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Nick Papeo: Keeping the Dream Alive

April 7, 2016 by angishields

Capital Club Radio

Nick Papeo: Keeping the Dream Alive

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Mr. Nicholas Papeo is the founder and CEO of several companies comprising the Financial Debt Recovery Limited (FDR) group of companies. FDR has evolved from a third party collection agency into one of Canada’s larger accounts receivable management and debt buying organizations. To date FDR has received over one billion dollars in assignments, created specialized recovery programs for governments and represented Fortune 500 clients throughout North America. Additionally, FDR has acquired approximately one billion dollars of charged-off private label credit card, bank credit card and loan debts.

Here is a glimpse of what Nick shared in the interview.

The dream was started in 1992 with 2 people counting myself. Sales calls were made in the morning and collection calls in the afternoon. I knew there was a voided space for collections in the Canadian market. Today, 25 years later, the dream is alive with over 200 people in the company.

We built this company on sweat equity and taking risks. In 1995 we were a contingency collections agency. We worked hard and provided our customers with a quality product, but we knew that if we wanted to get more return for our work we would have to change. We took a risk and became one of the first debt buyers in Canada.

To keep the dream alive, the focus was on attracting the best people or “company ambassadors” who understood how to protect the brand of our customers. These “ambassadors” were rewarded and recognized for helping us create a culture focused on determination, hard work, and skill level.

Today’s metrics for collectors and debt buyers are different than when we got started. Twenty years ago it was about building a strong relationship with your customer. Today, it is about protecting their brand and the use of a score card on how you look after their brand.

All markets are challenging. We work in an imperfect space and to level the playing field is a challenge. To be worthy in the customer’s eyes requires understanding their brand, out of the box thinking and creating a strategy. If we do this right, we keep the dream alive.

About Capital Club Radio

Hosted by Michael Flock, Chairman & CEO of FLOCK Specialty Finance, Capital Club Radio provides a forum for leaders in the middle market segment which has typically been underserved by traditional banking.

Capital Club Radio provides listeners an opportunity to gain valuable business insights and perspectives to deal with market uncertainty. Topics will include: key success factors, both personal and professional, dealing with adversity, outlook for the industry and your business.

The show airs live periodically on Business RadioX and is sponsored by FLOCK Specialty Finance

Jim Richards: A Builder of Businesses and a Rebuilder of the Collection Industry

March 8, 2016 by angishields

Capital Club Radio

Jim Richards: A Builder of Businesses and a Rebuilder of the Collection Industry

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Jim Richards is the current President of the Association of Credit and Collection professionals (ACA). He is the co-founder and board chairman of Capio Partners, one of the leading healthcare debt buyers in the U.S., and previously held key executive roles with significant industry leaders including GC Services, Medaphis, and Attention, LLC, a start-up that eventually became West Asset Management.

Jim has just recently launched a new organization, the Institute of Collection Leadership (ICL), an assembly of the larger agencies, asset buyers and law firms. Jim’s primary goal for the ICL is to use the “time, talent and treasure” of these large organizations to find new and meaningful ways to influence and change the perceptions on how the industry is viewed.

Here is a glimpse of what Jim shared in the interview.

Today’s regulatory environment is much more information driven. It is essential for the industry to get its hands around “real validated data” and be able to specifically measure the changes. It will take specific, supportable data as evidence of changes to truly affect the broader perception of the collection industry.

I’m talking about changing the reputation of the industry. Years ago, having a negative perception of a collection company was probably not so bad. It helped people pay their bills. They were concerned about being in collections but the world has changed.

At GC Services we coined the term “Early Out” back in 1981. At that time we weren’t being paid commensurate with the results we got on “In House” accounts and we were under the purview of the client. So when challenged by their sales department to continue working those accounts, , we said, ‘No, if you want those early accounts worked, you’re going to have to take them out and work them in our shop, so we can manage them ourselves, and voila, “Early Out”. Later we sold American Express on their first ‘Early Out’, then GE.

You’ve got to care for people. It’s all about people. Whether it’s your clients, your employees or your shareholders. You have to keep those three groups happy. But probably what drives me is that I get a kick of doing things that are difficult or other people haven’t done.

About Capital Club Radio

The show airs live periodically on Business RadioX and is sponsored by FLOCK Specialty Finance

Trish Baxter: A Profile in Grit and Grace

February 25, 2016 by angishields

Capital Club Radio

Trish Baxter: A Profile in Grit and Grace

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Trish Baxter currently serves as Compliance Officer for Recovery Management Systems Corporation, a bankruptcy debt purchaser and servicer. Trish also represents clients in the ARM Industry regarding regulatory compliance and litigation matters.

Her prior industry roles include: General Counsel for Collins Financial Services in Austin, Texas, and as General Counsel for Unifund in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In addition to serving in the Debt Buyer Association as the new President and Chair of the Ethics Committee, Trish volunteers with CASA of Travis County in Austin, Texas as guardian ad litem for children in the child welfare system. She is also a stage-four cancer survivor.

Here is a glimpse of what Trish shared in the interview.

“In challenging times there are always competing interests with various constituencies inside organizations. To manage and balance these interests one must offer all individuals dignity and respect. This is accomplished by listening to what they believe. This keeps communication lines open to deal with the various interests.

“To compete in today’s regulated environment, each company first has to make the decision if they want to play in a regulated environment. You cannot do business where you cannot make the compliance commitment. You have to understand the compliance risks and make a decision about the costs.

“As a cancer survivor, I learned that you do not control the future, but you have control of your choices. When adversity arrives, you have to be an advocate for yourself. You have to understand the choices, consider the risks, then have the courage to make the decisions and take the actions.”

About Capital Club Radio

The show airs live periodically on Business RadioX and is sponsored by FLOCK Specialty Finance.

Past Debt Buyer Association Presidents in Vegas: From Gunslinger Culture to a Consumer Friendly Culture.

February 16, 2016 by angishields

Capital Club Radio

Past Debt Buyer Association Presidents in Vegas: From Gunslinger Culture to a Consumer Friendly Culture.

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At the recent DBA International convention in Las Vegas, Capital Club Radio’s Michael Flock interviewed five past DBA International presidents whose administrations spanned the 19 years of the association’s existence: Walt Collins, Bob Morris, Mike Cushing, Mike Bendickson and Rich Munroe.

The following is a glimpse of the key topics discussed.

DBA was created to give creditors and government regulators confidence that the debt buying industry had credibility and quality. As an industry association, DBA would create the ethical standards and best practices that would assure creditors that they were not dealing with “gunslingers”.

According to the past presidents, DBA was founded on the spirit of revolutionizing the collections industry. Debt buyers had a different belief about how to collect than collection agencies. Debt buyers took a more consumer friendly approach because they had more motivation and patience to work with the consumer to find solutions. Collection agencies needed to get payments in 3-6 months. Debt buyers have a longer period of time to help the consumer with options that would enable them to recover and get back into the credit cycle.

From its beginning through today, DBA has seen its purpose as the provider of best practices to demonstrate to creditors, regulators, funders and debt buyers that there are proven behavioral and procedural standards and that the industry is self-regulated. In the beginning, these practices were the cornerstone for creating the industry. Today, through the certification program, DBA has demonstrated that debt buyers can provide an effective collections solution in a regulated consumer centric world.

Over the years, one of the key strengths of DBA has been its culture. This culture has been created by the shared values of seeing the debtor as a consumer and encouraging competitors to work as a team. The collaboration of various members has encouraged the creation of recovery solutions for the industry, while also developing new skill sets for debt buyers to deal with the ever- changing industry challenges.

About Capital Club Radio

The show airs live periodically on Business RadioX and is sponsored by FLOCK Specialty Finance.