Technology Solutions Alone Won't Help Grow Your ARM Business

Dave Rudd

As a co-owner of IAT SmartDial, technology is not only my job, but my passion. Naturally, I’m enthused with productivity-enhancing technology such as predictive dialers, broadcast messaging tools, hosted services, etc. When properly implemented, these tools will boost your agency’s productivity.

That being said, I recognize that while technology automation is a key to collection success, it is not the only key. While I could list numerous factors, today I’m going to focus on one: Business Relationships.

Business Relationships are the key. I’ve learned through personal experience that the relationships forged or destroyed in business will either increase your success or kill it. We need to find ways to cultivate and build our business relationships in such a way that they naturally grow our organizations.

• Employees: I recognize there are exceptions to the rule, but I believe most people will gravitate towards and work harder for an organization with a positive environment. Treat your employees fairly, honestly and with integrity, and they will treat your customers in like manner. Provide an appropriate working environment and your team will work their hardest to hit their goals and make the entire group successful.

• Customers/Clients: Your customers are the life-blood of your organization. Without them your business is dead. Enough said.

• Vendor Partners: Choosing the right vendor with whom to partner is absolutely critical. You should find vendors who have similar values and work ethics as your organization. Your vendor must support their products AND you in the difficult times, which will come in one way or another. If your vendor partner is fighting you along your path to success, your progress will stall.

• Banks/Financial Institutions: All of us are dependent upon a financial institution in one way or another. If you ignore them or hide information from them—especially negative information—then your banker will lose trust in you and your organization. You won’t last long without cooperation from your bank. I suggest you make friends with the branch manager. Invite them to your office for a visit. Bank officials are not necessarily the enemy; they can help your business.

From a very personal and selfish point of view, I want every one of you to be IAT’s business partner and to purchase a dialer or use hosted dialing services (that would certainly help my business to soar!).  BUT if your business relationships aren’t currently contributing to your success, then perhaps you should resolve those issues first before you invest in technology solutions.

Dave Rudd is DialerFan, a champion of the collection industry, focused on improving collection capabilities through technology and political action. He energetically participates in lobbying efforts for the industry through donations, writing letters, making phone calls, participating in seminars and attending events in Washington D.C., including the most recent ACA International Fly-In.

Well acquainted with debt collection, Dave spent two years debt collecting before joining IAT in 1990. He has held a variety of positions at IAT — a provider of collection-specific dialing technology — including President/CEO and most recently Senior VP of Finance & Administration.