The American Repossessor

A couple of famous people and visionaries from many years ago, the names you may recognize ‘nut-shelled’ this in a few words -

George Washington (1731-1799) said….” Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation.  It is better to be alone than in bad company….”

Henry Ford (1863-1947) said….”Quality is doing it right when no-one is watching….”

So why is it taking us so long to get it?

I recently wrote an article for TowPartners’ Advisor magazine, that talks about Quality and what that means to our industry, or not as the case may be.

For us at www.theamericanrepossessor.com and ConnecTGo, Inc.  we see our future wrapped up in            QUALITY, which goes  hand-in-hand with PROFESSIONALISM.  Because we are so dedicated and committed to this, some time ago, we had began a long and  arduous journey to obtain an international certification, that is independently accredited and  is recognized worldwide – in 162 countries to be exact, including the United States!

The word QUALITY equates to Excellence, Superiority, Value  – these are just a few words that describe what many companies strive to be – a claim that many can make, but few live up to.

Unfortunately the repossession/recovery industry is not known by that word and is often unfairly described as unprofessional, and lacking in quality services. That is not the case as so many repossession companies do offer quality professional repossession services, contrary to what ‘outsiders’ may see or believe.

As a company that works within the repossession/recovery industry, my company ConnecTGo, Inc. is proud to announce that it  is now an independently accredited ISO 9001:2008 certified company and all the services it provides, which includes training at all levels within repossession companies, ranging from Field Agents, to office staff to senior management, consulting and advisory services that help companies to develop and grow profitably plus others, and as part of the company, they have the ISO 9001:2008 tag attached to it and that also includes www.theamericanrepossessor.com.

To my knowledge, it is the first of its kind within our industry and has raised the barrier of being the primary company that is independently accredited by an external international quality standard organization.  The services it brings to you are second-to-none and it has set the pace that many will not be able to compete with.

What is ISO 9001?  It is a family of standards for quality management systems maintained by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and is  Quality Assurance administered by independent accreditation and certification bodies.

What does this mean to the repossession/recovery industry? ConnecTGo, Inc.  and www.theamericanrepossessor.com strive to help our industry become more professional and qualitative so that the Financial Institutions will recognize those repossession companies that struggle to stand out from the repossession companies that do not represent our industry in a professional manner.

Having quality management systems in place, enables us to transfer not only our services to our clients, but they expand into our industry, helping their companies too, to become more professional.

ConnecTGo, Inc’s expertise and knowledge has helped recently to enable one of our clients to implement many of the business functions have been put into practice during the development and growth of a client repossession company on their original ‘home turf’.  The company already covers an entire State and during the last 6 months we have been planning to expand into a neighboring State.

Why did we decide to do this?  Not only did we carry out our market research of the new territory to see who the competition were etc.,  but we talked to the company’s clients too and once they knew that the company was expanding into another State, they jumped right on board with us!

Why was this? Our clients had experienced a professional and qualitative service in our ‘home territory’ as we had gained their trust over the years and were enthusiastic for us to provide repossession services in our expansion area.  Of course, this would not have happened if repossession companies in the ‘new State’ were actually providing their clients with the service that they wanted.  How so many repossession companies under-estimate the value of providing their clients with the services that THEY need and not the services that the repossession company want to provide.

Remember this principle: 20% of your customers bring in 80% of your revenue.  In a downturn, clients are likely to go with a trusted source. If you constantly build relationships with your existing clients, more power to you.  If not, it’s time to rejuvenate those clients.  Stay in touch and let them know that you are interested in working with them.  I advise clients to consider themselves an extension of their client companies and market themselves that way as this will not only improve their relationship with them, but gaining their trust will ensure their continuous working relationship with them.

In this instance, when we informed the  client companies of our plans, they supported us every step of the way and even asked us if we were preparing to move into other States too.  That in itself says a great deal about the service they were/are NOT getting from many repossession companies.  In fact, one client asked if we were going to go nationwide, and stated that if we were, they would give us all their business!  Imagine that.

It is because of the competition’s lack of provision that it opened up the opportunity for us to move into their geographic coverage area.  And we did get that feedback from our clients and this encouraged us to move forward with our expansion plans.

There are many things that my client repossession company does that most other repossession companies do not.  The FAST program which is provided by ConnecTGo, Inc is a program that provides a full management, training and supervisory service specifically designed to increase and maintain the Field Agent’s performance in, not only repossessing, but repossessing successfully.  Added to that is the UP service, that provides centralized updating service that increases the delivery time to the client.  These are two of several key elements that this repossession company have as a ‘competitive advantage’ and is an ‘added value’ service that has enabled their repossession rate increased by over 400% in the two years ConnecTGo, Inc. have been working with them. Needless to say, their income level too has more than doubled, and their profitability continues to grow too.

These services not only meet their client requirements, they go above and beyond their expectations, to the point of increasing existing accounts threefold.

Who says you can’t expand in recessional times?

Because of the quality and professional work we have been doing, and the introduction of many new processes/procedures/policies, recently one of our Fortune 500 companies implemented one of our policies Statewide that all repossession companies had to follow.

QUALITY in all that we do is what our clients need to see from us and we can achieve this through professional and qualitative means.  There are many company owners out there that have worked hard to elevate their companies over and above their competitors and through quality, professional and pro-active hard work, they strive to continually achieve this.

This should be a never-ending action that we take on an on-going basis as these are the companies that will lead our industry into being recognized as a             QUALITY, PROFESSIONAL, EDUCATED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE industry – a recognition that many of us cannot wait to see happen!

This leads me nicely into the 2010 North American Repossessors Summit in March 2010 and the coming together of every repossession company owner in the United States.  We can only move forward and make the changes that so many of us crave for, if we speak with one voice. Of course, we will not agree on everything, but at least we can find common ground to agree on some things and there lies the beginning!

The Summit is about the future and what we can expect.  Our clients drive us and our industry, plus our company development and growth, and the provision of services that THEY need. And if you think any different, the only person you are fooling is yourself!

Theme: The Future of the Recovery Industry: 2010 and Beyond.

This is our opportunity to begin moving forward to stepping on a ‘level playing field’ with ourclients.  So what are you waiting for?  Log onto www.reposummit.com and register now!

Susan A L Marston, MBA

CEO

ConnecTGo, Inc.