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!

We were recently endorsed by the Vermont Veterinary Medical Association (VVMA). We have been working with many in this field for several years and we have developed a great reputation among those professionals in the veterinary industry.

We also have been endorsed in the past by others including the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association and the Maine Veterinary Medical Association. I believe it’s because we know how to care for not only the clients that hire us but their customers as well. Not all visits to an animal doctor are planned or go well and we understand this. And we take great care to make sure we are treating these customers with respect.

As others in the medical profession, they want their collection agency to care for their patient or customer and try hard to keep them as a patient. Most practices when they hire an agency to help them with their medical collections want these tasks performed diplomatically.

As these organizations have also indicated to us, they like our flat fee collections system as well. This allows them to pay a flat fee for each account and in the end, they keep more of their total invoice amount. If we have to call their clients, they know we’ll be respectful of their situation and do our best to keep their pet as their patient.

We recently took time out to speak with our own Andy Robinson about why so many veterinary practices trust us to handle their collections. Take a look.

As I was reading this Blog for personal motivation (because every one of my girlfriends seems to be posting it on Facebook recently) I realized that many of the tips included COULD easily be translated to messages for those of you facing expensive holiday bills or unpaid debts:

“#2 – Don’t run from your problems” …  if a collection agency is calling you CALL THEM BACK.  Figure out how to resolve these issues – they won’t just go away. Seek help from available free resources like Ask Doctor Debt.

“#9 – Stop trying to buy happiness” …. yes those new shoes would look great this Christmas and make you feel good for a day but how much less stress will you feel after that unplanned medical expense is paid off. 

#17 – Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself” … if a bill is unpaid, you accrued that debt, correct?  You and you alone chose to hire that lawn care company … to go with the expensive new hardwood floors vs the ones you knew you could afford … to overdraw on your checking account.  Take responsibility – complaining and self-pity are not going to clear up that bill. (this could easily go with #26 as well!)

“#22 – Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments” … maybe you could start with the smallest bill you owe – pay that off and check one of the list. Simply call your original creditor and try and work out a payment arrangement – even in little amounts. Small accomplishments add up to really big and beautiful things and may continue to give you that sense of accomplishment you need to keep moving ahead.

I seek motivation – from my friends, my family, my coworkers – to help me make the right decisions, bring a smile to my face when I feel down, remind me of the good that is in me. We all have weak moments and we each have personal issues – whether financial or medical or just very personal – but it’s how we handle them that defines our character and our future.

What 30 things can you stop doing now to have a better 2012? I challenge each of you to take a hard look inside to figure that out.

We often get inquires as to how to handle late and non-paying customers during the holiday season. Many businesses make the mistake of halting all collection efforts during this time of the year for fear of causing even more tension between the business and client. And as a collection agency, we see this more often than not. While it’s great that the business is trying to keep that customer, it’s not a good idea to stop communication.

If you stop communicating with the client who owes you money, they may get the impression that you have gone away or given up on securing payment. And while that may sound strange, many people can rationalize this when they are struggling. A few quick tips to get you through managing accounts receivable during the holidays;

Stay cordial: We always advocate staying diplomatic in your efforts. Never raise your voice and try to instill a little holiday spirit in your communications. Wishing your customer a great holiday season just might help in your efforts.

Stay on course: Just because it’s the holidays, don’t let that get in the way of business as usual. Don’t skip out on regular invoices because it’s getting close to Christmas. We have always taught you to try and preserve that customer relationship but not sending a regular invoice or statement only pushes your payment out even further.

I did a short video with our own Matt Moskowitz about handling collections during the holidays. Take a look for even more advice:

“The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Our Veterans have given the ultimate sacrifice … their time; their commitment; their lives. It is only fitting that we do what we can to thank them and to give back.

Every day our Collectors are calling on men and women who cannot pay their bills, and as Jeff DiMatteo mentioned in his Fox News interview, the worst thing a consumer can do is not openly communicate to find resolution to their unpaid bills. There are services out there for those who need help; ARMing Heroes being one.

As a collection agency who prides ourselves on being different, this November our employees and our company pledged funds to help Veterans pay their overdue bills and get the help they need after serving our country – protecting those of us who now call them for resolution. We donated money and we donated warm clothing to a local MI VFW. For each coat donated, APR ponied up $1 to go towards ARMing Heroes. We collected over 100 winter clothing items and donated over $275 total to this cause.

It was our honor to give back in this small way and we hope that this money not only helps Veterans get back on their feet but helps the small businesses they owed money to stay in business during these tough economic times. Collections is not a glamorous business – but there are good agencies out there and great organizations that can help those who need help. We are proud to have partnered with one this Veterans Day.

We’ve tallied up all our sales and donations from family, friends and vendors and we are proud to say that we have raised over $12,000 for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks we took part in this fall. But we are not done being charitable this year as you’ll read in a moment.

How did we do it you might ask? Well, we did it in a number of ways and many people helped and donated. First, the ownership of this collection agency donated five percent of all our sales for the month of October. So whether you were an existing customer renewing your accounts or a new one, you helped us.

Our employees took part in a number of efforts to raise money. They took part in our annual employee week which not only celebrate their contributions to this company but also gives them an opportunity to raise some dollar internally while having a bit of fun. With games and prize and a chance to have their fellow employee wear a clown costume for the day, we all had a few laughs while raising this money.

We are now on to our next big effort which is our Adopt a Family program. We have been doing this for a few years now and it gives our team a chance to help a family in need near our offices. We have been introduced to a couple worthy families near our Marlborough, MA office and Farmington Hills, MI.

We are already out gathering all sorts of gifts for these families so they can enjoy the holidays like everyone else. We’ve also set up giving trees to help our team decide what they can purchase these families and for every $5 they spend, they get a casual dress day.

Thank you to all the helped with our Making Strides efforts and check back soon for photos of our Adopt a Family shopping!

One of my favorite days here at APR … the day I get to put our giving tree up! 

For the third year in a row, both our MA and MI offices have adopted families to deliver Christmas to.  These families ask for basic needs such as clothing and food and some fun wants for the kids!!  We know many could use help this holiday season but this is just one small way this collection agency and their employees give back.

Hope this puts you in the spirit … I know it did wonders for mine!