customer service.

We can’t offer great customer service without a great team so we’ll be highlighting some of our team members who go the distance everyday to make our clients feel comfortable with our services and solve those occasional problems that arise in the course of business.

Everyone says they have great customer service and many do. But many just say it because they are somehow programmed to say it without backing it up. This company backs it up and when you see and meet some of our customer service professionals, you’ll agree we make this a priority.

This past summer when many were at the beach reading a book and working on their tans, American Profit Recovery employees were diligently fundraising to contribute to our ‘Summer Charities of Choice’ initiative. Since we opened our doors in 2004, this collection agency has been an ardent supporter of charitable events and programs in the communities where we have offices; Michigan, Massachusetts and North Carolina. This past summer, we worked with team members to raise money for causes they nominated which have personal significance. The internal endeavor encouraged employees to pay for casual dress days, participate in raffles and other money generating activities. At the end of the summer, APR employees raised over $1400 which went toward funding 12 charities they picked.

After fundraising efforts were complete, APR donated $100 to the following organizations: American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Brain Tumor Foundation (nominated by two employees), Good Samaritan Hospital Emergency Room Fund, Greyhound Friends, Junior League of Boston, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (nominated by two employees), Michigan Walk n’ Roll for ALS, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, Muscular Dystrophy Association (nominated by two employees), Noah’s Lost Ark and the Ronald McDonald House. The additional $200 raised remains in a fund to donate toward additional charities APR employees participate in throughout the year.

I want you to take a quick look at the video below and consider helping us out with our next effort; Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. We’ll be walking in three cities and could really use your donation or some extra feet on that day to join our team. We have almost 90 walkers from all three offices.

So as many of you may know, this collection agency has a number of offices around the country. I am located in our Marlborough Massachusetts office. We have a great and dedicated team here and I truly enjoy coming to work every day. What I also enjoy is getting on a plane and visiting our other offices. (Ok, I lied; I don’t like the plane part…)

Anyway… I had a chance to spend most of last week in our Michigan office catching up with my other business partners and the entire staff and I have to say, I had a blast. Spending time with this team just solidifies what I already know; we have one of the best teams in the collection business and any business for that matter. A truly dedicated team that shares many values including an intense work ethic, morals and a focus on making sure we all do business in an ethical manner. I think I can speak for most here at APR that we all sleep well at night because we do the right thing and we operate with a real sense of integrity. We don’t leave a path of destruction behind us.

Aside from our meetings we set up and some video production we scheduled, we also took time to kick back and have a pot luck lunch at the office and hit our favorite watering hole to do a little team building. And heck, everyone showed up on time the next day…Go figure.

A great time was had by all during my visits and I can’t tell you how good it was to spend some time with the great team. Which made sitting on the tarmac for three hours when I left, so worth it…

In the coming months, you’ll get the chance to meet more of this dedicated team as we have filmed many interviews with our staff. We didn’t tell them what to say and we didn’t produce slick corporate style bios. We just talked. We talked about why they come to work every day, why they do what they do and even why they work at a collection agency. Their thoughts may surprise you. As they say, stay tuned…

When your child goes off to college, they are due to experience many firsts. Most teens will be living away from home for the first time. Learning how to do laundry, cleaning up after themselves and cooking meals will become exciting experiences for your young son or daughter along with additional, new responsibilities. Most will also embark on managing their finances, budgeting, paying bills and getting their first credit card. Teaching your child how to use the proper amount of laundry soap is important but discussing the importance of paying bills on time is crucial. At this collection agency we have seen the pitfalls of college students getting in over their heads financially, accruing overwhelming debt early in life. We have also witnessed the success of college students who have had some financial guidance from their parents. 

Freshman year in college is tremendous, to say the least. The differences in independence and responsibility from high school to college life are vast.  It may be easy for your son or daughter to become distracted with classes, studying and a busy social life. However, with a bit of advice and help from their parents, college students can learn to be responsible, pay bills on time and stay out of debt. As a parent, you can explain to your child how their credit score is taken into account when making larger purchases, like a home, in the future. Understanding the ‘big picture’ regarding their credit and how irresponsible behavior now will count against them in the future can deter many young consumers from taking on too much debt. Also discussing the importance of paying bills on time and setting up a ‘system’ is a wise thing to do. Help your child set up on-line payments, a payment calendar or another system to remind them when to pay bills to provide them with the proper tools.

Every child is different, so keep working with your son or daughter to find what works best for them. Although your child may have new-found independence, you are still the parent so patience and persistence do apply. At the risk of being a nag, check up on your kids for the first few months to ensure they are on track with their finances. Take your child to the bank to assist them in opening an account for their summer job money and work with them to establish the most effective way to distribute their funds over the course of their academic year; whether it is to pay for books, saved for emergencies or for social activities.

With your guidance and by setting a good example, you can get your college student on the road to a good credit and a solid financial future. And relax. They’re out of the house for a few years…

This month 5% of proceeds from all sales will be donated to the American Cancer Society for Making Strides against Breast Cancer.  This is our 3rd year participating in these walks and the 2nd year American Profit Recovery has pledged to donate this additional money.

“I’m so excited about this month,” one of our Outside Sales Reps shared with me this morning.  “This is just one more reason for clients and prospects to want to do business with this collection agency.”

A new client emailed and shared her thoughts:  “Here are the executed forms to get jumpstarted. I’m glad that a percentage of the fees will go toward fighting breast cancer. My wife had that last year.”

We do this walk for selfish reasons really … we have family members of  employees within our company affected by this disease; there are no minimum fundraising requirements so all employees are more apt to walk and support this cause without a financial burden; and the American Cancer Society organizes these walks in the 3 cities our 3 main offices are in making it easier to get everyone involved across borders.

There are a million great charities we could choose to support and we try to touch a range throughout the year.  In doing so we hope that we find causes that mean a lot to a variety of you for your own “selfish” reasons. 

If this is a cause you want to support and you’re ready to reorder or ready to become a client – do so now!  You can contribute just by purchasing and know that 5% of your purchase is helping those affected by Breast Cancer “Celebrate more Birthdays.”  Want to do more?  You can join us and walk or donate on your own by visiting:  http://www.americanprofit.net/events-upcoming.htm

Check back in October for fundraising totals and pictures!