What Every Staffing and Recruiting Firm Should Know

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There’s a lot of talk about the recession lately, and if you’ve only been in the business for less than a decade, it’s definitely getting a tad scary.

In today’s Monday episode, Wilson shares some advice to ease your mind, so make sure to tune in.

Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the hiring and recruitment sector, has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection company during the past 30 years. Adams, Evens, & Ross is the unchallenged leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia serving over 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations. All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting.

Dealing with Adams, Evens & Ross has several advantages, one of which is that we do not have to learn how to recover your past-due staffing and recruitment debt. Our secret is our people. We are one of the few collection agencies with a staff of in-house attorneys in addition to seasoned collectors, asset sleuths, and top-notch support employees. There is no question as to why Adams, Evens & Ross is the only collecting company in the world to have the support of 10 recruiting and staffing trade publications, 14 associations, and 5 financing corporations.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email that is sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue

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Bankruptcy may sound like the end all be all, but don’t fret.

There is a legal way out. Let Wilson walk you through how debt consolidation and settlement work for today’s episode.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email that is sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below. https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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The truth about payment systems and methods, in general, is that it comes with risks.

What risk exactly? Wilson discusses it all in this episode.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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We’ve been in the business of helping recruiters, and staffing companies collect missed placement fees due to backdoor hiring.

You can say we’ve heard it all—every excuses out there—but these three take the cake for the worst reasons delinquent clients may use to cover up their backdoor hiring.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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If you ever get into a backdoor hiring situation, you’ll hear clients draw up excuses that support why they did what they did. And sometimes, these reasons may even be legitimate.

For today’s Monday Morning Memo, Wilson clues you in on what these excuses might be.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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At this point, you’re already familiar with backdoor hiring and how it hurts your business, right? But why did it happen? Why did you get a back door hire?

Wilson and Samantha cover three loopholes you might have missed. So, watch out for these!

Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the hiring and recruitment sector, has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection company during the past 30 years. Adams, Evens, & Ross is the unchallenged leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia serving more than 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations. All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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Are you a staffing or recruiting firm? First, there’s something you need to know.

In today’s episode, Wilson and Samantha talk about the three states you must be mindful of when operating such a business.

Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the hiring and recruitment sector, has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection company during the past 30 years. Adams, Evens, & Ross is the unchallenged leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia serving more than 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations. All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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You know one thing that’s even worse than your prospective candidate not getting selected by your client? When they get backdoor hired.

What is backdoor hiring, and why does it hurt you and your business more? Let Wilson and Samantha explain in today’s episode.

Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the hiring and recruitment sector, has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection company during the past 30 years. Adams, Evens, & Ross is the unchallenged leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia serving more than 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations. All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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Are you using a funding company? If yes, you might want to tune in.

In today’s memo, Wilson and Samantha discuss why you’re still “on the hook” if you’re using a funding company.

Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the hiring and recruitment sector, has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection company during the past 30 years. Adams, Evens, & Ross is the unchallenged leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia serving more than 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations. All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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There’s a lot coming and going in the collections world—stories you might want to share and questions you might like to ask.

So, the floor’s all yours! For today’s episode, Wilson and Samantha invite you, our dearest audience, to ask whatever burning question you might have from a collection standpoint.

Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the hiring and recruitment sector, has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection company during the past 30 years. Adams, Evens, & Ross is the unchallenged leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia serving more than 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations. All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email that is sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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Knowing the company you're offering this generous offer to is very important when you offer credit. It can make or break your business.

For today's episode, Wilson and Samantha walk us through the process of background checking, so you're sure your debtor is a corporation in good standing.

Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the hiring and recruitment sector, has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection company during the past 30 years. Adams, Evens, & Ross is the unchallenged leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia serving more than 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations. All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email that is sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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In the three decades of helping staffing and recruiting agencies to recoup their overdue placement fees, it’s safe to say we’ve heard most excuses.

For today’s episode, Wilson and Samantha discuss one of the most used: the recruiter did not do anything. Tune in to learn more about the justifications delinquent clients may use not to pay you.

Over the past 30 years, Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the staffing and recruitment industry, has developed into the world's largest credit and collection organization. With offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia, Adams, Evens, & Ross is the undisputed leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting industry, serving over 3500 staffing and recruiting businesses. Collecting past-due debts for hiring and compelling is the only thing we do.

One benefit of working with Adams, Evens & Ross is that we do not have to learn how to get back your past-due staffing and recruitment debt. Our team is our best-kept secret. In addition to seasoned debt collectors, asset sleuths, and top-notch support staff, we are one of the few collection companies with in-house attorneys on staff. The reason Adams, Evens & Ross is the only collection agency in the world with the backing of 10 staffing and recruiting trade publications, 14 associations, and 5 financing companies is beyond dispute.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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Medical Balance is High Specialized Funding

The medical industry was undoubtedly our greatest hero as we grappled with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. But for staffing and recruiting firms who help provide facilities with healthcare staff, there's one bottleneck: difficulty in collecting placement fees.

For today's episode, join Wilson and Samantha as they discuss common excuses clients in the healthcare industry may pull when paying placement fees.

Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the hiring and recruitment sector, has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection company during the past 30 years. Adams, Evens, & Ross is the unchallenged leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia serving more than 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations. All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email that is sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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A timesheet is precisely what it sounds like—a sheet detailing time. For staffing firms, timesheets may record the hours a staff is in or worked on a particular project. Whatever way it records time, the staffing industry agrees timesheets are important.

But why? For today’s episode, Wilson and Samantha discuss why completing these timesheets is essential for your business.

Adams, Evens & Ross, which only collects debts for the hiring and recruitment sector, has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection company during the past 30 years. Adams, Evens, & Ross is the unchallenged leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices in the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia serving more than 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations. All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email that is sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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Like a small ripple that can build to an impossible current, missing out on the tiniest details can cost you. And when we say tiny, we mean it. Typographical errors, missing signatures, or failure to send a copy to the other party can all be honest mistakes, but they may pose a problem moving forward.

In this episode, Wilson and Samantha recount a particular case that demonstrates the importance of checking (double and triple even) every agreement to ensure you close all loopholes.

Adams, Evens & Ross has grown to be the world's largest credit and collection agency that only collects debts for the hiring and recruiting sector during the past 30 years.

Adams, Evens, & Ross is the undeniable leader in credit and collection for the staffing and recruiting sector, with offices across the US, Canada, the UK, and Asia, serving more than 3500 staffing and recruiting organizations.

All we do is collect past-due debts for hiring and recruiting. Dealing with Adams, Evens & Ross has several advantages, one of which is that we do not have to learn how to collect your past-due staffing and recruitment debt.

Our secret is our people. We are one of the few collection agencies with a staff of in-house attorneys in addition to seasoned collectors, asset sleuths, and top-notch support employees.

There is no question as to why Adams, Evens & Ross is the only collecting agency in the world to have the support of 10 recruiting and staffing trade publications, 14 associations, and 5 funding firms.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below:

https://www.staffingdebt.com/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email that is sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below:

https://www.aeremail.com/consult33188836

To receive a free copy of our book, click the link below:

https://www.backdoorhire.com/freebook/

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When it comes to the staffing and recruiting industry, we keep our ear to the ground. Here is great news for any recruiter located in the midwest. In this episode, Wilson and Sam break down the new ruling that is benefiting midwestern recruiters.

Over the last 30 years Adams, Evens, & Ross has become the largest credit and collection firm in the world that collects exclusively for the staffing and recruiting industry. With offices located in the US, Canada, UK, and Asia servicing more than 3500 staffing and recruiting firms, Adams, Evens, & Ross is the undisputed credit and collection leader for the staffing and recruiting industry. All we do is collect a past-due recruiting debt and past-due staffing debt.

One of the many benefits of dealing with Adams, Evens, & Ross is we do not have to learn how to collect your past-due staffing and recruiting debt. Our people are our secret. We are one of the few collection firms large enough to have Staff Attorneys on staff along with Seasoned Collectors, Asset investigators, and World-class Support Staff. There is no doubt why Adams, Evens & Ross is the only collection firm in the world that is endorsed by 5 funding companies, 14 associations, and 10 recruiting and staffing trade magazines.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below:

https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, a weekly email that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click below:

https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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The proverbial 40-year plan, where people work for the same company for 40 years and retire to a gold watch, is extinct. The gold watch days are over. Instead, employees jump from opportunity to opportunity looking for the best option. This is known as "The Great Resignation"

What does this mean for recruiters?

Wilson and Samantha talk about how this affects the Staffing and Recruiting Industry. Over the last 30 years Adams, Evens, & Ross has become the largest credit and collection firm in the world that collects exclusively for the staffing and recruiting industry.

With offices located in the US, Canada, UK, and Asia, servicing more than 3500 staffing and recruiting firms, Adams, Evens, & Ross is the undisputed credit and collection leader for the staffing and recruiting industry.

All we do is collect a past-due recruiting debt and past-due staffing debt. One of the many benefits of dealing with Adams, Evens, & Ross is we do not have to learn how to collect your past due staffing and recruiting debt.

Our people are our secret. We are one of the few collection firms large enough to have Staff Attorneys on staff along with Seasoned Collectors, Asset investigators, and World-class Support Staff.

There is no doubt why Adams, Evens & Ross is the only collection firm in the world that is endorsed by 5 funding companies, 14 associations, and 10 recruiting and staffing trade magazines.

To turn over a past-due account, click the link below:

https://www.staffingdebt.com/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email that is sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below:

https://www.aeremail.com/consult33188836

To receive a free copy of our book, click the link below:

https://www.backdoorhire.com/freebook/

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Recruiting and Staffing: What to Expect from a Debt Collection Agency

In this episode, Wilson and Samantha talk about what to expect when an account is turned over for collections. They will give you a realistic overview of the collections process. Samantha digs deep and pulls back the curtain on the legal side.

Servicing more than 3500 staffing and recruiting firms, Adams, Evens, & Ross is the undisputed credit and collection leader for the staffing and recruiting industry.

Our people are our secret. We are one of the few collection firms large enough to have Staff Attorneys on staff along with Seasoned Collectors, Asset investigators, and World-class Support Staff.

There is no doubt why Adams, Evens & Ross is the only collection firm in the world that is endorsed by 5 funding companies, 14 associations, and 10 recruiting and staffing trade magazines.

To turn over a past due account, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-ac...

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert Email, an email that is sent out weekly that identifies the companies that have not paid other staffing and recruiting firms, click the link below.

https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert...

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click the link below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-3...

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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Monday Morning Memo | Avoid Shades of Gray In Your Recruiting Contract

Recruiters will sometimes attempt to include some marketing into their contracts. This is a terrible idea, a contract is your safeguard against non-paying clients, and it's no place for marketing.

In this Monday Morning Memo, we will be talking about some things we HATE seeing in our client's contracts. We’re going to go over words and phrases to avoid at all costs. We suggest you go over your own agreement to look for these "shades-of-gray makers". If you find any, you should consult with your attorney immediately.

Gray Areas and Trying to Get the Deal Done

When you try to get the deal done with a client, gray areas can be a significant headache for you. For example, if you were to say, “We will present you with a quality candidate” then you may have just created a gray zone for your deal. We understand that you’re trying to do it to sell the client; however, it can cause several problems.

Final Thoughts

A contract is one of the best tools that you have available to prevent client-related problems. Selling and marketing should be done long before sending the contract and not in the contract.

Key Takeaways

● Recruiters, sometimes, to sell a client, will say things that will paint them into a corner.
● Suggestive or qualifying words can create an uphill battle for you when you have to collect
● Recruiters can save themselves a lot of anguish and a lot of problems if they avoid these words and phrases
● Being straightforward and using cut and dried language in your contracts is the best practice

Our people are our secret. We are one of the few collection firms large enough to have Staff Attorneys on staff along with Seasoned Collectors, Asset investigators, and World-class Support Staff.

There is no doubt why Adams, Evens & Ross is the only collection firm in the world that is endorsed by 5 funding companies, 14 associations, and 10 recruiting and staffing trade magazines.

To turn over a past due account, click below: https://www.staffingdebt.com/place-account/

To subscribe to our FREE Credit Alert click below: https://www.aeremail.com/credit-alert-signup-form

To book an appointment to discuss your specific collection issue, click below:
https://www.staffingdebt.com/book-a-30-minute-free-consultation/

Call us at 800-452-5287 Ext 6578 to discuss your collection issue.

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To get a deal done, recruiters will sometimes say ridiculous things in emails and in person and not get a contract signed. This is a terrible idea as a signed contract is your safeguard against non-paying clients. However, there may be a few things you aren’t accounting for that might catch you off guard. So, in this Monday Morning Memo, we will be going over why recruiters want to get a signed contract versus creating a contract and a few situations that you might encounter. We’re going to go over hypotheticals here so you can relate to the situations we’re trying to describe

Hypothetical Situations You Might Encounter

A Client Doesn’t Want to Pay You.

If a client tells you that they won’t pay you, then you need to stop talking. If you end up saying, “fine, if you don’t feel like you owe me, then you don’t owe me a dime,” then you’re making a fool of yourself. You’ve just given your client something they can use in a court of law.

Grey Areas and Trying to Get the Deal Done

When you try to get the deal done with a client, grey areas can be a significant headache for you. For example, if you were to hypothetically say, “Hey, if we don’t present anyone that you don’t like, then you don’t owe us anything,” then you may have just created a grey zone for your deal. We understand that you’re trying to do it for risk reversal; however, it can cause several problems.

The “Reasonable Person Standard” in Courts

You’re going to encounter a problem that once you say something in the grey area, it turns into a different scenario in court. It goes into this reasonable person standard since you’re starting to use these feeling words. Some examples include “if you don’t feel” and “if you don’t like.” The court then creates this fictional person called the “reasonable person.” Once this happens, it becomes an uphill battle for you that could have been avoided.

Are There Alternatives to a Signed Contract?

There are a few ways that you can still collect even without a contract. For example, you can use email correspondence as a pseudo contract. It can be considered a meeting of the minds in that type of situation. However, an email pseudo contract doesn’t let you go after attorney fees, prevents you from getting anything more than statutory interest and things along those lines. So it is still a much better idea to get a signed contract as opposed to a pseudo contract.

Final Thoughts

A contract is one of the best tools that you have available to prevent client-related problems. There are certainly available alternatives, but none will be as good as an effective contract.

Key Takeaways

● Recruiters, sometimes, to get a deal done, will say incredibly stupid things in an email and not get a contract signed before they start.

● Using feeling words can create an uphill battle for you when you have to collect

● Recruiters can save themselves a lot of anguish and a lot of problems if they get a contract signed

● Get a contract signed before sending over candidates because it will become much harder to get one signed after. It’s like a prenup, it’s easier to get one signed before you walk down the aisle compared to when you’re married

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We’ve been talking with our engineering clients, and a vast majority of them have been complaining that their clients are paying them slowly. However, the main reason this happens is that you’ve trained them to pay you slowly. So in this Monday Morning Memo, Wilson and Samantha Cole will tackle how an engineering firm can speed up their cash flow.

Three Things That Engineering Firms Can Do To Speed Up Cash Flow

Speeding up your cash flow might seem like a complicated task. However, there are three key ways that you can quickly get it done.

Get Rid of Net 30-Day Terms, 50-Day Terms, and Anything Similar In Your Invoice.

Some engineering firms will have a big issue with their invoice, where some of them will have 30-day terms, 50-day terms, or something similar. Usually, you have to add an additional 15 days to these terms, which further extends the time limit that your clients have when it comes to paying you. A great alternative to these terms is to start putting in a set date on your invoices.

As they’re inputting it in their system, it will show that specific date on their records, and it will show up as past due when they pull up the reports. Once they start having these records pulled, they will arrange the dates as they come in. This will cut in half, on average, the number of days that you have outstanding invoices.

Get a Personal Guarantee Where Applicable

An issue that your company may run into is that one of your clients that owes you will go out of business. This is a problem because you may not be able to collect the debt. One way to ensure that you get paid regardless of what happens to a company is to get a personal guarantee.

Personal guarantees transfer liability of the debt to the individual who signed it if the company were to go under. It not only protects you from a client’s bankruptcy, but it also pushes you up the food chain because of how they are now personally responsible for the debt.

Create a Sequence of Collection Letters or Postcards

One of the things that will get your debtor to pay you is to remind them that they are behind. A great way to do this is to have a sequence of collection letters of postcards that you can attach to statements of account. Each letter will remind them that they’re behind and show them you know they’re behind. It creates a sense of urgency with each letter that they receive.

Key Takeaways

● The reason why clients pay you too slow is that you’ve trained them to pay you slowly.

● If you want to speed up your cash flow, put a specific date on it

● If they personally guarantee it, chances are that you’re going to get paid first.

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Credit risk is an issue that many types of firms will have to deal with regularly. These credit risks threaten your business’s stability, so you need to know how to deal with them. Engineering firms are especially at risk if they are betting on that one big job or large contract.

In today’s Monday Morning Memo, Wilson and Samantha Cole go over a few things that engineering firms need to do to minimize their credit risk.

How Engineering Firms Can Reduce Their Credit Risk

Minimizing credit risk is a challenge that can have a significant impact on your business based on how you handle it. You can effectively reduce your credit risk and consider it a minor nuisance, or you mismanage your credit risk, and you’re put into a situation that puts your business on the line. So to prevent that from happening, you need to reduce your credit risk the right way.

Pull Credit on a Company

A great way to make sure that you minimize the risk involved when it comes to working with someone is to pull credit on them. It shows you if they have any pending liens and lawsuits. It also shows you how they’re paying their bills. Credit reports ensure that you know how they’re paying their other creditors so you can make a decision based on that.

Get The Credit Application Signed

You also can’t properly set credit lines until you get three trade references and a bank on an old fashioned credit application. Getting these signed lets you know how many figures they have in their bank and if they can pay you back in the future.

Get a Signed Contract

You cannot believe how much a signed contract can save you the hassle of dealing with credit risks. Without a signed contract, you can’t charge late fees, attorneys fees, and interest. Word of mouth can be a very unreliable way to set up agreements between two companies, and signed contracts provide a reliable method for you to defend yourself in court.

Speed Up Your Invoices

One thing that can help you reduce your credit risk is to speed up your invoices. Stop putting 30, 15, 10 days on your invoices. Instead, you should put a definite date on it, so they are aware of the deadline. When these companies get into your invoices and start recording them, they will put in the date into their database, and by nature, that speeds up your cash flow.

Create a Sequential Letter Series

Another great tool that you can use to reduce credit risk is to have a sequential letter series ready. These sequential letters let your client know that they are behind on their payments and

to let them know that you know that they’re behind on their payments. That puts them on guard and makes them more likely to pay you back as soon as possible.

Key Takeaways

● You need to understand that the individual who owns the company doesn’t owe the debt. It’s the business or company that owes it. So if the business were to shut down, then the owner opened up another company; it’s kind of a legal way to steal.

● You can’t properly set credit lines until you get three trade references and a bank on an old fashioned credit application.

● That credit application can give you a neat way to set up more safeguards

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The legal process is one of the parts of collecting the legal fees that you’re owed, and you have to deal with the paperwork associated with it. However, many clients get irritated by how we ask for the same documents repeatedly. So in this week’s Monday Morning Memo, we’re here to clarify why we ask you to supply the same supporting documentation through the legal process.

Why We Ask For The Same Supporting Documentation Throughout The Legal Process

Having to deal with sending the same supporting documentation repeatedly can be annoying for many clients. However, there are several reasons why we request you to do this. It is mainly to ensure that your case is solid as the legal process moves along.

We Make Sure Everything Matches

When we ask you to send the same supporting documentation, it isn’t because we are disorganized. Instead, we are doing everything to make sure that the contents of all the documentation match. A mismatch in any of these documents could shift the tide to your debtor.

A Litigation Raises The Stakes

Collections without a lawsuit have a low bar of difficulty that you and the collections company you hired have to deal with. However, once a case goes legal, and litigation happens, the bar is raised significantly. What might hold for a simple collection may not hold when you now have to do a legal battle. New information may be learned during the lawsuit, which can either help or hinder your case against your debtor as well, so your documents must be bulletproof.

What You May Have Not Needed Before May Be Needed Now

It would be best if you took note of when you’re going through the legal process because the rules and regulations will change from state to state. For example, if you’ve been with us before and you didn’t need specific documentation in Ohio, it might be required when you start a case in California. You have to adhere to a different set of rules and a different format than what you had to deal with in Ohio.

The Courts Have Not Caught Up To Current Technology

Technology is an excellent tool for the legal system to use. However, what stands out is that the courts have not caught up to current technology. For example, you print a new copy of a digital invoice. That invoice is not considered the original. The original is what the other party has. The rules still follow when you had to fill out three-page receipts with two carbon copies and the original.

Key Takeaways

● The legal system can be frustrating because of how often you have to deal with redundancies.

● Attorneys’ fees and interests are solely at the judge’s discretion. Even if it is in your contract, it does not matter if a judge doesn’t think it matters.

● The bar in collections is relatively low. But once it goes legal, that bar goes up significantly, and what may be true in collections may not be true in legal or new information is learned during the lawsuit.

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You can feel COVID-19’s impact across the nation. Businesses are forced to close, entire cities put into quarantine, and necessities being harder to get are just some of its effects. But did you know that COVID-19 has also affected your business contracts?

Why You Should Never Allow COVID-19 to Be Used As An Excuse Not To Pay You

We’re four to five months into this pandemic. We’ve mentioned how the pandemic will cause a downturn or recession, which has been the case so far. Many businesses that have started struggling are now using COVID-19 as an excuse. You should never allow your debtors to use it as an excuse for not paying your fees.

They Were Never Planning To Pay You In The First Place

A client who owes you a fee from January or earlier means that they were never planning to pay you in the first place. They are simply using COVID-19 as one of the reasons to pay you later or not at all.

Be Very Careful When Dealing With Debtors

It would be best if you always were very careful when dealing with debtors. They might be able to void your contract from under your nose if you aren’t. One example is if they say, “hey can we pay X and pay the rest later”. They will start turning this into “hey can you modify this section of the contract”. The minute they start rewriting these terms, you end up punching holes into your contract until it is no longer valid.

What Could You Do To Minimize The Impact of The Pandemic on Your Business?

The most valuable asset you have right now during the pandemic is time. Over the last few months, the government has been providing ways for businesses to stay afloat. Eventually, the money they received from the government will dry up. You need to move quickly and turn up the heat on your debtors. Otherwise, you might not be able to collect your fees.

Work With Your Debtors

The pandemic has called a large number of businesses to struggle. Your clients could be one of those struggling. However, if they’ve been making the right payments over the last few months around April or May, try to work with them. Offer them the benefit of the doubt and offer extended payment plans or something similar.

Have Us Pull a Credit Report For You

Some businesses can be a problem before you even start working with them. A great way to identify them is to pull a credit report on them. Credit reports give you the information you need

to decide whether someone will be an issue to collect from or not. Utilize us or not; you have to do something to prevent any problems during an already challenging time.

What to Do If Your Clients Are Asking You To Cancel The Contract

One of the more common occurrences during these tough times is your clients asking to cancel the contract. Feel free to accept the “termination” of the contract but never the “voiding” of the contract. Wording matters here as the termination of a contract protects you while voiding it removes every safeguard you have in that contract. Voiding a contract means that it never existed in the first place.

Key Takeaways

● You need to move quickly and turn up the heat. Whatever cash they had is going to start drying up, and a credit will be much tougher to get moving forward.

● If your debtor didn’t pay you yet, that just means that you weren’t a high enough priority for them when they had the cash.

● Letting your client constantly rewrite your contract's terms means that you’re punching holes into your contract until it isn’t valid anymore.

● It’s like politics. If you say it, it has its own life

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Job-specific contracts may seem like a great advantage to have. It is a great way to organize the contracts that you have. However, it might not be great if you have to collect your fees for several reasons. This concern is especially true for staffing and recruiting companies. You might be surprised that job-specific contracts are never a good idea in the staffing and recruiting industry as you can corner yourself and have a much harder time to collect your fees.

Why Job Specific Contracts Are Not Good For Collection Issues

Job-specific contracts can be a significant concern for staffing companies because of how you can corner yourself when you have to collect. We’ve had a client where they used a job-specific contract, and it was a miracle that we managed to collect a 50% settlement for them. So we’re going to explore the main reason job-specific contracts are a significant concern for you and why you shouldn’t use them.

Multi-Skilled Individuals Could Be a Concern

The big problem you could run into when you have a job-specific contract is if your candidate has more skills than hiring them out for. The vast majority of job-specific contracts don’t have any protection regarding a candidate being hired for any position other than the job-specific contract. If they are hired for any position other than what’s in the contract, then you might have a difficult time collecting your fee. You might not even be able to collect your fee because the courts throw out the case as it is unenforceable.

Check Your Contracts For Any Mistakes Before Using a Job Specific Contract

If you’re intent on making use of a job-specific contract, you must double-check the contract’s contents. You cannot imagine just how many copy and pasted contracts we’ve seen where one paragraph tells a different story from the next, and courts throw the case out because it’s unenforceable. You end up losing the court case before it even starts.

Wilson’s all-time favorite example of this is a case where the party that was responsible for all disputes was the Better Business Bureau. In their contract, our client gave authority to someone who has no authority so they could not sue. It was at the sole discretion of the Better Business Bureau, which made their contract unenforceable.

Key Takeaways

● If it takes our client 2 or 3 years to find a backdoor hire, guess what? Stats of limitation says you no longer have a debt.

● The clock really starts when you find out about it. We’ve seen it go both ways.

● Know what you’re putting in your contract.

● This is one of the times where it’s better to be a generalist than a specialist. Don’t make it job-specific.

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Preparation is essential in the staffing and recruiting business. If you’re caught unprepared, then you might end up in trouble. Clients going out of business is one of these problems that you’re going to have to face. Luckily for you, there are always warning signs. The third warning sign that a client is going out of business is your wakeup call, and you need to be prepared for it.

What You Need To Know About The Third Warning Sign

The third warning sign is when you start realizing that you might have a significant problem on your hands. It is usually when a client is 60 to 90 days overdue. They’ve made promises and a few phone calls or have gone completely silent. You must know everything to know about this warning sign to increase your chances of a successful collection.

You Have Limited Time

Once clients are 60 to 90 days overdue, you have a limited window to collect what they owe. They still can pay you, but with each passing day, they start to lose the ability to do so slowly. Their credit lines are drying up, and you’re not the only creditor that they owe. The worst part is that staffing and recruiting businesses are 3rd tier debt, which means that you’re at the bottom of the priority list.

Credit Card Payments Are Risky

Getting paid through a credit card is not an ideal solution for collecting a debt. Visa and MasterCard are not your friends when it comes to collecting. Credit card money is one of the riskiest methods of getting paid because credit card companies can shift the bill over to you and reverse the payment.

Lawsuits Will Take An Extended Period

One of your options to collect payment from your debtor is to have your attorney file a lawsuit against them. It can be an effective way of collecting. However, it can take a long time before the case can get to a judge. Usually, it takes 9 to 12 months to get through the system into a judge’s hands. However, with COVID having a profound effect on the court systems, you could be waiting over three years before it reaches a judge.

Final Thoughts

Being prepared for a hurricane is essential to keep your home or business from taking any damage. The same can be said of clients that are going out of business. Like an incoming hurricane, there are several warning signs before you get into trouble. The third warning sign that a client is in trouble is comparable to a category 3 hurricane. You must be prepared for it; otherwise, you might find yourself in trouble.

Key Takeaways

Visa and Mastercard are not your friend. If they are reversing that charge, they are probably behind on these payments. They can shift that bill over to you and reverse the payment when they get into trouble.
“I have a credit card and I’m safe” that is about the riskiest money you can accept. I’ll tell you how risky it is: we will not take a credit card payment on ANY debt.
I cannot tell you how many times we have had clients damage their case at the 120 day mark. Use use, don’t us, I just don’t want you to do anything that will damage your case.
When clients go over 90 to 120 days, understand that you have just opened this Pandora’s box of possibilities and you’ve got a 71% chance of getting paid at 90 days and a 21% at 12 months without having to sue them

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Due to today's unstable economic climate, one thing you can expect is that your business may struggle. Many reasons can cause these problems, but the end is almost always the same. Either your business survives to see another day, or you don't. This is why you should take every advantage you can get. One of these is the Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

What The Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loans Can Do For You

Personal Guarantees and Security Interests Have Been Waived

Personal guarantees can be a significant issue for business owners. If your business goes bankrupt and you signed a personal guarantee for a loan, you are still liable to pay for the loan despite the business no longer existing. In essence, you are a co-signer to your business in that situation. However, personal guarantees and security interests used in the Economic Injury Disaster Loan are now completely waived thanks to an act of congress.

Think about that. The government is removing the personal guarantee part of a $200,000 loan. This means that if you do go out of business, and you still haven't paid back the loan. The government can't file a lien on any of your personal belongings.

All Idle Loans Like the EIDLs Are 30 Year Payouts

One of the most significant issues with getting an SBA loan for most people is that you do not have enough time to pay it back. This can be a cause for concern if you're taking a regular SBA loan. A regular SBA loan will need you to pay within 7 to 10 years, depending on the loan. However, idle loans like the Economic Injury Disaster Loan can be paid within 30 years. That's 3 times as long as a standard loan.

It Can Go Through at Lightning Speed at a Miniscule Interest Rate

When you get a regular loan from the SBA, you typically have to go through a dozen hoops to get the loan. The interest rates for most standard SBA loans also reach up to 8%. This is not the case for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan as we've had clients who have taken this loan, and the process has gone at lightning speed. The interest rates are also more than half the standard at 3.75%

Key Takeaways

● When people think SBA loans, they think, "oh my god, it's going to be a pain, it's going to take four months, and it's death by a thousand cuts. Not true with these idle ones.

● If they weren't waiving the personal guarantees, it would still be a great deal. But the fact that they're waiving the personal guarantees is just amazing.

● Never in the history of business has small businesses been in a position to borrow those sums of money with those kinds of terms

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When a business is at risk, there will always be five warning signs. However, the third warning sign can be a real tipping point. This situation is when an account is 60 to 90 days past due. It is critical, and speed is of the essence if you want to collect your owed fees.

What You Should Know About The Third Warning Sign

Seeing the third warning sign is a significant cause for concern for collecting from a company. However, if you’re not convinced of the urgency of the situation, we urge you to keep reading so you have an idea of what you can expect if you let the account stand idle for a little while longer.

You, Will, Start Seeing A Dramatic Difficulty Increase When It Comes to Collecting from a Client Who is Displaying the Third Warning Sign

The third warning sign typically consists of an account being 60 to 90 days past due. At this point, you usually have a 71% chance to get your fees. However, if you leave it for another 30 to 45 days, you can expect a dramatic increase in difficulty to collect for several reasons. Your chance to collect from the company in question is cut in half if you leave it for 30 days.

Bankruptcy is Very Likely After This Point

Once you start seeing a company reach this point, you’re very likely to hear rumblings of bankruptcy. Rumors of bankruptcy are not a good sign for you because of the high likelihood that you’re not going to be able to collect. Especially since staffing and recruiting are considered third tier debt, and you’re almost always the last to get paid.

We’ve had a client sit on a problem account for 120 days that we managed to collect from because it was staffing related, and there were angles we could follow on. However, if that same case were recruiting fees, it’s done until it makes its way through bankruptcy courts.

Bankruptcy Courts Can Take Years To Get To You

Bankruptcy courts are usually an 18-month process. However, the pandemic is currently stopping bankruptcy courts from holding hearings, and it can take a while before they start up again. You could be looking at 3 years just waiting for you to be able to collect that fee. By that point, the company that you’re dealing with could be gone entirely.

Conclusion

The third warning sign is a massive red alert for any staffing and recruiting company looking to collect. It is also one of your last opportunities to collect from a company. Whether you do it by utilizing our services or with your favorite attorney, you have to make sure you do something before it’s too late.

Key Takeaways

● People are still having issues, bankruptcy is still being filed but what's happening right now is that everything is getting bogged down.

● Make sure your documentation is in order because judges, to clear their calendar, will start using default and summary judgments more aggressively.

● Statistically, if someone is telling you “hey I’ll pay you in 6 months” at that point you have to do something. Use us, don’t use us, doesn’t matter you HAVE to do something.

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Collecting from your clients can be a tedious process at times. However, there are early warning signs that you could pick up that could help you find out who exactly is going to be a bigger problem than the rest. We’re going to explore the first warning sign that your client could be a potential collection issue in the future.

The First Warning Sign

Before you have just absolute chaos is that you start seeing your clients moving a bit further out. It doesn’t matter whether they were a good or bad client, you just see them start making payments later and later. They start running behind on payments and. When they used to pay at 15 days, they started paying at 30 to 45 days out. What was true six months ago, could be absolutely nothing further from the truth right now.

Your business is certainly experiencing COVID right now and so are your clients. They could be fighting some significant cash flow issues that could get you in trouble as well.

Wilson’s Recommendation

The unstable economic climate created by COVID should be your signal to start making preparations. You should already have your timesheets, and your fee agreements in order, and you should start doing credit checks on your clients. Credit checks, in particular, can be a very powerful tool for you to utilize as it lets you make sure you know what to expect from them moving forward.

Samantha’s Recommendation

One of the best things you could do right now is to make sure that you have all your paperwork in order from the get-go. It isn’t when they are already 45 days isn’t the time to realize that you don’t have a signed contract with them. Keeping up with correspondence can also be a valuable asset for you.

For example, when you receive an email telling you that they’re going to pay next week, you should make sure to keep that email. It makes it much harder for them to get out of paying you in case you have to go down the legal route. This is called a reaffirmation of debt that lets you back them into a corner in case they refuse to pay.

Key Takeaways

Right now because the economy is fighting COVID it is more critically important right now than it ever has been to focus on good fundamentals and to pay attention to the warning signs.
In my opinion, you should have had, especially during this COVID economic climate, you need to make sure you have your timesheets, your fee agreements, pull your credit checks and credit applications, and things along those lines. Those should have already been done.

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One of the major problems that we face right now is the impact of the Covid slowdown. Especially when it comes to credit and collections. Today, Wilson and Samantha Cole explore the effect of Covid on these two vital aspects of the staffing and recruiting industry.

The Effect of the Covid Slow Down on You, Credit and Collections

Wilson and Samantha Cole will be exploring the deeper implications of Covid’s effect on business in today’s Monday Morning Memo.

Former Credit Risks are a Much Larger Risk Now

You’re not the only one affected by the Covid slow down, your clients are too. Companies and businesses that you have been dealing with over the last few months are a much larger risk than they ever have been. This is especially true if they have been a problem account since last year of December or early January of this year. One recommendation that Wilson wants you to do is to pull new credit reports as it gives you insight on the risk of a company.

Back Door Hires Become a Much More Common Occurrence

Another big problem that occurs during the Covid slowdown is how common back door hires become. This is why you need to make sure you constantly keep track of your candidates. One moment a company contacts you that they’re going to wait until they onboard the candidate before paying you. All of a sudden, you’re going to find out six or seven months later that they’ve gone full circle and hired the candidate behind your back and cut you out of your fee.

The Legal Aspect of Business is the Wild West Right Now

Covid’s effects extend towards its effect on the legal side of things. As Wilson puts it, “it’s the wild wild west out there right now. Getting the service of process or hitting someone with a lawsuit right now has been insanely hard with Covid hampering the processes needed for it. These problems are different from state to state, which makes things even more difficult to deal with as some states have adapted new measures while others have not while court dates are simultaneously being postponed at rapid speed.

Main Takeaways

● Regardless of whether you believe it is the black plague of the 20th century or its the biggest hoax, no one can deny that it has affected business.

● If I had to make one recommendation for any of our staffing clients is pull new credit reports because companies that have been in wonderful shape might not be today.

● If you sue somebody and they are an educated debtor they’ll just say “ you can go ahead and sue me but you and I both know that it’s going to be six months before they can even get the courts up to start the process.

● Get connected. Don’t let your paperwork fall to the wayside in trying to get the deal done.

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Business can be rough sometimes and you might find yourself not being able to pay someone you owe. We’ve had clients that have had these types of problems in the past. We understand that it’s almost always due to unforeseen circumstances or a cash flow issue. So today Wilson and Samantha will be going over what exactly happens if you owe another invoices and you cannot pay.

What Happens When You Can’t Pay Your Invoices?

Being unable to pay your invoices can be devastating. However, understanding what will happen if you’re unable to pay your invoices will be the first step to finding a solution.

Always Try To Reach out To Your Creditor First and Foremost

Reaching out to your creditor is something we highly recommend if you can’t find a way to fully pay your invoices. Reaching out to your creditor lets you work out a deal to be able to pay the debt over some months or to even reduce the amount of debt that you owe. Usually radio silence isn’t a good idea because it gives your creditor the idea that you might be trying to get away from paying their fees.

The Case Will Eventually Reach Collections if Both Debtor and Creditor Cannot Agree

Usually what happens if both the debtor and creditor are unable to make an agreement, is that a case is then filed at collections. At Adams, Evens & Ross our process typically takes 30 to 45 days which mainly consist of reaching out to the debtor and creditor. We always try to resolve the case before it turns into a lawsuit. The debtor is the last group that the case will go through before reaching an attorney.

What Happens When It Reaches an Attorney

Once the case reaches an attorney, they start checking everything for any mistakes. They ensure that they’re suing the right person. You’d be amazed at how many times a creditor has sued the wrong person. After everything is in order, a demand letter is sent in order to resolve it. If the case isn’t resolved by that point, then it is now a waiting game of 30 to 40 day increments of filings before a court date is set.

Do Not Ignore A Lawsuit and Be Served a Judgement

You want to make sure that you do not ignore the lawsuit. Once a judgement is served the collections company will be able to simply just pull the money out of your account and hand it over to the creditor. They don’t even have to prove that you legally owe the fee either, they just need to prove that the judgement was acquired legally.

Main Takeaways

● If there's a company out there right now that's watching this video in the awkward position of owing more money than they can pay, it does happen. Especially in this economic climate.

● Once we get a judgement, depending on the state, we can pull that money out of the account. If they get served, they do not want to ignore that lawsuit

● They do not have to prove that you owe it, they just have to prove, in most cases that the judgement was acquired legally.

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Recessions can be a large part of running a business because of how it affects your own business and your clients. We've seen a rise in the number of times our client's debtors have made excuses as to why they can't pay their debts.

The Top Debtor Excuses So Far in The 2020 Slowdown

Going into a recession, you can expect a few things to happen. But the main concern for the staffing and recruiting industry is how recessions can cause their debtors to become more aggressive and have all kinds of ridiculous excuses. We've listed down just some of the worst offenders when it comes to excuses that have come straight out of the left field.

"Our Plant in Wuhan and Along With Our Office in New York City are Shuttered"

This is one of the cases where you may think it would be near impossible to collect on. However, we were able to collect from this company, and our client has received 75% of what they are owed. It is certainly possible to get things done even in this business climate we're in right now.

"We're Not Paying for This Temp Because There Were Too Many Occasions Where She Was Parking and Making Out In The Employee Parking Lot"

This may seem like a sensitive topic to discuss. But according to the debtor, the temp was enjoying her time at the office parking lot too often.

"We're Not Going to Pay It Because Your Client Did Not Send Over What We Deem as a Resume"

This case certainly has some legitimacy. However, by dictionary definition, the client did send a resume, and it met all the requirements to be called a resume. What sealed the case was that the debtor previously sent a message thanking our client for presenting a "wonderful resume."

Final Takeaways

If there is one thing that needs to be learned in these cases, you must be careful about what you say to your debtor, especially their attorney. If an attorney contacts you, you should be ready to kill all communications until you have your attorney speaking for you. This is because they will use their authority to trick you into saying something that will damage your case.

Quotes

-Going into a recession, a couple of things would happen. And one of them is that the debtors become a little more aggressive and the excuses come from left field. I mean they're not based in reality in any form or fashion.

-If you say "Wilson I don't think we can collect this because of the pandemic", we have literally collected from a company located in New York with a plant in Wuhan. It can be done.

-If the attorney calls you, you need to kill all communication because attorneys will try to use their title, their aura and they'll just feed this horrible line of cr*p that's not based on reality or fact.

-We're probably going to have six more months of pretty interesting stuff. And it will get bad. They will get much more bizarre and they will become much more aggressive with their delivery before this is over.

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Adams, Evens, and Ross and Back Door Hire Solutions have been undergoing a few great virtual changes that have helped us improve our systems. Today Wilson and Samantha share some of the best changes that we’ve made that you should also be using.

Using E-Checks

One of the things that we’ve been using to receive payments from our clients was FedEx. Our FedEx bills were a fortune and we’ve been able to save $1000 to $1,500 each month from FedEx fees since we started using E-Checks. Using it is simple when compared to paying for services normally because all you have to do is go to a specific website, enter your details and hit send. The receiver will then just be able to print out the check where they are and it doesn’t have to go through the same hassle as a regular check.

We use E-checks to pay for the various services we pay for and also allow our clients to pay using E-checks because it is just that much more convenient for everyone involved. It's also speeding up our cash flow and as we all know, the lifeblood of a business is it’s cash flow.

E-Documents and E-signatures

Another great improvement that we’ve been utilizing is migrating some documents over to the electronic side of things. One example are contracts. However, many of you may start freaking out because you think that a signature on virtual media isn’t going to hold up like a signature on a piece of paper will. That’s where you’re wrong. According to Samantha digital signatures are legally the same as their paper counterparts with the exception of the transfer of property and a will. That fear is misplaced because of how e-signatures can actually be better than a paper signature.

For starters it’s digital which means that it is nearly impossible to lose, easier to maintain and sort, while also providing an extra layer of protection. In the case of E-sign which we use, that extra layer of protection comes in the form of a third page which has the date, time and IP address of the computer that was used to sign the document. We’ve had one case where a client explained that the document was a forgery. However, the third page of the E-sign document showed us that the document was signed at 2am in their home office.

Building on The Systems To Facilitate Remote Business

One thing that covid has taught us is that there is a need to accelerate moving certain aspects of business to a remote model. A remote system allows you to speed up your cash flow because it doesn’t need to go through the hassle of your regular business practices. However, the only way you can have an effective remote business is to have a system in place that will help you facilitate it. We’ve cut down on the systems that needed someone coming into our offices to give us a check and it has greatly increased our cash flow.

Quotes

It’s pretty spectacular, e-checks have saved us thousands of dollars and clients are telling me to send them e-check links.
Everybody wants to freak out when it’s not paper. I think it’s more fear of change than anything else. A signature on E-sign and one on a piece of paper are legally the same.
We probably sound like a broken record, but the basic fact is: you give up about 40% of the probability of getting the balance collected if you don’t have a signed agreement.

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In today’s business climate, the coronavirus has had a profound effect on company staffing. Recently there have been mass layoffs of employees from various companies and the staffing and recruiting industry is feeling the effects. Mass refund requests being one of those effects.

What Options Do You Have To Not Pay The Full Refund Amount?

It can be difficult to figure out options that you have when you have clients that want a refund. Since you and your client most likely have a legally binding contract, you are legally bound to pay that refund unless you consider some of the options that Wilson and Samantha discussed.

Try To Get Rid of Your Money Back Guarantee

In today’s business climate, you have to make sure that you try to get rid of your money back guarantee. A large number of your clients will want to try and save or recover as much money as they can. Even more so if they have to conduct mass layoffs. Your business will be put at risk if your money back guarantee permits your clients to simply get their money back if they lay off a candidate. If you do intend to provide refunds, make sure that it isn’t prorated.

Create a Resolution Between You and Your Client

If you are obligated to conduct a refund on a previous client, then it is best if you don’t ignore it. This is because of how they can sue you for ignoring your pre-existing contract. A great alternative to providing them a refund is to work things out with them and try to come up with a different solution. An example would be offering them credit on a future search once they’re hiring again.

If It’s a Client You Don’t Want to Salvage...

If it’s a client that you don’t want to salvage or cannot afford to salvage, then try to minimize your debt. Try to find loopholes that you can use to turn the argument around. An example that Samantha gave during the interview was that the client had to give them the opportunity to replace the laid off individual before a refund would be possible.

Contact Wilson Cole

Another option that you have is to call Wilson to help you get your debt lowered or even entirely avoided. You can contact him at 800-452-5287 extension 6578 or you can also send him an email at wilson@aercollections.com. Over the next few weeks AER Collections will also have a number of programs to help you out during these times of crisis so stay tuned for those.

Quotes:

The ones that just make me kind of chills go down my spine or the ones “no questions asked”. If they don't work out: refund. You're basically turning into some sort of weird payday loan
I've never seen a business climate like what we got in and that is people are going back trying to almost do a pseudo bankruptcy clawback period where they can go back
Let this be a warning sign. Use risk reversal. I understand risk reversal but money-back guarantee is not risk reversal that's that's just not good business in my opinion

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Working remotely is something many companies have started doing in this time of crisis because of the pandemic sweeping the globe. So in today's Monday Morning Memo, Wilson and Samantha tackle the problems and benefits of working remotely.

Making Remote Work Effective and Efficient Made Simple

Remote work can be difficult for many people to adjust. However, it is a necessary thing to do in today's climate because many businesses will opt to go for remote work rather than fully closing their doors. So Wilson and Samantha both share their perspective and provide advice for remote working.

Have a Dedicated Workspace

According to Samantha, a great way to make remote work more effective is to make sure that you have a dedicated workspace. Separate it from the rest of the places in your home and only go there when you're about to work. A dedicated workspace lets you have the mindset of work while you're in that specific space. It doesn't have to be a full-blown office either. It can be a chair in the dining room that nobody uses or even the left side of your couch opposite the side where you watch your TV shows. Just make sure that you dedicate that space to work.

Have a Dedicated Time To Decompress on Your Schedule

Another thing that you should be doing is to make sure that you dedicate some time to decompress after work. Dedicating some time to decompress is one of the most important things to do, especially if you're not used to working remotely. Unwinding lets you mentally reset for the day and gets you ready for tomorrow's work. Make sure to have a schedule and a routine ready, so you can keep your work going despite working remotely.

Use The Right Tools For The Job

Wilson emphasized the need for the right tools when doing remote work. This is because, without some of these tools, it would be far more difficult to work remotely effectively. This includes landline tools like RingCentral and Zoom or staff monitoring software like Hubstaff that let you keep an eye on what your employees are doing. According to Wilson, it is also much easier to manage people remotely rather than in an office setting because you can see if work is being done rather than if someone is busy.

Connect on a Human Level

One of the things Wilson and Samantha touched on is how important it is to keep the personal and social connection with staff intact despite working remotely. It isn't easy to find out things that may be bothering your workers in a remote setting unless you set aside some time for them to share their inner thoughts and what could be bothering them. This is the hardest thing to do from a logistics standpoint

Quotes:

-The arguments are always "if my people work at home they won't work" and I can tell you from a control freak that is not the truth

-it's easier for me to manage people with all of us in remote because you can see if work is getting done versus seeing somebody busy

-We had a higher turnover rate, and we started extending out those meetings, and we saw our turnover almost go non-existent because everybody started getting those connections

I mean you're talking to a guy that owned a two-story office building where everybody came in you know for a decade or longer. I look at that now as a horrible utilization of assets

-Just work and then life don't try to merge them, don't try work from in front of the TV. Try to keep it as separate as possible so that you don't turn in to work all the time or you aren't working at all

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In today’s Greatest of All Time Interview Series, Wilson Cole, president of Adams, Evens, and Ross interviews Gordon Bizar regarding the pandemic and the inevitable slow down of the economy. Wilson has worked with Gordon for many years and he is considered Wilson’s mentor for 20 years. He has insight into many different industries, and a wealth of experience from the many different cycles over the years.

Gordon Bizar, Wilson’s Mentor for 20 Years

How Does Gordon See This Playing Out?

Gordon mentioned that nobody knows what’s happening at the moment regarding the economy. Many people have lost nearly a third of their wealth within a week, with a number of others conserving cash as much as possible. This is common according to Gordon, but it’s far more accentuated.

He also mentioned that the government has to do a delicate balancing act between human welfare and keeping the economy from crashing. They both have different demands. Human welfare demands that the curve has to be extended, the economy on the other hand wants everyone to get it over with quickly. The reason why the economy needs this quickly taken care of is because there is a breaking point before businesses will start failing.

Most businesses will be able to survive a few weeks. However, once it reaches into the territory of three to six months, then you’re going to start seeing a number of businesses failing. Many of these are small businesses which employ 70-80% of the United State’s workforce. If a recovery were to happen earlier then the recovery will be a V-shape. Any later, and it will become a U-shape where recovery will take far longer.

How Do The Industries and Business Owners When To Hold on and When To Gas and Break

Gordon said that there is no magic answer to that and the best thing you can do is monitor the situation. Gordon also says that it is pointless to be selfish in this situation. If you don’t work together, then no one can win. He has opened up programs that are normally just for paying members to the public to help everyone.

One other thing to take note of is that many baby boomer business owners are considering selling off their companies. They face two options: either restructure their companies or they’re going to let it go.

What Kind of Ending Advice Can You Give, and How Can You Get the Right Information While Turning the Noise Off?

According to Gordon, businesses need an “agnostic” approach to get their information. Using standard media for information is not the best way because of how their agenda is centered

around getting an audience instead of providing accurate information. Instead you have to deal directly with people in the businesses. This lets you see the real picture and see it accurately.

Do for yourself what the government can’t do for us and what we can’t get the media to do for us. If you’re a small business then you’re on your own, so you have to work together with everyone else to create a meaningful strategy with the information everyone has.

Gordon’s advice for this situation is to keep an eye on the two factors that were previously mentioned. The first is “how do you protect people’s health in life?” and second is “how do you shorten the destructive period of the economy?.

How Do You Contact Gordon Bizar and Join His Webinars?

You can contact Gordon Bizar by joining his free webinars. Do this by clicking on the following link that will redirect you to his site: http://www.aercollections.com/Gordon

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In today’s Monday Morning memo Wilson and Samantha tackle a pressing topic caused by the ongoing pandemic. This is what you need to know about credit and collections during a downturn followed by what you need to do during the recovery of the economy.

What You Need To Know About Credit and Collections In a Downturn

Downturns happen every once in a while due to certain events. In this case, it’s a global pandemic that is forcing many to shut their doors. It’s weakening the economy and many won’t survive after this is all over. This means that many staffing and recruiting companies will begin to face problems once their clients stop paying their fees. Wilson and Samantha share what they know about credit and collections in a downturn while also exploring what you can do during the recovery period.

Get That Contract Signed

We cannot stress this enough. Get all of your contracts signed. It may not be impossible to collect if you don’t have a contract signed, however it makes it infinitely more difficult to do so. Signatures take away all the risk and ambiguity in business as it makes sure everyone signs off on the same things. This makes sure you’re in a strong position and ready to counter any arguments that may come from your clients.

Categorize Your Clients

You’re going to have clients of varying sizes and you should make sure to categorize them. Large publicly traded and regional companies are the ones who are more likely to pay you during this time. On the other hand, you need to keep an eye on smaller businesses.

Small businesses in America have five hundred or fewer employees at any given time. They are also the least likely of the three categories to follow through with a payment. This is because their circumstances can change as their credit lines dry up. Make sure that you set credit lines based off of credit worthiness instead of your client’s needs. This helps you be more defensive and avoid non-paying client problems.

Set Up Systems that Speed Up Cash Flow

One of the things Wilson recommends to speed up the cash flow is to make sure that you avoid using the term “net ten days or thirty days” as well as “due upon receipt”. Instead, put in a specific date to make sure your clients know when they should pay their dues. Another great way to improve your cash flow is to use friendly reminders.

Recovery Tips for The First Two Months

A great way to spend the downtime during the recession is to make sure you audit all of your paperwork. Audit your existing agreements, forms, and pull credit on all the existing clients to get the most out of your first month.

In the second month, you should be getting everything in order, and spend time on projects you have been putting off. Make sure that you’ve set up credit lines, and have the signed agreements ready to go. Set up a system of ongoing client checks. The key is to not be abusive but you want to be aggressive on these things.

Recovery Tips for The Third and Fourth Months

The next three and four months are crucial for you to get ahead during the recovery period. One of the ways to get paid during this period is to become a secured creditor and by using personal guarantees. Becoming a secured creditor and using a UCC puts you in the best position to get paid. It’s similar to a mortgage and the first person or company to file for it is usually in the best position to receive payments from the company in question.

Another solution is to set up systems that speed up your cash flow and make it efficient and automatic. Set it up on autopilot so to speak. The key here is speed and the faster you can get things done, the higher your chances that you’ll come out on top. However, you should also watch each step you take and avoid being sloppy about your paperwork.

Quotes

-With the background that we have right now getting the signature is in my opinion one of utmost importance. It eliminates any confusion and put you in a much stronger position

-you want to set credit lines based on the credit worthiness of the client versus their needs. You need to have a system in place.

-I can't stress enough if they've been paying their bills poorly for the last 10 to 12 months those are the companies that are not going to survive

-Don't go rush full speed ahead to try to print, try to regain the time you lost and get sloppy about paperwork. That's gonna be key

-We’re in uncharted territories you need to make sure that there's no ambiguity to your

contract

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Monday Morning Memo | Most Courts Are Shutting Down For The Corona Virus But The Next Part Even Shocked Us

Courts handle many legal disputes regardless of reason. But what happens when a worldwide pandemic shuts down our court systems?

Coronavirus Impact On The Court System and You

As of the writing of this article, the Supreme Court has been shut down. Not just that, several aspects of the federal government could follow suit. This is a major problem if you’re still owed fees from a debtor. So we’re going to break things down in this article so you’re prepared to handle what follows in the next 30 days after the courts have begun to shut down.

Court Proceedings Have Been Halted for 30 Days, Possibly Longer

What this means for everyone is that if you have a case against someone within the next week or so, expect the hearing to be in five weeks or more. This also affects updates with collections as you’ll have to wait an additional four weeks before you can get that update. Everything has been put in frozen animation. It’s as if they’re halting the calendar as if it doesn’t exist.

Sue Someone Later Not Now

We highly recommend that you put off suing someone. This is mainly because of how courts have closed their doors but also because of how an attorney will still charge you for their services even if nothing is going to happen until way later. In this case it’s going to be thirty days or more.

Weaker Companies Won’t Survive The Downturn

According to Wilson, if a company was having trouble before the pandemic, they’re going to be struggling even more now. Some of them may not even survive to open their doors after the thirty day court shut down. This is similar to 9/11 but in slow motion, and you’re going to see a number of already struggling companies not make it.

Bankruptcy Courts and The Ninety Day Stay

Bankruptcy courts have also been hit with closures. What this means is that the ninety day stay period has also been paused. This means that the previous wait of ninety days to six months is now extended to over a year.

Prediction for The Future?

According to Samantha, she predicts that the courts could end up closed for as long as sixty days and resume very basic operations by then. The only situation where this won’t be the case and courts can open earlier is if a cure for the coronavirus comes out soon. Everyone could end up feeling the after effects of the pandemic for the next eighteen to twenty four months. A backlog of cases will also be an issue for the courts to handle.

The Silver Lining

One thing that Wilson touched on is that it isn’t just doom and gloom for some businesses. The storm will be weathered and when you come out the other side, you’ll be in a much better position. This is because of how some of your weaker competitors will be out of the picture.

Quotes

-It’s 9/11 in slow motion, so you're gonna see companies that were in trouble not make

Stay calm and all of that good stuff and these storms weather through and when you make it out the other side you'll be in much better position because some of your weaker competitors won't be there

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Recessions can be sudden and one day you could walk into work and suddenly you just notice a slow down. This could mean that a recession is happening. In today’s Monday Morning Memo, Wilson and Samantha go over what staffing and recruiting companies need to do during a recession to ensure that you can weather the storm and come out the other side on top.

Telltale Signs That a Recession Is Happening

One of the things that Wilson touched on regarding recessions are the telltale signs that one could be happening right now. These include a dramatic increase in back door hires, your best debtors are running behind, and your less than wonderful debtors start trying to conserve cash by stretching out their payments. As of the writing of this article none of these signs have shown themselves yet. With that being said, there is still time to prepare a checklist to ensure that you can weather the storm of a recession.

Wilson’s Recession Checklist

Now that you know the telltale signs that we might be in a recession, now you have to know what you need to do during the recession. Wilson explained from his viewpoint what you need to do to survive and even thrive during a recession.

You Need a Way To Track Your Candidates

Being able to track your candidates puts you in a strong position to also find back door hires. One of the things you’re going to see during a recession is not only the huge surge in backdoor hires, but also a large surge of employees getting laid off before you can find them. This makes it important to be able to find them before that happens.

Maintain and Set Credit Lines

Most of our clients tend to extend their credit lines based on what their clients need. Avoid doing this as some clients can be a wonderful $5000 credit risk but a horrible $50000 credit risk. Check your client’s credit and set your credit lines based on their creditworthiness.

Have a System To Follow Up With Past Due Clients

The next thing on the checklist is making sure that you have a way to follow up on past due clients. You want to remind your clients that they owe you debt. A great example is having an automated three phase email that will be sent to debtors that are overdue. Make sure that this system is automated and not people dependent as well.

Samantha’s Recession Checklist

Samantha also has her own recession checklist. From a legal standpoint, she shared that everything that you used to do is far more important during this time.

Have You Documentation In Order

Having the right documentation during a recession is all the more important. Make sure that you have a signed contract. Also look into getting a personal guarantee as it gives you that little bit of extra protection.

Know Who You’re Dealing With

One of the things that can happen during a recession is corporations could simply shut down and reopen. If one of these corporations is your debtor and they reopen their doors after the recession, you need to make sure you know who exactly you’re dealing with.

Quotes

We see a huge surge in backdoor hires. I mean just off the Richter scale. If we're getting five backdoor hires a week we walk in and we're seeing 20 in a week. I mean it's literally a 3 to 400% increase.
Finding one or two backdoor hires during a recession could mean twenty-five to fifty thousand dollars to you which could help absorb any shrinkage that you see or at least get a cash injection to ride out the storm
If they can put a hundred thousand dollars of their payroll over on your staffing that's great that's a new client for you, but understand you're now exposed.
The primary reason that corporations exist is to shield individuals from personal liability. If you have a debt ridden company they can shut that down, open up a new corporation and not owe you a dime without a personal guarantee

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Emails are a great tool in the modern life of businesses. It helps you get information out and receive information back. This is especially true when it comes to the staffing and recruiting business, where communication and information are assets that need to be utilized. But did you know that it can also help you catch a lying debtor?

Why You Should ID The Job to Your Candidate Through Email

You might be wondering how email can help you catch a lying debtor and give you the leverage you need to win a lawsuit if it ever comes to that point. The answer is simple. Emails help you document information between parties reliably. On today’s Monday Morning Memo, Wilson and Samantha explored exactly why you should ID the job to your candidate through email.

Legal Wording Isn’t Completely Necessary

According to Wilson, the legal wording isn’t really what he’s concerned about when it comes to emails being sent. He’s concerned about the psychology of it and how it can affect the outcome of you collecting your owed dues. Legal wording isn’t as important as the fact that you have documentation that you presented the job to the candidate.

It Works Like a Twelve Month Possessory Period

Another key use of emails is that it works similarly to a twelve month possessory period. This is because you lose containment of the candidate once you let them know who the hiring company is. This can make it more difficult for you to get your owed placement fees.

It’s More Reliable Than Phone Calls and Text Messages

Most staffing and recruiting agencies rely heavily on phone calls to contact their clients and candidates. However, there are problems with this when it comes to properly documenting conversations. One of these are laws in between states. For example, Georgia is a one party state where just one party needs to know that the call is being recorded. On the other hand, California is a two party state that requires all parties to be aware of the call being recorded. Emails bypasses this as it’s considered a written statement and can be more easily used when it comes to getting your owed fees.

It Sends Your Debtor’s Attorney Into Defense

The most important part of having an email that's related to the case, is that you have solid evidence. You can present this to your debtor’s attorney and they’ll suddenly realize that they’re being lied to by their client. This means that they can’t use anything that’s been fabricated to defend their client. This puts them on defense and it makes it easier for you to win a case, and pressure the debtor to pay you before it has to go to court.

Quotes

It's not really legal wording that I'm really that concerned about
Make sure that you've got the something to show that these conversations happened

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There are a number of things that should and shouldn’t be said when you’re dealing with your debtor. Especially since your words can have a few consequences that you may not be expecting. But what exactly should you not be saying when dealing with your debtor?

What You Should Never Say to a Debtor

Words are the strongest tool in the world of contracts and agreements. What you say, can and will be held against you. In today’s Monday Morning Memo, Wilson and Samantha explored what you should never say to a debtor if you want to get the best outcome.

Don’t Go in The Heat of The Moment If They Tell You That They Aren’t Going to Pay You

Don't go in the heat of the moment when they say they're not gonna pay you and tell them that you're gonna go make them a source, and tell everybody on social media what a deadbeat they are. This only makes things worse and will affect how your clients will view you. And you could also become the target of a defamation lawsuit

Don’t Issue Refunds or Negotiate Trade Credits or the Like

Refunds and credits are tricky to properly manage when it comes to the staffing and recruiting industry. Replacements are fine but once you get into refunds and credits it can start getting messy. Or as Samantha would put it, a forensic accounting nightmare if the refund or credit isn’t structured properly.

Don’t Write Void All Over Your Contract

Once you write void all over your contract you are negating any safeguard you may have. Anybody that you have presented anybody has worked there as a temp they now have carte blanche to go ahead and absorb them onto their payroll so don't put void.

Don’t Tell Your Debtor That the Service Will Be Free

An example of this is the recent settlement that Samantha managed to get with a case. The client sent a message to the debtor basically saying “ “we know that you already have John Smith's resume so we know that we the recruiter cannot take credit however we would like to bring them to your attention”. They essentially said that this client was free. Luckily Samantha managed to salvage the case and got their fee. However, make sure that you avoid sending emails like this to your debtors to avoid any misunderstandings.

Never Say “Don’t Pay Me” In Your Frustration

If you’re an emotional person, try not to let your emotions get the better of you and say “don’t pay me” to your debtor. They will take this literally and will use this against you when you go after them later on. You’ll never be able to get your funds collected if you say this, so keep calm and think of another approach.

Quotes

It's got to be structured properly or it turns into a forensic accounting nightmare.
Once you write void all over your contract you are negating any safeguar

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Problems are abundant when it comes to the staffing and recruiting industry. They come in different shapes and forms and many of them can easily be spotted. However, there is one billion dollar problem that many recruiters didn’t even know they have. This is called back door hires.

Everybody knows that backdoor hires happen but they don't recognize it when it happens to them. This is called the billion dollar problem as many staffing and recruiting companies lose out on a large sum of money because of back door hires. But what exactly is this billion dollar problem and what can you do about it?

Understanding The Billion Dollar Problem

Many clients don't realize that they're owed when a debtor tells them that they find somebody that's worked or they say “gee we don't know you for this backdoor for this placement because we already knew the candidate”. This is a very common excuse that will be used and you’re assured that Back Door Hires will collect 80% of the time. There are a number of ways you can make it easier though and that’s to have a possessory period, and to make sure that your contract is consistent.

Have a Possessory Period

Every staffing and recruiting company will want to have a possessory period in their contracts. This ensures that they’ll be able to hold their clients liable to pay for their services. This includes even if the candidate was supposedly hired by another staffing and recruiting company. With this in place you’re almost always guaranteed to get your fee even if it means your client will have to pay both staffing and recruiting companies for their services.

Keep Your Contract’s Possessory Period and Other Details Consistent

To have a solid contract you’re going to want everything to be consistent. The possessory period included. You could have a clause that protects you 110% but another clause mentions that you don’t owe them a fee if they did this or that. These consistency problems can cripple your contract. If your contract is not solid and there are a number of inconsistencies then it might be rendered invalid. This makes it much more difficult to get the fee that you’re owed and you might not even get it depending on how bad your contract is structured.

If They Make Excuses, Shut Up and Call Us

The one thing that we recommend whenever they say “hey there was another recruiter we're not gonna pay you” or “we already knew the candidate, we’re not gonna pay you” or anything in between, is to shut up and call us. This may sound blunt, but it’s the truth. Whatever you say can and will be held against you once you come to collect. Whatever happens, cease all communications with the offending company and get the people that need to be involved, involved. Get us involved and get your attorney involved so you have the best chance of collecting your owed fee.

Quotes

Everybody knows that backdoor hires happen but they don't recognize it when it happens to them

-If you have inconsistencies in your contract then it becomes much more problematic because the contract can be deemed invalid

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In today’s Greatest of All Time Interview Series, Wilson Cole, president of Adams, Evens, and Ross interviews Bert Miller, a legend in the staffing and recruiting industry. He has been a long time franchise office owner of MRI and he’s recently acquired MRI corporate.

Bert Miller, Legend of The Staffing and Recruiting Industry

How Did Bert Start His Journey in The Staffing and Recruiting Industry?

Bert started off by showing his appreciation for having a great childhood. His parents were a great part of who he is today. They pulled him in to have greater opportunities for the future. This led him to MRI’s doorstep where he was trained. He was trained by a host of great mentors that Bert is truly grateful for. Today, Bert has acquired MRI corporate and has a number of great ideas for MRI as a whole.

What Makes a Great Recruiter?

According to Bert, you could line up five or so hopefuls who have the basics down and have the skills to succeed. However, only two of them will ever become a great success. It doesn’t matter how good they are or how many calls they can make in a day. What matters is that they have a certain amount of grit and endurance that will let them overcome the challenges that face them. Grit and endurance is the right energy and passion according to Bert.

He also mentioned the late Kobe Bryant’s Mamba mentality. This is where you must have the hunger to succeed. It’s focusing on the process and trusting the hard work when it truly matters.

What Does a Recruiter Need to Be Doing Right Now To Take Advantage of An Excelling Economy?

Bert recommends using an advisory. An advisory encompasses a number of things. It can be town analytics, helping your clients create branding for themselves and many others. This creates connectivity between you and your clients.

Bert also mentions how the changing technology is causing friction within the industry. They’re “killing it” but it doesn’t feel the same as it was back in the early 2000s and it’s because of how digital technology is shifting the industry. This means that you need to adjust and become a better storyteller through video broadcasts or podcasts and truly connect with your audience.

What is Your Vision For MRI

Bert mentions that many people and groups confuse MRI as their competition. They aren’t competition when it comes to the staffing and recruiting industry, mainly because of how they don’t make any placements, and they don’t do any searches. Instead they aim to provide the best tools, services and training to their “supposed” competition. One example is their Thrive program which allows independent firms that don’t know where to go, thrive.

Quotes:

-What kind of stands out to me is endurance, it’s the right energy and passion

-We used to tell a story by phone. Now you gotta be able to tell the story through video through podcasting and really connect with your audience

-They may love me, they may like me. Whatever the case may be but I have to go deliver.

-Let's embrace the fact of what occurred, let's embrace it. Let's understand the situation and let's build solutions

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Lawsuits are a common occurrence whenever money is involved. This is especially true when it comes to the staffing and recruiting industry. One day you’re just going through your day when suddenly you find out that one of your clients refuses to pay you. At that point, you have one of two options. You can either give up and close the case, or you can throw a lawsuit their way.

Why Not Bypass Their Attorney?

You might think that it can be a simple matter to just storm their front doors and demand payment from them. Or you could consider giving us their contact details and have us storm the front for you. However, you have to remember the legal aspect of the case, especially if your client has an attorney defending them. By law, you cannot go around a defendant’s attorney and everything has to go through him, as he is the representative of the defendant.

You always have the right to an attorney in any case, and if you ask your attorney to go around your client’s attorney, then it’s like a massive slap in the face. The bar will shut you down and it is one of the biggest side steps outside of stealing money you can make as an attorney according to Samantha.

Why A Suit May Be Your Only Option

Lawsuits are considered a last resort by many. And most of the time it is not even needed. Back Door Hires can collect around 80% of the cases without ever needing to sue. However, some clients will be stubborn and refuse to pay what’s due and they’re going to need some encouragement in the form of a lawsuit.

Most of the time, it is necessary to sue them as they might not even be paying attention in the first place. They’re simply ignoring you and a lawsuit in their faces will get them back into paying attention to the matter at hand.

You also have to remember that you’re not the only one who has to pay when the case does reach the court. You can expect upwards of ten thousand dollars in attorney fees from a single case alongside the time investment involved. Do note that they might not even win the case and they’ll be forced to pay you and their attorney fees. With a lawsuit, they’ll end up thinking whether it’s worth going to court for a twenty thousand dollar fee where they have a chance to lose and they’re going to lose even more money than they would have if they decided to pay instead.

Our Best Advice

Our best advice at the moment is to just shut up and get someone else involved. Having someone else get involved in your case doesn’t mean you’ve thrown in the towel. It means you’re ready to take them to court and collect the debt. It forces them to produce documents that they would otherwise not produce and it gets them moving before they can cover their

tracks. You should also do your best to provide every single piece of evidence to the third party collections agency you hire.

Yes, some of these documents might not help your case. However, this helps them create a defense and offense around those documents. If those documents suddenly turn up in the middle of a case, then you and your attorney will be caught off guard and will have a harder time defending your claims.

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With the end of the year here, creating a checklist or house cleaning is normal. This also applies to the staffing and recruiting industry because of how much money you’ll be able to save if you follow these five things that all staffing and recruiting firms need to do to start the year off strong.

The Five Steps to A Strong Start To A New Year

Not everything is going to be easy and starting off the new year in the staffing and recruiting industry is one of them. Wilson and Samantha Cole’s podcast details the best ways someone in the industry can push forward and succeed in the new year.

Recheck Your Credit

Rechecking someone’s credit is essential to early success. You may have checked one person’s credit several months ago, but you’re assured that there are possibly many more than that over the last ten years you’ve been in business. Make sure that they’re still in good credit standing and are still a viable entity before doing business with them.

Confirm You Have the Paperwork

Needless to say that having the paperwork is important regardless of what you’re after. Make sure that you have the signed agreements if you are the one doing the staffing. This lets you catch problems before they even rear their ugly heads.

Sequential Follow Ups or Emails For Your AR

These sequential follow ups or emails are great for a number of reasons. The first is that it reminds your clients that they still owe you, or they still need to do something for you. The second is that it reminds them that they can’t put it off or they can risk getting sued. Make one for fourteen days behind, twenty five days behind and finally one at thirty five days behind to remind people that they’re behind schedule.

Make Sure that People That Signed Your Contracts are Still Working There

This might sound strange, as contracts are still valid even if the person you dealt with is no longer working at the company you dealt with. Despite this, having a point of contact in the company you’re interested in is a vital asset that you can use. This is because if that person is no longer working there, the company can make excuses that they haven’t dealt with you before.

Get Updated Contracts

Checking and updating contracts is a great way to start the year off strong. Do some spring cleaning and add in or take out things from your contract. If the person you’ve been dealing with at a company decides to part ways with them, then try to get a new updated contract.This is especially true if it was a personal guarantee from a CFO who has parted ways with the company. Cleaning up your contracts is an excellent way to life easier for you in the long run.

Quotes

Having a point of contact in the company you’re interested in is a vital asset that you can use
Do some spring cleaning and add in or take out things from your contract

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In today’s Greatest of All Time Interview Series, Wilson Cole, president of Adams, Evens, and Ross interviews Tom Erb. Tom Erb has been in the industry for nearly 25 years, while working with the biggest staffing and recruiting agencies. He’s been at numerous conferences in the tradeshow circuit and loves nothing more than to give back to the staffing and recruiting industry.

Tom Erb, The Man Who Gives Back To The Staffing and Recruiting Industry

How Did Tom Get Into The Staffing and Recruiting Industry?

Tom got his undergrad degree in Business Administration but had trouble finding a job. He decided to help out a friend who landed a job in Columbus, Ohio. He then proceeded to apply for several jobs at the Columbus Dispatch where he got an interviewer job at Olsten Staffing.

What Personality Characteristics Makes a Good Recruiter?

Tom and his team went ahead and did a personality assessment regarding the qualities of a good recruiter. This assessment was to determine what makes an A player recruiter. They came up with seven competencies, but the following stood out to them in particular

Perseverance

“It's the ability to to push on past adversity. It's you know some people call it grit you know it's it's that ability to do that.”

Unflappable

“Things don't rattle recruiters. You know high-level high-performing recruiters just aren't rattled by things as much because this is very much an up-and-down kind of industry. You just go on to some of the recruiting forums on Facebook and LinkedIn and read the ups and downs that people have sometimes in the same day and to be able to get past that and continue on is very important.”

Connecting With Others

“It's the ability to connect at a level to where people develop a level of trust with you to where they keep wanting to come back to you to where they refer people to you and you're able to ultimately develop this robust network especially when you're talking about search and specialized search the ones that are really really successful develop a robust network of

Connections”

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to a Newbie Coming Into This Industry?

Tom advises newbies to avoid becoming generalists as there is a talent shortage. They should be looking for an opportunity to specialize, but not too specialized because if a downturn in your specialization happens then you could be in trouble. You have to be broad enough to avoid these downturns, but specialized enough that it creates extra value for you and gives you the ability to create your own network.

What Advice Would You Give the Seasoned Pro That's Been Doing This For 20 Years?

To the seasoned veterans, Tom’s advice is to adapt to the changes that are happening in the industry. Things are changing rapidly across the world and not just the staffing and recruiting industry. This means that everyone has to be fresh and open-minded to these changes. Pros really need to take a look at the way that people communicate.

What Advice Would You Give Companies to Afraid of a Recession?

“Be aggressive during recessions” is Tom’s advice for companies that are fearing for their business during a recession. During the 2008-2009 recession, Tom and his team refused to “batten down the hatches” and hide in a corner like other companies. Instead they refused to let the recession bring them down and they increased their efforts to beat the slowdown caused by it

How Can You Contact Tom Erb Yourself? You can contact Tom yourself through either his email at tomerb@resources.com, or Tallan Resources website at tallannresources.com.

Quotes

I do enjoy trying to get people to improve themselves
We need to be willing to adapt to it or we're going to fall behind

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In today’s Greatest of All Time Series, we’re joined by none other than Barbara Bruno. She is someone who’s been in the staffing and recruiting industry for quite awhile and is an expert in her field. We invited Barbara over to answer some of the biggest questions on the back of every recruiter’s minds

Barbara Bruno, The Staffing and Recruiting Expert

What Are The Three Attributes of a Good Recruiter

Integrity

Integrity lets you build strong relationships with both candidates and clients. You can thrive in the industry without it, but your career is going to be short lived because of it.

Listening Well

The best recruiters are the best listeners and they don’t talk as much as they listen. The best recruiters key in to what’s important to people. This lets them use that knowledge to their advantage and be able to respond better to the client or candidate’s specific needs.

Able to Think on Their Feet

Being a good recruiter means being adaptable to the situation. Since there are two people on either side, you can expect that situations and priorities change constantly. If you can’t think on the fly then you’re dead in the water as things blow up constantly.

What Would be The Three Pieces of Advice You Would Give to New Recruiters or Inexperienced?

Know your Job

They think they're supposed to interview candidates or write orders or give contracts when in essence our job very simply is to get candidates in front of hiring authorities and so if I'm talking to a new person what I tell them is your job is to book a send out

Focus on Send Outs

To have that first interview you've got to have a dividable order. If they do nothing more than constantly increase the number of send outs they book every month, they will elevate their production because everybody has to send out to fill or send out to placement ratio. You know once they're doing this three to six months they know that ratio and if they say the ratio is 5 to 1 if they send five more people up they make another placement and so you've got to know your numbers but I would tell them to focus on send outs.

Plan

If you think that you can’t plan every phone call, then think again. Barbara’s advice is to write down the six priorities you have closest to the money for the following day and ten calls. And then the following month you know six things closer to the money in 20 calls until you get to the point where you're handling the six priorities you have every day and you commit to doing those things

What advice would you give that 20-year recruiter that's sitting around saying I know everything

Barbara suggests that you shouldn’t forget that you’re the resource and the tools you get are just simply tools to help them. The greatest shift is happening where more than 50% of their clients are going to be millenials and most of the tenured recruiters blame the millennials for everything. They have to shift what they’re doing in their business or they’re going to end up dead in the water.

What Does Someone have to Do Right Now to Recession Proof That Business?

They can't have one client represent more than ten percent of their income. Have a broader client base.

They can't have one client represent more than ten percent of their income, which is the biggest mistake. 2008 to 2010 many companies call Barbara going “oh my God I'm losing my business” and in almost every instance they made 75% of the revenue from less than five clients when these five clients went hiring they were dead in the water.

Make your clients your friends and don’t just be a vendor

You know so many times they view us as one of many and so I think you go from vendor to trusted advisor to consultant and then you've got to make your client your friend. You've got to become part of their life because if a recession hits and they can only use one resource and you've become the best listener in their life.

Have more than one contact in a company

The clients of the staffing and recruiting are changing more than ever and so often you've got one contact they leave and now you lose the client. So its great if you have more than just one contact in your client’s company.

How Can You Get In Touch With Barbara Bruno Yourself

The best way for anyone to contact Barbara herself is to call her at her number at 2196639609 or you can go to her website at https://goodasgoldtraining.com/.

Quotes

Don’t just be a vendor, be their friend.
The best recruiters key in to what’s important to people.

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It’s shocking to know that many staffing and recruiting companies simply give up when it comes to trying to collect the debts of certain clients. These clients throw out a number of excuses that make the company doubt that they can get money off of the transaction. But there are a number of solutions that you can do to avoid these kinds of situations.

What You Can Do About It

There are many cases where staffing and recruiting companies think that their client doesn’t owe them a dime. Usually this is the case when the client says that there is another staffing and recruiting company that is involved. Don’t take this at face value and follow these steps that Wilson and Samantha Cole have shared on their last Monday Morning Memo.

Know That There is Always a Solution

You need to dig a little below the surface before throwing in the towel when it comes to collecting these debts. The usual excuse being that there was another recruiter involved. But is there really another recruiter? This is just one of the things that you can use to collect the debt that you’re owed.

Have a Possessory Period

The possessory period lets you take advantage of your contract when it comes to collecting from the client.

Have a Contract Signed, Just One if Possible

Having a contract signed is one of the key components of being able to defend yourself legally if anything goes wrong. But having more than one can be quite the cluster as you won’t know which one will apply in your specific situation.

A single contract is much easier to manage when compared to something like a dueling contract

where both parties will have a contract each. Dueling contracts can be very confusing as you might think that a candidate is covered in your terms but in reality its covered by their terms and vice versa.

Name Clearing or Clearance

Let the candidate notify you whether he or she has been in active discussion within 24 to 72 hours. Make sure that you are notified within the last 60 days of when he was last been in active discussion to have an edge when it comes to collecting.

Final Thoughts

If somebody hires your candidate and they tell you “gee we got their name we knew about them you know we're not going to pay you” don't take that at face value. Their excuses can be easily

dismissed if you take a good look. Don’t just sit there and let tens of thousands of dollars slip through the cracks. Contact Wilson Cole at 8452 5287 extension 6578 or you can also shoot him an email at wilson@aercollections.com

Quotes

Dig just a little below the surface.
They got the candidate from somebody else but there was nobody else.

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Danny Cahill went straight to recruiting from out of college, was a general manager at 26/27, he bought Hobson Associates and grew it into one of the largest recruiting firms. He was even elected into the Knapp’s hall of fame. He is a true renaissance man he is an author he is a playwright, he has a recent book called Aging Disgracefully. We’ve talked to him regarding his thoughts on the recruiting industry and he answered some questions itching at the back of our minds.

Danny Cahill, The Greatest of All Time in The Recruiting Industry

How Did Danny Get Into The Recruiting Industry?

Danny was asked how exactly he got into the recruiting industry at first, whether he wanted to become a recruiter or he just stumbled into the business. Turns out, he stumbled into the business unknowingly as he was hired with no Idea what he was going to be doing.

How Did Danny Get Into Training Aspiring Recruiters

At first, Danny had not intentions of becoming a recruiter. He didn’t even know what trainers were. He even thought that the trainers were “hucksters” who used a lot of sales gimmickry. He was astonished at the fact that the boss was running a “boiler room” operation that hired five wide recruits and then firing four of them a month. He was used as an example for the recruits where the boss says “Here’s 24 year old Danny who’s making a quarter of a million dollars, you could be the next”.

This didn’t sit well with Danny and by the second year, requested the boss to let him teach the recruits despite not knowing much about training. However, his guts has helped him become the greatest of all time in the recruiting industry.

What Advice Would Danny Give a New Recruiter?

The business has evolved, according to Danny and that 15 years ago, the norm was to just make as many cold business calls as possible. Today, if you do that, you’ll end up failing. So, it takes a much longer time to ramp up compared to the old days where it took you 4 to 6 weeks to ramp up. Today it takes 4 to 6 months. This business has become systems engineering as it is social engineering and you have to learn everything from phone skills to internet skills.

What Advice Would Danny Give a Seasoned Recruiter

Danny mentions how combine all the channels of communication to succeed. Thanks to business evolving and people getting stuck in their old ways, seasoned recruiters refuse to use or utilize the new tools. These tools can help them make twice as much money with much less effort. Truth is, if you stick with one branch of recruiting and it goes under, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble.

What Are The Biggest Challenges Over The Next Five Years?

Many people think that the biggest challenge is artificial intelligence or new technology. However, Danny thinks that these are more of an advantage as most of the time, the recruiters have more skill and finesse when using these tools to their advantage. The biggest challenge according to Danny is the combination of these technologies and the company mentality that goes with hiring recruiters from a recruiting company. They give the hired recruiter a corporate salary as opposed to their commissions, which makes it cheaper for the companies but hurts the recruiting industry. The recessions are also a cause for concern as they can hit from out of nowhere. They could also go one of two ways. Either business will be booming for people like Danny or it could end up going poorly for the recruiting business.

We can't recommend it enough to go out and contact Danny because you know as Danny mentioned everything that I have been told. With people that have gone through it is it’s not a theory, it’s practicality and it does get results.

Quotes

That’s the fantastic thing about youth. You dive in, you make it work.
Work smarter and not necessarily harder.

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Staffing and Recruiting is a business that is mired with a multitude of problems. Back door hires being one of them. However, Medical Staffing and Recruiting firms have even more risks attached to them because of the nature of the business.

What Makes Medical Staffing and Recruiting Different?

You might be wondering what makes it so unique when compared to other staffing and recruitment branches. The main thing that makes it so unique is the fact that a medical business can quickly and easily change hands. This includes hospitals, rehab centers or nursing centers or anything in between.

This is a huge risk in the industry as the changing of management can easily leave you out in the rain. How? By making sure that after the new management takes control, you’re no longer a partner to that specific hospital, rehab center or nursing center.

We have seen cases where the old management paid, cases where the new management paid, and many cases where the old and new management is pointing fingers at each other. There have even been cases where the company filed for bankruptcy and did an asset sale.

This means that you won’t be paid what you’re owed by the previous management unless you have a very good setup before the changing of hands happened.

What You Can Do About it

It can be difficult to get paid after the changing of hands has happened. So the best thing you can do is prepare for it. Here are several options that you have when dealing with cases like these.

Make Sure The Parent Company Signs the Contract

Authority is important when it comes to upholding a contract. It won’t matter much if it’s the staff of the medical institution that signed your contract. However, if the parent company of the institution signed it, then you now have a leg up on the case. They can make excuses like “it’s the company that we’re selling that you dealt with” however, you can easily respond with “No, it’s you who we dealt with, it says right here on the contract that YOU signed”.

Use The Wording Of Your Contract To Your Advantage

Contracts are binding obligations for the companies that sign it. So it only makes sense that you make sure that the client you’re dealing with is aware of what their obligation to you is. You can do this by using a specific type of wording that suits your needs. One type of wording that works well for the medical staffing and recruiting industry is to be notified in writing of any sales that are going to happen. This early warning gives you enough time to react.

Another great option is to have a UCC1 or Cross Corporate Guarantee. These documents will back up your claims when it comes to getting paid before a transfer or foreclosure. The cross corporate guarantee, in particular, is a good document to have because you can still go after the original company after the institution is sold off to another.

Become a Secured Creditor

Becoming a secured creditor doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get paid at the end of the day. But you do have an interest in the company. If it’s a seizure where they’re taking it over but they’re selling to another company, you’ve got to be paid before they can sell it off. The only exception is if it’s some type of foreclosing accident.

However, becoming a secured creditor under the noses of the company can get you sued in some cases. A great way to do this is to use a specific wording that permits you to be a secured creditor of the company. So even if they do try to sue you, you have signed proof that they accepted your terms to be a secured creditor.

If you want to talk to me about a collection issue that you got. Call 10045287 I'm at extension 6578 or shoot me an email at Wilson@aercollections.com and my assistant will get you on my calendar.

Quotes

-Our staffing and recruiting clients all have a risk but medical staffing and recruiting firms have a specific risk because these facilities change hands under new management companies just quite a bit.

-If they fail to notify in writing then you know everybody’s responsible.

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Going out of business is a fear for most businesses and their clients. If you’re someone who’s had a client go out of business, leaving you without payment, then this is the post for you!

The Subtlety of Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy can be a very subtle process. One moment you’re receiving regular payments like clockwork from a client, the next they’ve started delaying their payments by several weeks. This is the first sign that there has been a hiccup. They can make up excuses like “gee we have a new billing clerk”, or “gee we were waiting for funds to come in from ABC company that owed us”. Eventually, the excuses will just stop coming because they’ve gone under and filed for bankruptcy.

Know Who You’re Dealing With to Protect Yourself

As sudden as bankruptcy can come, there are always warning signs before you’re hit with the consequences. So what can you do to make sure you’re prepared for the incoming storm that it will inevitably kick up? Your biggest priority is to know who you’re dealing with.

We cannot stress enough how important it is to ensure that you know who you’re dealing with. This is especially apparent with franchises. There have been many cases where we’ve dealt with clients that had no idea who the local entity was. You can’t just go around and sue every restaurant with the same name, as each might have the same brand, but they don’t necessarily have the same legal entity governing them.

A great way to find out who they are is to go to the secretary of state to get that info. However, you’re going to need to make sure you know what LLC their apart of. Otherwise, you’re going to pull up more than a hundred different DBAs from different businesses with the same name, in various counties.

A great asset to figuring out who you’re dealing with is to have a credit application signed. It holds all the information you’re going to need if you ever need to pursue a case against a former client. Alongside the secretary of state, the credit application can help seal the deal when it comes to ensuring you’ve got the right tools to win a case.

What Are Half Related Entities and How Do They Affect You?

Half related entities can be summed up as various companies or groups working under a single banner. These can be anything from corporations with their various divisions or LLCs with their various companies. They can be tricky to work with as they can easily exploit the wording in your contracts with them. For example, you’re presenting candidates to ABC company who has XYZ company as one of its divisions. XYZ company can scoop up those clients from under your nose and neither of the companies are obliged to pay you a fee if you don’t use specific wording in your contract.

You can avoid this by having the words “related entities” or “affiliates” in your contracts. This legally binds the company you’re dealing with to pay a fee if any of their divisions or affiliates hire your candidates.

With many companies going under without prior notice, leaving their former partners with a financial burden and a net loss, it can be a challenge recognizing the initial signs. However, with the right knowledge, tools, and awareness you’ll be able to effectively safeguard your interests and assets.

To learn more about AER resources related to back door hires, visit https://www.backdoorhires.com/ or call Wilson Cole at 800-452-5287, extension 6578.

Quotes

-The trick is to catch bankruptcy before it gets to that point

-If you’re a staffing firm, get a credit application signed because you need to realize you’re not providing staffing, you’re loaning money.

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This is a special day because we have the chance to sit down with a very special guest. He is the marketing mentor to Wilson Cole, president of AER and co-founder of staffing and recruiting solutions. Who is this mystery guest? He was named by Success magazine as “the greatest marketing expert alive”, been featured in Entrepreneur and Forbes, and has consulted with some of the top people in our industry including Brian Tracey, Anthony Robbins, and Mark Victor Hanson; yes, today we are lucky to be interviewing Jay Abraham.

Since he is such a wealth of knowledge, we want to jump in with our questions.

Cole: Can you explain the difference between a strategic approach and a tactical approach to marketing?

Abraham: First, we need to realize that 98% of all small to medium businesses are tactical. This means they do not have a large overriding master business game plan that is building, evolving, and multiplying in place. Tactical plans are more erratic, episodic, and focused on monthly goals. A strategic plan is masterful in that it has an end in mind. They do not do anything that does not benefit the long-term outcome; this kind of plan requires a well-reasoned outcome and discipline to put into place only revenue generating activities.

Another thing to understand is that almost no business reaches their goal because they do not have a goal. Either that, or they create a goal that is below their means or too high above it; a business needs to figure out a goal that is achievable and employ a reverse engineering strategy. There is one question that a business should always be asking: what is the whole purpose of this business?

Tactics are nothing more than the elements that advance, enhance, and drive the achievement of the strategy. Strategy is having a full plan and tactics are pieces that tie into a greater picture. Without a master game plan, everything you do is tactical and produces a fraction of the effect because nothing is integrated or pushing towards a greater outcome. Companies that outperform their competitors are more strategic so they can get more leverage and yield out of their time and their employees’ time.

Cole: Can you explain risk reversal and why that is such a powerful sales and marketing tool?

Abraham: Anytime two parties come together for a transaction, one side is always asking the other to take on all, most, or more than all of the burden. We try to figure out the direct and indirect elements of risk, uncertainty, skepticism, or fear that goes with doing a transaction so that we can systematically eliminate or overcome that risk; that is risk reversal.

When you employ this tactic, you need to identify what are two or three of those big risks. Once you know what they are, you can create methods to eliminate those risks such as giving the client some security on their investment for taking the risk or removing part of the risk up front. So, what is the big area of resistance, fear, uncertainty, or danger in the mind of the prospective client? You need to make your business irresistible by reducing that risk factor. Every time you take on risk reversal, it has a subliminal way of catapulting the performance you are providing and takes your service to the next level. The contrast is in your favor because of the psychological phenomenon of being stuck with a service, good or bad, by other companies while you offer protection from the risk. Essentially, if you do what no one else in the industry will do and you perform well, then you will be viewed favorably.

After collecting case studies, it was determined that 25% of those spectacular, crazy increased, overnight success stories with that were reported by people Abraham trained were all attributed to changing risk reversal. Surprisingly, very few people in small to medium size businesses understand the impact this could have on their companies.

Cole: With our magazine, we went from a startup to being completely sold out in a period of three months, along with a fast-growing subscription base, from risk reversal.

Abraham: If you are producing a good product, then people will be satisfied; but, if you also show respect and provide security to you clients, then you will really stand out. When you understand and harness risk reversal, you need to know that is will produce a small number of “refunds or unwinds” but keep your eye on the ball. If the tactic doubles or triples the profitability of your service, number of people who say yes, or repeat transactions, the occasional one or two refunds is inconsequential.

Cole: Can you tell us the difference between endorsements and testimonials? How would you get either from your clients? And, how would you present them to others?

Abraham: There is not a simple answer to these questions and realistically we could spend a day or two really going into the fine details. A testimonial is a first-person confirmation or explanation of how a client benefitted from your service; an endorsement is when a key influencer, and this could be a person, a company, or a publication, puts the full force of their name, credibility, and reputation behind their support for your company.

For example, we started selling webinars at approximately double the price of our competitors. In order to market these webinars, we used a strategy modeled after the Panama Canal. Each step forward meant going through a lock and working our way up to the next one; meaning, we had built years of trust and respect from organizations and clients who would endorse us to future clients. There are many reasons for others to endorse a business: financial gain, benefits for their clients, a quid pro quo exchange of services, etc. This is all a very strategic and scientific process as you are finding a way to promote your business through tying it to someone else’s affinity, goodwill, influence, or connection to a market.

Cole: The next question was partially answered above, so can you explain what is host benefit relationship of joint ventures? The host benefit seems to be going to other companies with a joint venture to their clients that promotes their business as well as yours; essentially, an endorsement is a way of doing this.

Abraham: Whenever starting a joint venture with another company, it is important to look at the maximum number of ways to ethically utilize the relationship of an organization. The first step is to identify everything that would attract clients. For example, we once approached 100 clients and were able to persuade 30 to endorse us. There were a few major ways to do this: recommend us as an expert in our field to their subscribers/clients, we created content to be periodically put in their newsletters, and we invited people to come to their geographic areas to attend a seminar hosted by their company. These endorsements can be a very lucrative way to increase business, but there are a lot of nuances and careful tactics that have to be made in order to reap the full benefits. Once we partnered with those companies and employed the endorsement strategies, they were able to double or triple their profitability along with their size.

Of course, these are only small tidbits of information. We could easily spend a day or two on each of them, but for now I can give you a global understanding of the topics and I will go into further detail when I speak at an upcoming AER event.

Cole: One of my favorite quotes by you is, “I cannot tell someone how to get 100 clients, but I can tell you 100 ways to get one client,” and the way you tied this into your famous marketing Parthenon. Can you explain this concept and give a general overview of that power Parthenon?

Abraham: I have spent my life looking at the highest upside leverage activities to any business and how to make slight modifications. In essence, I am an ethical opportunist which means that I do not believe in spending nine hours on something when the exact same result could be accomplished in 90 minutes. It is important to carefully reach out and examine all other options then identify which of those are the most powerful and universal. Most businesses are tactical and build everything on one basic revenue generating account or client building activity. This is what has been coined the diving board theory. Try to envision an old country diving board that someone took a fallen tree and pushed the trunk over the edge of the lake; the diving board represents the revenue being generated and the stump is the one approach driving all of that business.

The real danger comes if the one approach stops working or is replicated by one of your competitors which leaves you screwed. An example is if a whole business was built on two salespeople, not including yourself, and they get tired of working for you and leave. Maybe they go across the street and open their own business, or a competitor realizes how important they are to your success and hires them; either way, what do you do? We try to guide every business to stop depending on one approach. This is where the power Parthenon comes in!

The power Parthenon is built from multiple pillars that reach segments of the market from many different vantage points. Let’s break it down. Many companies get a significant part of their business from word of mouth or referrals. Now, how many of those companies also implement one formalized systematic disciplined ongoing 24/7 referral generating strategy? None. Or, even if they have one, what about two? Three? After analyzing every element in the business building picture, we have found 93 unduplicated ways to generate more. So, to build the client’s Parthenon they can use direct selling, telemarketing, direct mail, seminars, teleconferences, gifting, education, endorsements, etc. Each of those is represented by a pillar reaching to the market, or a segment of it, from a different impact or vantage point. If each additional pillar/strategy only added 10%-20%, the combined effect is exponential!

Adding new revenue or impact pillars, is one of the easiest, safest, and most powerful ways to help a business. Plus, all of those strategies can be used in multiple ways. Take direct mail. There are at least 25 different ways to use direct mail to benefit your business: generate leads, set appointments, confirm appointments, sell to people who do not like phone calls, recruiting prospective candidates, invites to events, follow up, etc. Yet, almost no one uses their pillars to the fullest extent.

Cole: Being familiar with your power Parthenon, I had always looked at it as amplification in the best case. There is always the chance that the laws or economy can change our ability to market in different capacities. So, the power Parthenon at its best is amplification for a business, but even at its worst it is marketing diversification. Just as you would not want to

keep all of your investments in the same stock in the case of a downturn in the market, the same can be said for marketing strategies.

Abraham: I can say with certainty that almost any business owner will work harder for their business to keep being more profitable, but can they figure out how to make a business work harder for them? Most of your clients have a lot of leverage in that one transaction will cost the same as ten transactions. The key is to figure out those tactics that will get maximum yield from each opportunity. Once they identify all of the opportunities, they can become leverage machines and get a lot more clients/revenue/sales from the same fixed staff and work. That is my job: to show them how to get a business to work harder for them.

Cole: Over your 30+ years of experience which has led to you being a marketing guru and golden standard within our industry, what one personal belief would you credit to your professional success?

Abraham: I would say that it has been my unique understanding of what is possible. I came in constantly examining how many more powerful/profitable/impactful ways were available and how much more could be gained. I also have always felt that it was my job to find deserving companies who made their clients’ life or situation better through their services, and that it would be a disservice to not help them.

Additionally, I consider myself an advocate for a market that deserved to be served better by companies that cared more about it. Most people go into business for the wrong reasons; some do it for money, power, or the illusion of success, but I fell in love with serving clients and the people they served. This has been a powerful and preemptive difference in viewpoint and business that drove my work and ability to serve my clients.

We would like to thank Jay Abraham for sitting down with us and answering our questions. If you would like to learn more about Jay Abraham and his marketing wisdom, then email Eric at eric@rssm.biz to receive details on a special offer for recruiting and staffing solutions.

Quote 1: There is one question that a business should always be asking: what is the whole purpose of this business?

Quote 2: If you are producing a good product, then people will be satisfied; but, if you also show respect and provide security to you clients, then you will really stand out.

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Lawsuits: Timelines, and What to Expect as Your Case Moves Through the Courts

This can be a very cringeworthy subject because of the many unknowns that come with lawsuits. It may seem difficult to know what to expect with a lawsuit but they all generally follow the same path; there are always some variations in the process based on state laws, attorneys, etc. but the life span of all lawsuits is generally the same.

With AER collections, we have found that 83% of the accounts will be collected in-house with our collection staff, and about 1 out of 5 cases we will not recommend for suit. If we do decide that you should file a lawsuit, there is a general process that follows. We will send out the information to an attorney or to our in-house staff, we invoice you for the court cost, and an attorney will have to make a demand or notice before the suit is filed. Usually, it takes seven to ten days for due diligence and sending out the first letter. Within the next 30 days, we will reach out to the attorney and hear if we need them to file for suit. Although, this all is contingent on the client paying the invoice for the lawsuit fees. In most states, an attorney cannot pay court costs on your behalf. It can be frustrating because a debtor will never give you a check to sue, but the court will give you money back at the end of the process.

Next comes the process of being served; the attorney files suit, the court will send someone to serve the debtor, and then they have around 30 days to respond. The clock starts running the moment a client is served; the next step is for the debtor to respond, generally, with, “we don’t owe because. . .”, then the attorneys will have around six months to gather evidence and prepare their case before it is brought to court. The act of serving someone should theoretically be easy, but there have been some crazy cases which have led to even crazier laws about how it should be done. Most states have a sheriff or process worker serve the debtor, but if they evade them then in Georgia people can be served via UPS. The minute it hits the front door then that clock begins. Other states have stricter rules; California is a hand-to-hand state where the notice has to physically touch the hand of the debtor to start the clock. We have all heard insane stories about sheriffs chasing debtors down the street or even using Las Vegas show girls for delivery; thankfully, in extreme cases the court can turn to the secretary of state for help.

Serving people can be the biggest slow down, as we clearly learned above, taking between 30 days to six months to properly serve a debtor, but once that is done the case hops on the conveyor belt of the justice system. Getting a judgement also depends on the state and its laws. There are multiple types of judgement: clerk default, judicial default, summary, standard, etc. Standard is just what it sounds like; the case goes to court, and the judge makes a decision based on the evidence presented by the attorneys. Default means that the debtor was served but never answered, and then it breaks in two types. Clerk default is when a clerk of the court says they never followed through with their part of the suit. You gathered all of the information and the judge decides that the lawsuit goes through. This is the easiest judgement to overturn because of our system’s belief in giving everyone a fair trial and day in court, but courts do not look favorably on people evading charges. A judicial default happens when the court decides that the suing attorney does not have firm evidence on what is owed.

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Today we are going to unofficially play one of Wilson’s favorite games, “They Said What?!” After all of our years in the staffing and recruiting business, collections, etc., we have a few stand out stories of things we have heard from our clients or through them that would just make you scratch your head. Here are some of our favorites, past and present included:

We had a recruiting client who had a debtor hire one of their candidates. They did not receive any payment because the debtor said that they did not pay the employees for the work they did for them, so technically they were volunteers and the client did not deserve payment.
Disclaimer: we have previously gone over how to avoid predatory master service agreements from clients and that is very important to this story. The debtor asked our client for resumes. Now, in their contract they have a very specific, convoluted, way that resumes had to be submitted to them. The HR manager told the hiring manager that the recruiter was cleared to send them the documents, so the manager reaches out and our client sends them resumes for candidates. The debtor then claimed that they did not have to pay because the resumes were not sent in the way outlined in the contract.

We also have some interesting stories about debtors and clients wanting to pay us in… unique ways:

We once had a client that ran a pot farm, and they wanted to pay us back in pot stock. It was just stock in the company and not in the actual pot farm, or at least we think.
One client wanted to pay us in escrow of a truck. Yes, they want to pawn the title of the truck to pay our fees.
One attorney argued that the debtor had caused them damage because our client let them get six months behind on payment. They gave the debtor notice that they wanted a partial payment, a sign of good faith, in the next two weeks and it was not paid.

An oldie but a goodie, this is the original story that we featured on our Facebook series “They Said What?!”:

Our client was a recruiter that provided three candidates to a debtor who needed to really quickly fill a position that was open. The debtor hired one of those candidates but later argued they should not have to pay the fee since they were not given enough variety in candidates.

Quote 1: After all of our years in the staffing and recruiting business, collections, etc., we have a few stand out stories of things we have heard from our clients or through them that would just make you scratch your head.

Quote 2: We also have some interesting stories about debtors and clients wanting to pay us in… unique ways.

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One of the hardest challenges in marketing is reconciling old and new school methods for media. Formerly, companies focused on getting as many people as possible to click onto their webpage and give them their email. They would then take that information and use it to spam them for the rest of eternity. Today, we are a little more conscious of how to reach the new market of potential clients through less annoying methods. Regardless of the changes in technology and audiences, email is still the “key to the marketing kingdom”.

Many companies are scared when we use the terms “remarketing” or “micromarketing” because the words elicit images of expensive advertising campaigns and complex computer programming, but we offer a much easier and cost-effective solution! Remarketing means being visible to your audience at multiple touchpoints by appearing in advertisements on different media sites. Instead of spamming a person’s inbox, you can use one ad and show it on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. so that you increase your visibility without annoying your target customers. Emails are so important to the marketing process because they unlock a new audience with every email you capture. Do not worry, this is not using cookies to catch the personal information of those who click on your website; people use the same email on multiple platforms, so when you learn one email you have unlocked access to all of their contacts on each site.

So, where are you supposed to get all of those valuable emails? Trade shows. If you have ever attended one, then you know at the end of the show you take home a stack of business cards. These are now your magical keys to the kingdom! Every card represents a conversation with a recruiter or customer, and you can plug their email into your list. Now, you have a collection of successful conversations that turned into an exchange of business cards that can become new customers. Here is a fun equation: let’s say you meet 100 people at a trade show, or you pay to get the attendance list of the 100-200 people who were at the trade. That is around 100 keys, and we are going to estimate that each person uses that same email on three social media websites. Even if every person only has one connection on each of those websites, you are looking at 400 people that you can campaign to.

Our company offers a service if you are still wary about the process of micromarketing or want help getting started! For $100 a month, or roughly $1 per lead, we can make sure that your target audience will see your ads. Interested? Want to know more? Contact our brand manager Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com to learn what her team can do for you.

Quote 1: Regardless of the changes in technology and audiences, email is still the “key to the marketing kingdom”.

Quote 2: Emails are so important to the marketing process because they unlock a new audience with every email you capture.

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We love to participate in trade shows! They are a great place to meet new clients in a face-to-face setting and compare notes with other companies in the industry. Recently, we won an award at a conference due to our targeted multi-media marketing campaigns. When we heard the good news, it got us thinking about some of our unique strategies that helped us win that award; one of which is our participation in trade shows.

Some people may say that trade shows are a thing of the past, but that is because they do not do the proper background work. First, our outbound marketers reach out to people attending the tradeshow or companies in the area. We tell them about the upcoming show and give them a sneak peek of the opportunities we can offer them. After we have made the initial contact, we use backlinks to retarget our potential audience on multiple platforms. Anyone who uses the internet can probably tell you about pixels; companies use them to catch users who click on their page, look at their content, or research similar businesses. One of our secret weapons when it comes to remarketing is catching customers’ emails so that we can gain access to their contacts. At trade shows, we collect emails from attendees and retarget them through their connected social media accounts and find their connections who hold similar roles. By using pixels, we others who may be interested in our work and call them. We love hearing from our customers that they found us through ads on social media, phone calls, trade shows, or any combinations of the above. This gives us the power to create a custom audience of specific types of recruiters.

In our industry, people are often caught off guard when they find that they need the help of a collections agency; it goes with the idea that when you have plenty to eat then you are not concerned about your next meal. It is only when you run out that you start looking for help. We try to get our name out there so that companies know who to call if they need to collect from a debtor. In addition to that, our goal is to train and educate clients, so they are prepared when they come to us.

Next time you hear about a trade show, think about our strategy and use the opportunity to your advantage! If you need any help or want to use our services, contact our brand manager, Ally Cole, at ally@elocglobal.com.

Quote 1: In our industry, people are often caught off guard when they find that they need the help of a collections agency.

Quote 2: One of our secret weapons when it comes to remarketing is catching customers’ emails so that we can gain access to their contacts.

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In case you did not know, we are a family business. Our family members are involved in a variety of positions throughout the company. Some people are hesitant to work with their relatives because we all have heard the horror stories of Thanksgiving or Christmas being ruined by fights. So, we asked our family. “What do you think is the biggest pitfall, or mistake, that family businesses make?”

The most important issue that comes to mind is navigating different personalities. There is always danger when two people share too much or too little in common; this can lead to butting heads and explosive arguments that have the potential to break you apart. Anytime you work with family there is an intense learning curve on how to work together and prevent any personal drama from affecting the business. The solution: setting boundaries.

Our number one rule is there has to be a switch to turn off the shop talk when we meet outside of the office. This can be a hard rule to follow because we, admittedly, are workaholics, but there has to be a time to be CEO and attorney and a time for being parent and child. So, leave work for the work week! Family time should be your opportunity to get away from the stress of the job and just enjoy being together.

We have discovered another great technique to avoid a blowout is by creating designated areas of influence. It is not a walk in the park, especially for the micromanagers out there, but the boundary allows you to have separate spheres of work so you can do your job without worrying that your Dad is looking over your shoulder. Another perk is that you can work on your own, but also have someone you trust to listen to your ideas or give you advice.

The last ingredient is to have a good sense of humor; it can be particularly handy when you have overlap in customers, projects, or any other aspect of the business. You are family after all and no one understands you like your parents, siblings, children, etc.

Do not let fear get in the way of bringing family into your business! You may be missing out on a wonderful experience and opportunity to use each other’s skills. Need some advice? Want to see our family tree? Email Samantha Cole at samantha@aercollections.com.

Quote 1: Anytime you work with family there is an intense learning curve on how to work together and prevent any personal drama from affecting the business.

Quote 2: Our number one rule is there has to be a switch to turn off the shop talk when we meet outside of the office.

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One thing we have done exceptionally well over this past year is shifted our mindset to view ourselves as a media company and our products as commercials. Around one-third of our total expenditure is spent to produce content that is not, necessarily, outright selling our products; we have moved our focus to resource content that our clients need. Since we shifted our mindset, clients have asked us about producing their own content and how they can also become more like a media company.

We believe in a multitiered approach when it comes to any content or marketing that we produce. The first step that we suggest to every client is to change their perspective. Content should not be about your company rather about making the client’s life easier. What answers are they trying to find? If you can answer that question, then you can make effective and enticing content. Key words are going to be your best friends; you need to pick out a few of them that pertain to your area of work and include them in everything you publish. Any words, topics, or videos with the special key words that garner traffic will bring more internet users to your website.

One of our favorite stories to tell our clients is one of our content writers asked where should they promote their story. Should it be on Facebook? LinkedIn? Twitter? Our brand manager answered with one word: yes. You need to post content on any and every platform that you possibly can and it does not take a huge team to do it! We make videos once a week and use them to produce podcasts, articles, quotes, and memes. This does not have to be a daunting process; you can use a team, have your receptionist and a college kid do it, or subcontract out to a company like ours. Subcontracting does not have to be expensive; we, and other companies like ours, offer a variety of programs where we produce magazines, videos, articles, podcasts, and other forms of marketing for a low price. It takes away the stress of time and resources that you may not want to spend on content production.

Let’s circle back to how you can make informative and appealing content for clients. We discussed how our video helps us produce things to publish on a variety of platforms. This is an important tip because different people get information in different ways. You need to cater to your entire audience by making videos, articles, and memes. Anything you can do to increase your visibility on the internet and reach a wide range of viewers without breaking the bank.

Always put the client first. This should be your guiding principle for every piece of content you produce. Your services may make their life easier, but it is not about your products. What is the number one question that you are asked? Write about it, create a video, record a podcast, and do anything you can with it so people will know to come to you for the answer. We hope this advice helps you as much as it has for us. Do you have any questions? Are you interested in the services we offer? Contact Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com.

Quote 1: You need to post content on any and every platform that you possibly can and it does not take a huge team to do it!

Quote 2: You need to cater to your entire audience by making videos, articles, and memes.

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Contracts are, by their very nature, designed to protect two or more parties from each other and to hold them accountable. Unfortunately, contracts can be used to undermine and hurt the parties that they were supposed to protect. You have to balance the risk between being legally covered and getting the deal done. We often say that a one-page contract with 2 or 3 of our safeguards in it is safer than a 10-page contract with every addendum known to man hidden in it. Our clients come to us for help on their collections because the majority of them are very experienced in sales and marketing but not so much on the legal or administrative side. So, in order to help, we are going to share the three things you can do when signing agreements to protect themselves legally.

Outline a possessory period- This should go without saying, but always include a specifically stated possessory period to protect your collateral until the conditions of the agreement have been met.
Make sure that all of the wording in the document is the same- Many times the terms of the contract will be slightly altered after it is drawn up and some of the wording is changed. Go through the rest of the document and check for any contradicting terms; if you are not careful, you may void yourself out of your own contract.
Get a signature- This is incredibly important! We have seen time and time again where our client will not get the contract signed, for one excuse or another, and when it came time to collect, the debtor’s attorney fought the collection in court. There is NO EXCUSE for not getting a contract signed.

We may be beating a dead horse, but you will not believe how many times clients come to us because they failed to get a contract signed. We have been in business for 30 years and, in all that time, we have never worked on a collection without a signed contract. The reason this is so important, especially in our business, is because if there are not agreed upon terms and conditions then we can be accused of bank fraud for collecting funds from our clients. If you are not going to get a signature, which we beg you to do, at least have a documented record that everyone knew what the recruiter is doing. We have heard all the arguments from debtors’ attorneys: there was never a discussion to pay for the service or the recruiting firm was acting out of the goodness of their heart when they sent candidates to a client. Yes, we really have heard that and even worse is that it held up in court.

Protect yourself and your business by following our three suggestions: outline a possessory period, check that all of the wording is the same, and get a signature. If you need help with your contracts or want legal advice, contact Samantha Cole at samantha@aercollections.com.

Quote 1: If you are not careful, you may void yourself out of your own contract.

Quote 2: There is NO EXCUSE for not getting a contract signed.

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We are fortunate in this day and age to have so many ways to connect with each other through social media, but sometimes it can be overwhelming. Each website has a different audience, shares a different message, and reaches people in different ways. There are countless arguments about which one is better; should you use Facebook or YouTube? Or Linked In? Or Twitter? If you ask us, we say all of the above.

We believe in a wide range approach to marketing on social media. Our clients often come to us and ask, “What should I start doing tomorrow to help my SEO?” Our answer: publish content on every platform because they all appeal to different audiences.

Videos are a great way to share content because they have a high rate for conversion and are a great way to engage a wide audience. We create videos to discuss popular problems and ideas in the industry and explain them in further detail. The best part? Once we have generated a video, we can convert it into more pieces of content. We take our videos and create links to our website, transcribe into articles, and pull quotes to be published as memes.

Transcribed articles are some of our best tools because they are already keyword heavy and we cover topics that people are already asking about; please note, when people come to you with a problem, we can guarantee they have already asked Google. By placing an article on your website, you are able to improve your SEO and move up in the search engine results.

Once we have transcribed the video and created an article, we pull quotes for aesthetically pleasing snippets of information that we share on the different social media platforms. These small pieces are helpful tools because they catch the viewer’s eye and lead them to more information on our website.

When we tell our clients that they should be posting content on every social media platform, people start to panic. There is no way one person can generate all of that content! We recognize that, so we take 20 minutes a week to produce our content. The first piece is the video which we quickly film and post on YouTube. Our writers will then use it as research to transcribe and transform into articles, memes, and quotes. In case you are not counting, that is four full pieces of content that comes from one video. This means we are able to post material once a day Monday through Friday. The fifth piece on Friday is generally a description of different services or promotions that we are offering.

It is very common for companies to post commercials on LinkedIn that essentially say the same thing, “this is what WE are going to do for you.” Our message is, “YOUR life will be easier because we can offer ____ to you.” We are dedicated to offering content of value to anyone in the industry. Our companies have been revolutionized by this content strategy into a media firm that pumps out free content while also offering other services. Even with the flow of free materials, we have seen significant growth in our sales and our website traffic has tripled in the last 12 months. Is that not every company’s dream?

The one piece of information we want you to takeaway is: do not be afraid to use your content in different ways. One idea can become a video, an article, a meme, and so much more. Each piece will reach different people in different ways. This means more people will hear and learn from you because you took the time to share the information in different ways. Work smarter not harder.

Have we inspired you? Do you want help getting started? Contact Ally Cole and her team of marketing experts by emailing ally@elocglobal.com.

Quote 1: Publish content on every platform because they all appeal to different audiences.

Quote 2: One idea can become a video, an article, a meme, and so much more.

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If you know anything about our company, then you know that we have preached for the last 27 years about always getting a contract signed. This applies to fee agreements, credit checks, and any other contract you can think of. You also want to make sure that when you create these contracts to bury safeguards in them to protect you. We previously held a webinar on how to turn a credit application into a contract, and we mentioned some of the things you should always put in them: attorney fees, collection fees, secured creditor, jurisdictional clause, and a process for any late fees or interest. That being said, it is important to put safeguards into your contract as long as you know exactly what you are saying.

Lately, we have had clients come to us who put random legal words into a contract and end up with a time bomb that screwed them over on their own contract. There seems to be a new phenomenon to put legal sounding words, usually found on the internet, in a contract and it backfires! We know that the intent is good, but the results can be detrimental.

One of the worst scenarios this can happen in is when staffing firms deal with indemnification and do not clearly outline mutual accountability which can produce serious liability on their part; the same goes for releases. You may find yourself in a dilemma of heads they win and tails you lose.

Here is a situation to think about: you are in negotiations and have a standard fee agreement, but your client wants to change it, make sure you read all the way through and change the contract from the top to the bottom. You do not want contradictions throughout it. We have seen how a contract will state one thing on the first page, but not be changed on the second page, and it can fall against our client. In some cases, it can be resolved if you have documentation of the agreement and both parties agree it was a mistake, but do not rely on this happening.

We are fortunate to have an in-house attorney because we always have them involved in any contract we draw up or sign. You may be thinking this is a bit excessive, especially with the kind of money that you have to spend on attorney fees, but an extra thousand in the beginning can save you from losing thousands in contracts. You may even find a contract online that was drawn up by an attorney, but have it double checked by a local business attorney because some contracts can be broad and not cover your jurisdiction.

The most common reasons that our clients get in trouble is because they are being cheap, or they are overthinking their contracts. For those of you who are fans of Friends, there is an episode where Joey writes a note using a thesaurus to change every word and he ends up with a jumbled mess that had no relation to his original message. Please do not try to use a thesaurus or put in legal terms unless you know exactly what they mean and how they relate to each other. Important: indemnify is a powerful legal word that can easily become a ticking time bomb. Do not use it in your contract unless you know what it means, and you have the insurance to back it up!

All of our clients have access to our vault of contracts, and these are broad write ups that they can modify to account for the laws in their jurisdiction. Our contracts are better than using nothing, but each state is different. If you want access to our vault or help with your contract write ups and negotiations, please contact either Wilson Cole at wilson@aercollections.com or Samantha Cole at samantha@aercollections.com.

Quote 1: There seems to be a new phenomenon to put legal sounding words, usually found on the internet, in a contract and it backfires!

Quote 2: All of our clients have access to our vault of contracts, and these are broad write ups that they can modify to account for the laws in their jurisdiction.

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SEO has become one of our hot topics lately because it is so important to the success of your company. We have previously discussed the “why”, but today we want to share the “how”. Our auto SEO optimizer is one of our best tools for improving our internet presence and now we want to share it with you!

Usually, we manually evaluate our websites for improvement through our marketing team, but we also use a software that does the same appraisal on a more simplistic level. Since we feel it is our duty to make sure the industry is protected and thriving, we have made that software available to anyone who wants to use it. The program goes through a website, analyzes it, gives an overview, and shows what the website looks like when accessed on a desktop and on a mobile device; all of this information is free to use in order to improve your company’s website.

We wanted to test our program and provide you a sample of how it works, so we found a random website and ran it through the software. The report came back with a grade of E+ based on a A+ through F system. The overall grade is broken down into three sections: SEO, social, and security. We have found that these are the most important factors when determining a website’s usefulness.

Another important piece of information that is determined through our SEO auto optimizer is how a website translates or is designed for phone usage. Generally speaking, over 50% of profit comes from customers using a mobile devise. Which leads to the all-important question: how are people perceiving you? There are multiple levels of SEO and mobile accessibility should be the first one established because the one thing you do not want to do is frustrate a customer because of mobile inability. When designing a website, you need to make sure that there is an interface compatible with a desktop and a mobile device. The overall goal is comfort and ease for the user. This requires finding a balance between features and content; you want enough content to boost your SEO but not so much that it slows down loading a page.

Are you interested? Go to rssmmarketing.com and click on free SEO audit. In about 60 seconds, the program will run and generate a report that will be emailed to you. For those of you who want additional help, reach out to Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com. Her team can look at your report and implement a plan to improve your website.

Quote 1: Our auto SEO optimizer is one of our best tools for improving our internet presence and now we want to share it with you!

Quote 2: Is your website useful and relevant to the users?

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We often talk about overly serious topics when it comes to our legal podcasts, so today we wanted to take a break and look at some of the best excuses that debtors have used on why they did not pay our clients. There is a certain procedure of events that must happen before we get involved. Before the claim becomes a legal issue it runs through collections and before collections it goes through the clients’ BS meter. Now that you know the steps, let’s look at the top five excuses!

“We are not paying because it was turned over to collections.” We found this one particularly funny because the debtor was not paying before the client turned over the account. Maybe, they could see the future and knew they would be sent to collections?
“I’m not paying because you client will not meet with us so we can give him his check.” You may be doing a double take but let us explain. The debtor wanted to meet the client at an obscure time of day in a strange location. As a rule of thumb: if you are asked to meet at 11 pm off a turn pike to get your money, they will not be giving you a check. We love our clients and will fight for them to the best of our ability, but we are not going to stand in a dark alley to collect from your debtor. Sorry!
“We will not pay because it is technically not the same person because they passed a certification exam between the presentation and hiring.” This case came to us through Backdoor Hires and we find it funny because any time an attorney says, “technically,” it is legal-ese for BS. The debtor’s argument was that the candidate had passed a certification for the trade, but since they did not have that certification at the presentation it was a different person in the eyes of the contract. We have got to say; it is too bad the candidate did not get a nose job too because then they might have a had a real argument!
“We do not have to pay because they were not retained by us and they only worked for us for 3 months.” Unfortunately for this debtor, the contract did not define what retain meant. It also said that if they engaged the candidate in any capacity, regardless of job title or arrangement, they had to pay. Even the lead fire juggler is worth some value.
“The client was retained to hire candidates and they only sent over two candidates. One was hired, but only because of time constraints that prevented them from seeing more qualified candidates.” If an attorney wants to argue with a non-attorney, hang up the phone. Half the time they do this because of some legal gotcha they have up their sleeve, and the rest of the time they are saying absolute trash and hoping their law degree will make them sound credible. You would be amazed if you knew how often lawyers lie and hope no one will know enough to call BS. For those of you under time constraints, we recommend speed dating as the most efficient way to meet more than two candidates.

We hope you got just as much enjoyment out of this list as we did. In all seriousness, if a debtor says they will not pay then hang up and call us. Clearly, we have heard it all and we are here to help you with all of your collection’s needs. Reach out to Samantha Cole at samantha@aercollections.com to get started.

Quote 1: As a rule of thumb: if you are asked to meet at 11 pm off a turn pike to get your money, they will not be giving you a check.

Quote 2: If an attorney wants to argue with a non-attorney, hang up the phone.

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We have recently seen a trend with some of our clients who ended up in litigation after receiving a check from their clients saying “paid in full” and here is our first piece of advice: you have the right to shut up and you should exercise it. Do not assume you know what is going on and call us.

Unfortunately, we have a history of clients coming to us after accepting checks that said, “paid in full”. In the old days, if they wrote some special wording on a check, you still reserved your rights for protection. Recent rulings have weakened that understood protection and made it so if a client writes extra wording on a check, it should no longer be trusted. When we hear an excuse about advice taken from a 1980s law class, it never comes from an attorney. An actual lawyer will be constantly updated on changes in the laws, so do not trust that one class you took back in business school and listen to the advice of a practicing lawyer.

So, what happens when a client goes to dispute a check that says, “paid in full”? There are a few ways that you can end up in trouble once you receive that check. The first way is if you deposit the check and later try to collect. This opens you up for a countersuit file for misaction because the check has been cashed. Depending on the state there is some time allowance to cancel a check that was cashed, but the best action is to reject the check and call us to help you collect the full amount.

The number one rule in these situations is: if they write “paid in full,” it is better not to accept. Some clients will write this on a check to make it invalid. It is slightly easier to dispute if it is written on the stub rather than written on the back and we have even seen it written on a post-it note, but in any case if someone says they are not going to pay you, exercise your right to shut up and give us a call!

Our team of lawyers have some important advice if you find yourself in this situation: if you send an invoice and receive a partial payment that says, “paid in full,” contact the debtor and send the check back to collect the full amount. If they claim that they do not owe you any more, DO NOT CASH IT! By cashing the check, you are unlikely to ever get the remainder of the money you are owed. Clients are very good at creating layers of defense: writing “paid in full” or certified on a check, saying it over the phone, or even sending it in a letter. We have even seen cases where a client did not deposit but kept the check and their argument was overturned in litigation.

We have posted many blogs and written articles about knowing what you are signing and this is another example of why. If you are sent a partial check along with something to sign, do not touch that paper unless you know exactly what it means; otherwise you are opening yourself up to a legal disaster. You cannot file any kind of suit if you have signed a settlement. The “under duress” argument is simply not valid unless they held a gun to your head.

If you receive a “paid in full” check, contact the debtor to see if this is a mistake. If you keep the check, be aware of the possible repercussions. This is a difficult case to fight even in collections, so do not think that you can outsmart the debtor. If a debtor puts you in this situation then it is highly likely that they have done this before and are very good at it; so be smart and protect yourself by shutting up and calling us. Need our help? Contact Samantha Cole at samantha@aercollections.com and have our team of expert lawyers consult on your case.

Quote 1: The number one rule in these situations is: if they write “paid in full”, it is better not to accept.

Quote 2: If someone says they are not going to pay you, exercise your right to shut up and give us a call!

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As we are moving into the third quarter for this fiscal year, we all are taking a look at summaries and reports about how marketing and SEO strategies have been used and the impact they have had over the last year. By creating SEO reports, we have been able to identify where our traffic is coming from and how we are going to treat it differently based on resources. Often, people make the mistake of grouping internet traffic into a singular category, but this ultimately hurts your ability to improve your marketing strategies and to understand who your current audience is. But, what does it mean when traffic is increasing?

There are a few different avenues of traffic that need to be identified. The first type of traffic is known as direct, and this refers to people who type in your company name into a Google search because they know exactly what you do, and they want to work with you. Next is organic traffic which comes from people who type in a general search, like staffing collections, and they are sent to your website as a result of the Google search. A paid avenue is the result of any paid marketing campaigns that draw people to your website; a clear distinction should be made between organic and paid because your company is paying for your ads to be shown rather than naturally being pulled to the top of the list by Google. Though our company does not often pay for traffic outside of social media, there is nothing wrong with paid traffic, as long as it is helping to attract your target audience. Referral traffic comes to you by having a link to your company’s page on another website, like a blog, and people are directed back to you. The best way to understand this type of avenue is by thinking about a pie recipe that you see on a social media site. You may click on a recipe on Facebook or Pinterest but then you will be directed to the actual webpage that the recipe was originally posted on. The last kind of traffic is social; this refers to people who reach your company through your presence on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

When we took a look at our SEO report, our direct traffic increased by 24%, or 450 people, due to a telemarketing campaign we implemented over the past year. Our organic numbers showed that around 113 people, and this was exciting because the higher organic traffics means that people who could have gone to our competitors are instead choosing to work with us. The last 44 people came from the other category; this means that there was not a significant enough amount coming from any avenue to create the distinction.

It is important that you treat each avenue of traffic differently and we will explain why in the coming weeks, but, for now, keep in mind that we use different techniques to bring the right kind of people to our website. We want our traffic to consist of people who are searching for staffing and recruiting collections. Though it may sound appealing to try and cast a wide net in order to increase your numbers, drawing in the wrong type of business creates more work for yourself.

The most important piece of advice we can give you on SEO reports and how to know where your traffic is coming from is do not overthink it. These reports are simple and should be used to clearly define and identify your audience and the traffic avenues being used. Also, these reports should be simply applied. If the report is clear, you should know what avenues work and where the new leads are coming from. For example, if you see more traffic from social avenues, then you can enact plans to increase other ones.

Our next episode will explain how and why each type of traffic should be treated differently, but until then if you need help tracking your traffic or increasing it, then please contact Ally Cole and her expert team at ally@elocglobal.com.

Quote 1: By creating SEO reports, we have been able to identify where our traffic is coming from and how we are going to treat it differently based on resources.

Quote 2: Though it may sound appealing to try and cast a wide net in order to increase your numbers, drawing in the wrong type of business creates more work for yourself.

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When people come to us to help collect from a client of theirs that broke an agreement, we always advise that you refer all communication back to us. There are many problems that can arise if you try to personally deal with a debtor after turning the account over to us.

We have often seen situations where a debtor contacts our client, after bringing us into the picture, and they try to make a deal; 90% of the time the debtor will not come through and our client is opened up for a lawsuit. We have also seen debtors who have called an attorney and said that the client accepted a settlement, but this was never discussed with the attorney and now there is a case of he said, she said. As a general rule, going behind attorneys creates a web of backroom deals that rarely come together, and it gives the debtor a defense. The most important piece of advice that we give to our clients is that they have the right to shut up.

Once a case comes to us, the client should make no contact with the debtor except through us. We had one client come in and the debtor sent them a partial payment. Our client immediately turned back to us and we contacted the debtor to work out an arrangement that ensured the debt would be paid in full over the course of five weeks. We later spoke with our client and they said that if we had not made an arrangement with the debtor then they would have agreed to an extended payment period of 12 months. In this case, you can clearly see the advantage of letting us do our job. Using a collections firm makes the debtor more pliable and puts a layer of pressure on the negotiation. This becomes especially important when the client would have agreed to a lesser deal. Our involvement leaves a fear of the unknown where the debtor cannot read what is going on and has no control. The second that a client goes around us they have negated our purpose and we lose control.

One last issue we want to identify is if a debtor reaches out to you they may be able to get you to unknowingly make an agreement that they can use as a defense in court. How many times have you been in the car and a client accidentally calls your personal line rather your business? When this happens, you often are caught off guard and do not have a chance to think through your words. Do not let this happen because you might make some kind of general statement, such as “well that’s not so bad,” and it can be misconstrued as an agreement. Debtors are notoriously slick and will use every play in the book to avoid paying our clients. This is why we maintain that all communication should be through us.

Our job is most effective when you keep the lines open and let us to our job. You have paid our fee, so get the full benefit by letting us deal with the issue while you focus on your business. If you need help with collecting from a debtor, please contact Samantha Cole at samantha@aercollections.com.

Quote 1: There are many problems that can arise if you try to personally deal with a debtor after turning the account over to us.

Quote 2: Once a case comes to us, the client should make no contact with the debtor except through us.

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Time and time again we have discussed the importance of creating content to improve your company image and SEO. You also are probably aware that all marketing experts preach that content is king. But this is where the narrative seems to stop. What kind of content should you be creating? Well we are here to pick up the baton and take you to the finish line!

First and foremost, the content you create should always be on brand. People seem to focus more on posting content rather than what it is actually about. For example: if you run a collection agency, then you need stick with topics relating to collections and the kind of problems your clients may face. It would be ridiculous to click onto a collections website and read an article about Great Danes and it would confuse users. The key is to post content that creates the best user experience possible, be consistent, and make your content easy to find.

Let’s look at another example that we learned from a marketing expert: a great way to think about your SEO strategy is the internet is an all-you-can-eat buffet and your company is the salad bar. You do not want to hide the dressing by the potatoes because no one would be able to find it! Do not make the content hard to find!

Along with ease of access, you should also have a message that is congruent and promotes your business. A lot of times advertisers will create campaigns that are geared towards being flashy and award-worthy, but the message has no connection to the company or its products. We try to avoid this trap by looking at the numbers; we have seen our website traffic grow 10 times due to practicing what we preach. When we post content, it needs to be useful and memorable or it’s not worth the effort. At the end of the day, we are a collections firm and we had to find a way to generate revenue and sell our services.

One of our most successful ventures has been our magazine because it has put us in contact with many important people. One of those is J. Abraham and if you are not familiar with this marketing genius then you should be. He was instrumental in getting us on this path 20 years ago when he started preaching the same message we share today: share content that is congruent with our clients. We have to take a look and see how our content affects them.

We are often questioned about our free webinars that are similar to ones that other companies generally charge for and why we give away that information for free. The answer is simple: we want to support this industry and teach people how to do things better. That is our goal and we accomplish it by posting content that is relative to our company.

For those of you who want to improve your SEO or company image through relevant and informative content, but need some help getting started, feel free to contact Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com.

Quote 1: First and foremost, the content you create should always be on brand.

Quote 2: The key is to post content that creates the best user experience possible, be consistent, and make your content easy to find.

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Pay attention closely because we are about to share our secret sauce of marketing. We are going to take you behind the scenes to show you the layout in the funnel of our main marketing plans and how you can replicate it. Basically, we are going to show you our website traffic and how we are getting things into our funnel. If you are able, click on our coordinating YouTube video to watch everything that will be described below.

The first thing to look at in our funnel is the different places that we catch our target audience. This includes advertising on social media, buying ads, videos on YouTube, emails directing people to a landing page for our webinars, and (not pictured in the video) calls from our telemarketers. All of these are methods for bringing in traffic and they follow the same path. Underneath each of these icons there is an option to insert three pixels: what is happening? Pixels are, essentially, cookies that let us know who has visited our page so we can know to retarget them.

Fun fact: these were nicknamed pixels because in the early ages of the internet it used to be a pixel by pixel picture that was uploaded. Whenever someone would download the screen, a company was alerted because the pixels were uploaded to another computer.

If you ever click on our website or webinars, we will later show up in your social media feeds and news sites. This is because we spend the majority of our marketing budget on remarketing. Let’s say you have watched one of our webinars, a link will pop up to send you to a sales page for our services. We want to educate you by presenting great content in our webinars to use on your own, but it also is an opportunity for you to sign up with one of our services. Our funnel will catch on if you click on an offer, but do not buy, we are alerted to send an email reminding you of the offer and send out additional information for a link to our website. We then present the blog page with a link to our chat teams in case you want to talk to someone about the post.

Other websites will use downloads as an invasive way of sending content to people they catch in their funnels. Everyone is tired of giving out their email address every time they want to download a report, so we use our pixels to get basic information to try and reengage. Our goal is to effectively spread information and engage our audience without being invasive. Two things happen once a person clicks onto our website: we get information to send off emails down the road and we can put pixels on a blog post to send ads using remarketing pixels.

Many people have been lamenting about how advertising on Facebook, and other social media websites, is becoming increasingly expensive. While some big companies still advertise on television, the likelihood of being seen is slim. Social media is really the best way to target people instead of using billboards or television which cast a wide net. By using points per click advertising, you can really identify basic supply and demand. One of the things we have been purposeful about is finding our market and dedicate our advertising efforts on them. Most of the people that make buying decisions for companies are in the over 50 crowd and they spend more time on Facebook than millennials. So, we know that it is worth spending more on those social media sites to find our customers.

In this market, we need to delineate our self by using education of the industry to get brand recognition. If you see our webinars, common sense says that you should use our services. Even you do not want to buy from us, at least we are passing along valuable knowledge. It is important to think about what you provide potential clients and how they can

benefit from you. Forget about how amazing you are and really home in on how a customer benefits from your help. We have been in business for 28 years and clients do not care about that number aside from establishing some credibility. If they turnover their account, how can we help collect for them? The reason people come to us is because of our staff attorneys, seasoned collection crew, and set process that work 80%-81% of the time.

Using our funnel, we have been able to accomplish three goals as a company: educate, improve the work of clients and the overall industry, and find how we can fit a client’s needs. It does not matter what avenue we use to advertise because the message is still the same! We hope that by following these tips and taking our advice that you can improve your marketing funnel and find an easy way to land more clients! Do you have any questions or need any help? Contact Ally Cole at ally@elcoglobal.com

Quote 1: We are going to take you behind the scenes to show you the layout in the funnel of our main marketing plans and how you can replicate it.

Quote 2: Using our funnel, we have been able to accomplish three goals as a company: educate, improve the work of clients and the overall industry, and find how we can fit a client’s needs.

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There is one piece of advice that we wish every client knew: always know who you are doing business with and get your contracts signed! If you think we sound like a broken record, you are not wrong, but it is shocking how many problems are the direct result of not following this advice.

When it comes to contracts, you need a process for getting everything signed and filed correctly. There are two major issues that we want to address and the first is not knowing who you are doing business with. You may think you are working with ABC enterprises but then you search through the Secretary of State, and you discover that they are registered as ABC services and enterprises; these are two separate companies and this can cause major issues if you end up suing or any kind of legal problem. The best resource for researching clients is through the Secretary of State, most of them are free, and you can enter in the business to search to see what the registered name of the company is and who is it registered to. This should always be the first step in setting up a credit process.

The second biggest issue that we have seen is that companies will not get the contract signed or they will not keep a record of signed contracts. The first question we ask at the beginning of any legal process is: do we have everything? Then: is there a smoking gun that would allow us to bypass a trial and simply summary judgement through the process? After that: what documents did you think you sent over? Did you?

We have been in a litigation process, or even a judgement enforcement, and a client has come to us and said, “We later found the contract in so and so’s desk.” This is problematic if we have already gone through the process thinking otherwise because the trial can be extended, their attorney may not settle, or you cannot ask for attorney’s fees if the contract is not signed. So please, check with everyone! As part of our system, on our CRM applicant tracking system or on staffing software users can attack a digital copy to the record to ensure that it is there. You can even use other online services to do this, or if you are old school, then print out a copy to keep on file. It is always smart to keep a paper copy because there is always the chance of digital corruption.

Since the bar requires that all contracts be held for seven years, have a system for organizing and filing these away. This can be especially important because if you have a long-term client with multiple contracts. The general rule in this scenario is that last contract signed should apply to everything going forward AND everything prior to it to cover stuff in the past. We have encountered weird situations where a client has multiple contracts which include branch and national contracts at the same time. This can become a chronological nightmare to sort through which candidate falls under which contract; unfortunately, this can open up a whole can of worms of different kinds of contracts: retainer search, replacement guarantee, rebate, credit, etc. Essentially, there are many ways to make contracts complicated and we urge you not to!

Here is your checklist:

Always check with the Secretary of State, do a quick search, or even ask your client for the corporate name and where they are incorporated (which is a conversation for another day).
Have a system in place for tracking contracts. A general rule of thumb is that if you cannot put your hand on the contract, then you should not have bothered with getting it sign. If you have multiple contracts, be able to sort through them.
Always have a digital and hard copy of any document.

If you need any further advice on signing contracts and setting up credit processes with clients, or if you want to hear about the merits of a color coordinated filing system, then contact Samantha Cole at samantha@aercollections.com.

Quote 1: When it comes to contracts, you need a process for getting everything signed and filed correctly.

Quote 2: There is one piece of advice that we wish every client knew: always know who you are doing business with and get your contracts signed!

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We have spoken in the past about the value of SEO, search engine optimization, and how to promote your website to the top of Google searches. Another great way to increase your website traffic is through backlinks; this essentially means that you have a link on someone else’s website that goes back to yours. This can be a great way to not only promote your Google presence but also to connect with other people in your industry and draw on their audience.

One of the best ways to set up backlinks is to place articles and similar things on other websites. This directly tells Google that you are credible, and that they think you are credible too! As much as you want to create backlinks, do not fall into the trap of letting your articles be posted for the sake of it. Just as your audience can tell if you insert keywords in an article to improve your SEO, the same can be said for creating backlinks. Not only are you sacrificing the user experience by blatantly placing keywords or backlinks to promote your website, but the Google algorithms will pick up on this and penalize your webpage in the search results.

The best way to create backlinks is to target quality websites that you want to be on instead of just tracking down the easiest ones. It can be a bit awkward or even inappropriate to contact website owners and ask them to link your articles, so we have a few tricks to starting that conversation! Once you have chosen a few websites that you know you want to connect with, we suggest choosing 10 to start with, comb through their pages and search for errors or broken links. Then, contact the website owner and kindly tell them that you noticed a broken link and offer that you also have a valuable article for their site. This is the definition of a win-win situation. Another way you can word this is by finding a conversation on a website and send the owner an email about “such and such data” and that you have valuable input to add. If you really want to impress people, find broken links and save the URL code. Then send an email saying, “We found a broken link that we wanted to let you know about insert URL code. Also, we noticed that you have a similar audience and we have a valuable article that you should look at.” The most important thing is to not ask people to promote you for free but show them that you have something beneficial to share with their readers.

Find associations that bring value to your industry and make connections with them to help promote your SEO. In the long run, you want to create backlinks on websites that are more credible than hotbacklinks.org.

Google’s top priority is the user experience. This is why you have to make it your top priority when trying to promote your SEO and not try to take shortcuts. Remember, you may work hard, but Google works harder!

Hopefully, you can take this advice to improve your SEO and make some important connections in your industry. If you need any help with your backlinks, contact Ally and her team at ally@elocglobal.com.

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We are big proponents of getting work done without having to physically do the work yourself, and we try to implement this system in every possible aspect of our business. If you are a small business, or remember way back when, then you are familiar with the struggle when you go to market and drum up so much work that you stop being able to market. Then your business declines because you have run out of work, and the cycle continues. This is where automated remarketing comes in! Our marketing team broke out of this cycle by creating a consistent automated flow of business by consistently marketing.

Our two biggest marketing campaigns that are running right now are promoting our webinars: “Behind the Numbers” and “The Seven Biggest Mistakes made by Staffing and Recruiting Firms”. Side note: if you are interested in learning more about these campaigns, email Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com. Our marketing campaigns are important because we need people to consistently attend these webinars since we have positioned ourselves as experts on these topics. We use automated remarketing to increase our traffic by placing pixels that are triggered when people click on our webpages and links. These pixels provide us information on who make up our audience, what other websites they commonly use, and where we should place our marketing ads in order to catch their attention.

Let’s take a step back and explain our method a little better. We uploaded an email list of clients who could need our services in order to target them on the internet. By using pixels, we know who is going on our website, create lookalike audiences to tell Facebook who we want to target, and develop another list of staffing and recruiting agencies around the size of those audiences we have already captured. The pixels work as marketing tools that we can hide on our webpages to track users or pull them back to certain places on our website that we want to highlight. You can use these devices to have your ads show up in lookalike Facebook feeds or YouTube commercials; which, from an economic standpoint, can be a very cheap and effective way to market your business. We use a cost per click campaign which essentially is based on how many people are interested enough to click; we pay about $5 in space that we use and this can vary based on traffic, who else is doing something similar, and how much other businesses are paying for that same space.

The most important takeaway from this article is to take advantage of the maturity of our internet that has these tools which is generally inexpensive. As time passes, large institutional money that is currently used on television, which is slowing going away, will be moved to the internet which will drive these marketing costs up. So, take advantage of automated marketing to boost your advertising on pages like Facebook or YouTube while it is still accessible and inexpensive.

Regardless of what plan you utilize, take advantage of the amazing automation techniques that are out there, think of them as leverage. If your ads are working well, then automation can be your best friend. If your campaign or website has issues, automation amplifies this problem. Do not let this happen to you, so reach out to Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com and her team for help, and let your marketing campaign run itself without having to do the work yourself!

Quote 1: By using pixels, we know who is going on our website, create lookalike audiences to tell Facebook who we want to target, and develop another list of staffing and recruiting agencies around the size of those audiences we have already captured.

Quote 2: So, take advantage of automated marketing to boost your advertising on pages like Facebook or YouTube while it is still accessible and inexpensive.

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If you know our company, then you are aware that for the past 27 years we have been advising companies on what we call “the Seven Deadly Mistakes in collections”. These are the most common and serious mistakes that we have seen in credit collections. Recently, we held a webinar on these mistakes and plan on holding another one very soon. For those of you who missed it, here are the two mistakes that have proven to be the most destructive for our clients and how you can avoid them.

The first deadliest mistake is not getting something signed. This has become such a serious issue that some states have passed legislation that requires every business relationship to have a signed contract. Why is this so important? The best way to demonstrate the gravity of this mistake is through an example: We had a client that provided high end consultants to a client of theirs. They were owed $24,000 in past due credit and their client tried to get out of paying by cancelling their services. Our client had originally presented them with a contract that stated in the case of cancellation there was an additional fee added to the amount they were owed. Unfortunately, they never got that contract signed and were having difficulty collecting what they were owed. We were hired to help them go after their client, but we quickly ran into issues. How can we argue for collection without a signed contract? Since there is no legal evidence, it became a battle of he said she said.

A little sub-section to the first deadliest mistake is if you are presented with a client’s master service agreement, know what exactly you are signing. Always have an attorney look at any contract before you sign it because these kinds of agreements can put your business in a bad situation. We have seen cases where the agreements became almost punitive.

The second deadliest mistake is when clients do not know exactly who they are working with. We have seen countless times that clients think they are dealing with one company, but it is actually the holding of a larger company. This is especially important if for some reason you go to litigation, you need to know who to sue. It is not enough to have contact information because if John Doe is not answering and on the run, we cannot sue some random person in some city. John Doe is a small part of the business and if you do not know exactly who runs the company or if it is part of a larger corporation, you could sue the wrong entity which opens you up to serious liabilities. When working with a potential client on terms of agreement or a credit application, go on Google search or check with the Secretary of State to see if the company is listed and to verify who you are actually working with.

Now that you know the two deadliest mistakes, join us for our webinar on the top seven deadly mistakes! It is the best 45 minutes that you and your employees can spend, and it may save your business from serious trouble in the future.

Quote 1: Always have an attorney look at any contract before you sign it because these kinds of agreements can put your business in a bad situation.

Quote 2: When working with a potential client on terms of agreement or a credit application, go on Google search or check with the Secretary of State to see if the company is listed and to verify who you are actually working with.

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Are you ready? Get excited because we are going to take you behind the scenes in how to create a marketing campaign! We have proven over the past 27 years to be the best collection source for the staffing and recruiting industry and that is because of our dedicated focus on marketing. So, sit back and get comfortable as we walk you through the steps we took on our marketing campaign “Backdoor Hire Solutions”.

People are often intimidated by the idea of marketing on a digital platform, but this is an important contributor in how companies make money. The first step is to identify your client base. We have learned that the majority of our clients are on LinkedIn, so our ads are geared towards the LinkedIn platform. Honestly, if you are a staffing and recruiting firm, you are already working with HR departments and they are on LinkedIn.

You also need to identify who is your target audience. Our campaign is geared towards targeting the United States, but you can focus on any region or country that your company wants. Then take a it a step closer, our campaign is meant to capture the attention of AER recruiters and headhunters. We also make our ads applicable to those who are in control of making decisions for the company. These are the CEOs, VPs, and other top employees, and they are our specifically targeted market. It is important that you think of the individuals in addition to the larger audience.

When it comes to the ad, we have created a user-friendly one with a single image and an attached link. This link pulls the user over to our website where they will find information about our company. Our strategy is based on a cost per click type advertisement since we are encouraging people to click on our webinars. If you are geared towards brand awareness, then you may want to use impressions. Or, if you have one idea in mind and want people to fill out a form, then you should use convergence.

Once you have taken these steps, review what your ad looks like. Have you created a campaign that meets all of your goals? If the answer is yes, then let’s continue!

Our ad is now on LinkedIn and we are “paying rent” in order to access their traffic. The goal is that we want to take that audience and bring them to our websites that we own and control. We want users to sign up for our webinars so that we can get their information and email address, or as we to refer to it, the key to the city. The reason that it is so important to capture their information is because it gives us the ability to target them on different platforms. This is what we refer to as retargeting and it is probably the most important idea we can pass on to you. By creating one simple ad campaign, we are able to sign new clients, learn more about our audience, and grow our business. As a testament to our advertising method, we have been able to double our revenue volume in the past three years by using retargeting.

We hope that you are able to take these steps to create an ad campaign for your company, but if you want help then you can hire the recruiting and staffing solutions magazine to create ads for you. Good luck!

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Everyone is busy, we understand that better than anyone, so if you missed our webinar on the 7 deadly mistakes people make in the staffing and recruiting collections industry, here is a quick recap on what you missed!

The first mistake that we often see is that companies do not get a personal guarantee when they extend a line of credit to a client. This is a deadly mistake that can cost you money because 80% of businesses will go out in the first two years and an additional 80% will go out in the third year. So, make sure to get a personal guarantee from the head of the company because if they are not willing to take the risk, why should you?

Next, when a company is in the process of signing a new client they do not have a separate form for credit application. This can be dangerous because if a company goes under then their attorneys will look for any escape clause. If you do not become secured creditors, at least add wording to your contract that allows you to file UCC1. Each state has slightly different rules, so make sure you get a signature and details such as personal address from anyone you enter business with. This is important because you should always file where your debtor is located. We advise that a creditor should ALWAYS add to the client application, “the debtor agrees to pay any and all litigation out of collections in the state your jurisdiction is in”. This is the best way to protect your company.

Another mistake we have seen companies make is they do not do their due diligence when signing a new client. This can even be just a simple Google search on the company, but you may be unpleasantly surprised what surfaces if you do not do your research. We once did a Google search on a potential client and found a live news article as they were on the run. I hope this does not happen to you, but it should go to prove our point. As you are doing your due diligence, make sure to check with the secretary of state and see if the company information you were given matches the description filed with the state. This is an extra step that we highly encourage to avoid any deception or misinformation about the foundational aspects of the company.

A very common mistake that companies make is they do not review a client’s credit application based on risk. It is important to be aware of the risk you are taking because some clients are worth a $5000 risk but not a $15000 risk. Also, recheck the credit application every 12 months and create a plan if the client’s risk has increased. You should always have a process for your employees to follow to help them in dealing with their client.

The biggest and most common mistake you can make is not getting things signed! This goes with our earlier point of getting a personal guarantee and having everything signed. Along with that, we want to emphasize how important it is to know who you are dealing with. Get the guarantee and do your due diligence, and do not let your company make one of these deadly mistakes.

We go through all of this in detail in our webinar. So, if you want more information, email Wilson Cole at wilson@aercollections.com.

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One of the most prevalent debates in the business world is whether companies should continue with old practices or implement new ones. This is especially important in marketing divisions and the techniques they need to use to appeal to the modern customer. We are here to tell you that you do not and should not pick one side over the other. There is room in your marketing campaign for old school marketing techniques, like print and trade shows, along with new school techniques, like Facebook and Linked In.

People tend to be one-dimensional with their marketing techniques, but we have found that both schools can be used to enhance each other. Trade shows are one of the oldest methods of marketing our company to potential clients and some people have begun to question their usefulness. Digital cannot replace the value of building relationships and seeing people face to face at these shows, but it can be used to make your presence more effective. We recently went to a trade show and tested our layered marketing technique, more about that later. In the days leading up to the show, we had our telemarketers call clients in the area to let them know about our company. The day of the show we had one of the best responses we have ever seen! People were walking into a room of 10 to 15 strange companies, but they knew our name and that gave them a sense of familiarity. A bit of a brag: we actually heard clients come up to us and say they were excited to turn over their accounts to us!

When it comes to creating marketing campaigns, we approach it with a layering effect that involves all employees who are working toward one focal point. What is the point of creating a brand if you are not coordinating it with your salespeople? How will your message get out? Here is an outline of our latest campaign and please use this as inspiration and direction for creating your own marketing campaign. A little while ago, we came up with this idea of the seven deadly sins that staffing companies make. We used this idea and created webinars, articles, and telemarketing scripts to match our campaign. Once we set up our basic idea, we began implementing our campaign using old and new school techniques. Our digital team created targeted campaigns for the different states or for different websites that people find us through. Then, once we have reached our clients using digital techniques, we have our salespeople follow up and personally speak to them. Another way to combine old school and new school techniques is by using our digital team to reach potential clients over the internet and send them emails about our webinars. We then have a telemarketer follow up in the next few days to ask if they received our invitation or if they have any questions. A piece of advice: have fun with your campaign, but make sure to have a direction and a goal.

These techniques are important when trying to impress people and draw them into our company, but for those who already have an issue and seek out information from us, we use digital techniques to help them. Our company, and by extension our website, is designed to teach clients how to handle problems on their own. We would not be able to share our knowledge without the help of digital, but we use the old school technique of personal relationships with our clients to give them the most help possible.

If there is one take away from this article: avoid going to one marketing extreme or the other. Your company’s message will remain the same, but you can use different channels to spread it. The combined marketing strategy amplifies the overall output which is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

Have any questions? Reach out to Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com.

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A recent trend in the staffing industry has appeared as the result of the low unemployment rate and the increased use of recruiters on a broader scale. This trend is to hide binding confidentiality agreements in contracts to try and trap companies into paying extra money to high end debtors. In fact, this has become a shockingly common practice by insanely predatory high-end debtors, and we are thankful that most of our clients have had the insight to not sign these contracts.

We are seeing a few different manifestations of these predatory documents. One example is a client received an email from someone who had not been paying their bills and they tried to have our client sign a new form before they would send the money. These forms are often confidentiality agreements that are so binding and strict that the client could not even hire an attorney because they cannot disclose to them.

These new schemes involve a higher thought process than we typically see which means that our clients are even more vulnerable. One recent example a client brought to us was a document that protected their client from paying a bill, and our client would have to start paying if they tried to collect on the bill. To be frank: only attorneys could come up with this crap.

Another scheme we have seen is if you ever had a company that was behind on their bills and they hired someone to handle their receivables then asked you to sign some kind of document, beware! If you are ever in doubt about the wording in a contract, then have an attorney look at it. Our in-house council can take a look at any document and advise you on how to proceed, but as a general rule an attorney should look at any form before you sign it. If someone wants you to sign something out of the ordinary, DO NOT SIGN until you know exactly what it says.

These predatory companies are not short on creativity and some have tried to slip a master service agreement for recruiters and staffing agencies after already establishing a relationship. One of our clients came to us with a contract they had been served which had a master service agreement that would not be fulfilled unless a separate fee was paid for each placement. Thankfully, our client was smart and sent the document to us so we could identify the trap. Make sure to watch what you sign, and if even one paragraph is unfamiliar, then you need to have someone look at it.

It is strange to admit this, but debt negotiators serve a purpose. We have seen clients take a downward turn and we have helped with their exposure and vulnerability by taking care of their debt. We do this in a transparent and legal way, but other people try to take advantage of weak companies and bind them to contracts that will drain the rest of their money. Do not fall prey to these schemes and work with legit debt negotiators and, once again, DO NOT SIGN anything until you know exactly what it says!

As a special treat to you, our lovely audience, we are going to sum up this article by sharing Wilson’s raw fish approach: He is not a fan of raw fish, but one night he was having dinner at a trendy restaurant. While looking at the menu, he saw a dish that looked appealing, but he did not recognize a word in the description. Instead of asking the waiter what it meant, he ordered it blindly only to find out that the word was Chilean for raw fish. Now he had paid a lot of money for a dish that he was not going to eat and there was no going back.

If you have any questions or want our help if you encounter one of these predatory debtors, reach out to Samantha Cole at samantha@aercollections.com.

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Our company is one of the top staffing agencies that comes up in Google searches and that is because we implement strategic methods on our websites to ensure they are one of the first ones any internet searcher sees. We refer to these branding strategies and tactical plans as our secret sauce, and today is your lucky day because we are going to share them with you!

One of the most shocking things we have found when talking to clients about their SEO, search engine optimization, is that many do not want to grow or be at the top of Google searches. There seems to be this idea going around that by growing your voice then you become a bigger target for negative reviews. We like to work on the assumption that if you are not trying to make people angry, then adverse comments should not be a problem. If you do have negative reviews, our best solution is to add quality content to your company website to drown out unfavorable talk.

To say this in the simplest of terms: haters gonna hate; you cannot allow worry about negative people prevent you from stepping out and growing your web presence.

We have been in business for thirty years, have an A+ rating from the better business bureau, and we are not even paying to be members. Why is this relevant? This is important because it is a testament that our branding and SEO strategies work and they can truly benefit your business. At our company, we always treat our customers with respect, but we know that there is a chance that someone will be upset and give us a bad review. Do you know why we are not overly concerned with bad comments? It is because if there is some adverse talk out there, we cover it with the quality and volume of content that we link on our website.

Also, we want to let you know that you do not have to pay Google or other search engines to get more exposure and increase your traffic. A few solutions that you can implement on your own website are adding links to your company page, posting keyword rich content, and adding pages to your website that draw people to different parts of your website. Let’s dive a bit deeper into these solutions. Your website is the one of the most important aspects of your marketing plan, so invest in it and do not make a generic page that gives the basic information up front; add links and extra pages to pull people in and let them explore the details of your services and how you can help them.

As for content, make sure to have your target audience in mind when writing it, but do not fall into the trap of generic articles that could relate to any business in your industry. You should identify keywords that relate to your business and are likely to be included in internet searches; we call these long-tailed keywords which target the people that you are trying to reach. Also, do not try to cheat the system by stringing together a bunch of keywords that make no sense. Google has a built-in algorithm that catches schemes like this and will not pull your website to the top.

When it comes to creating and posting content, this is your greatest tool for branding and SEO strategies. Use it wisely. If you pull your website to the top of Google searches without any significant content, then it does not matter how much traffic your website receives because you are not saying anything important. This is a mistake that can actually turn off your target audience and drag your webpage back down. So, we have found the best way to structure content is by writing about interesting topics that relate to your industry and teach your market something new. The article should be between 500 to 800 words and that long-tailed keyword we spoke about earlier needs be included in the article title as well as in the first 100 words of your piece.

Here is the best part: our company offers a free website audit. We will take a week to look at your website and use a software that identifies broken links on your page. After our evaluation, we will set up a meeting with you to provide strategies we believe will strengthen your website. Once the audit is complete, you can choose to pay an outside company to implement our solutions or you can use our in-house team to do it. Outside companies often take a long period of time to create content and can be quite costly. So, we must point out, our team can help you with content for a fraction of the price and time. If you are interested in our services, email Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com.

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This may not be the most fun or interesting topic, but it is vital to your company. Every business uses email and has some kind of internet presence. Email is the primary form of communication between employees and clients, so it is important to have complete control of your company’s email and any services that are associated with it. Always create your own email domain, account, and password, and NEVER delegate this job to an employee or manager; this applies to all social media accounts too. Do not let someone use a personal email to set up these accounts, including you, because you want these to be property of the company rather than an individual. This will ensure that if anything goes wrong, you always can easily access the account and be in complete control of it. Also, if for some reason you have to fire an employee and they are vindictive, you, as a manager, can take away their control of the account instantly. It is time consuming and frustrating if you have to jump through all the hoops in order to remove the account from the former employee’s control.

Now that we have established how critical it is for you to set up your own email domain, let us talk about some online resources that can help. Companies, such as Google, have developed services that enable businesses to work better. One of these services that is particularly relevant to our discussion is that Google allows you to set up a company email and password. All employees should have a company email to avoid confusion for clients and to ensure that if they leave the company that you can take away their access and protect your information. Once that is done, every other digital asset can be connected through your Google account; in layman’s terms, your company email is the torso of the body of your business. There are also other useful services such as Google analytics, Google search console, and Google business.

We have established the that main Google account you set up is your torso. Google analytics can be seen as the left hand of your company because this is where you take the pulse. It allows you to set goals, you can even add monetary values for each goal, for each quarter, year, or any time period you desire, and it will keep track of how you are doing. Google search console is your right hand, as it tells you how to do SEO better and will give you insight on what key words should be on your website. The legs of your company come from Google business which allows you to change the address, hours, or any information on your company for clients to see.

Google is also aware of some of the dangers that can occur if the CEO or head of the company does not set up the Google account themselves, which is why they have built in safety precautions to help you! After you have set up the accounts, you can designate administrators for each separate account. They will be able to utilize the service, but it will be under your general control. Think about who you let supervise the accounts and what information they need to access in order to do their job; it is highly unlikely that one administrator will need connection to every account, and by designating each account separately, you have the built in safety of preventing some employees from seeing more than they need to.

Once again, we cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you personally set up the email addresses and passwords yourself. You can arrange for employees to set up accounts under you in Google business. This is another safety precaution that can protect you from, for example, attacks by a rogue employee that creates false information on your website such as you are closed permanently; if you have the main password, then this is a problem you can quickly correct.

Even when using a third party or working with a client, we help them set up a Google account of their own and then connect us as a manager through Google analytics. We do not want to have that kind of control on your company and you do not either.

To reiterate and summarize all of the information we just threw at you, let me start with the most important lesson: you NEED to have control of your business. To give away that control, is like not having a title on your car or property; in other words, it is a nightmare! The next thing to remember is that you, personally, need to set up your email address, domain, and passwords. Use the Google services and make sure they are all based on the original email address that set everything up. Also, passwords should never be changed without your approval and make sure that anyone you do give control of these accounts to is someone you can trust. Take advantage of all the precautions that are set up by these companies, and if you ever have any questions please reach out to Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com.

Quote 1: Always create your own email domain, account, and password, and NEVER delegate this job to an employee or manager; this applies to all social media accounts too.

Quote 2: The most important lesson: you NEED to have control of your business. To give away that control, is like not having a title on your car or property; in other words, it is a nightmare!

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One of the first steps you should take when signing on a new client to do contract or staffing work is to have them fill out a credit application. This may seem like an old school idea, but it is imperative if you want to keep your business safe. Just think about this: if someone approached a bank to get a loan for $50,000 to $100,000 for staffing, the bank would run all sorts of credit checks before giving them a contract. Another important thing to note from this example is that a credit check/application is done as one of the first steps in a business relationship. Legally, it is very important to have company sign a credit application in the beginning of your business together because you can bury safeguards in it to protect your company.

Credit applications are vital for assessing the risk of working with another company and you cannot set credit lines without it. You need to know their three main trades and how much is in their bank; this information will be critical when deciding how much you can provide in staffing services each month. Set the credit limit now, and with small to medium sized companies continue to have your credit department recheck every six months to a year. In small to medium sized companies, any big changes in management such as CEO turnover, death, or children taking over the company, can affect the monetary value or their company and the kind of credit that they should be extended.

Earlier, it was mentioned that one of the advantages of having a new client sign a credit application in the beginning of your relationship was that you can place safeguards in the contract. Some of the most important safeguards to include are: personal guarantee from the owner or an officer, groundwork for UCC filing, you can check to see if you are getting three trades which help to limit fraud. It is important to note that if a company is not willing to give you their banking information, you DO NOT want to do business with them. Anytime a staffing firm extends credit, there should be complete transparency in their financial status because you need to know what you are getting into.

To reiterate the most important part of this article, from the very beginning you should get a credit application filled out and signed by the owner or an officer. The reason this is so important because this provides a safeguard if a person of lower rank signs the agreement and the company later try to use that to undermine the contract. Also, if you can get a personal guarantee, do it! You do not want to be blindsided when suddenly a client shuts down an LLC and opens one the next day, and you are out of luck; be wary of someone who changes their name because as just stated, you need to know the owner and have a guarantee otherwise they can shut down the LLC, get a quick name change, and leave you with a mess. As a final thought and summary of everything that we have discussed: if they are not willing to bank roll their own business, why should you?

If you have any further questions about how to set a credit line, we offer a webinar that can help you! Feel free to reach out to us at either wilson@aercollections.com or samantha@aercollections.com.

Quote 1: Legally, it is very important to have company sign a credit application in the beginning of your business together because you can bury safeguards in it to protect your company.

Quote 2: Credit applications are vital for assessing the risk of working with another company and you cannot set credit lines without it.

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One of the best and worst things about our modern business world is that people who are looking for specific services can find them with a quick search on the internet. The first page of results that they see will most likely be the only ones that they click on and explore. This has led us to start working hard on our client’s websites and our own website to make sure that we are in the top of every Google search. Question: How is this done? Answer: by getting it SEO.

SEO means that it pulls up in searches by strategically creating content on your website that has keywords which Google will find and use to pull your website up in the search results. If you just shuddered at the phrase “creating content”, you are not alone. There seems to be this deep-rooted hatred from companies in regard to writing articles to put up on their websites. The most common question from our clients is: if I write an article, who is going to read it? Every company is trying to work as efficiently as possible and content creation seems like a big waste of time and money because no one is going to read the content that you create. Well we are here to say, that idea is wrong.

There is so much more to content creation than having people read your article. It is important to place relevant content on your website because that is what is going to alert Google to show your page whenever someone uses the search engine. Without adding any articles to your website, generally, the words that people will use to search for services will not be found on your page. It is hard to slip in relevant keywords on a business website that lists only its hours and services, so this is where article creation comes in.

In order to successfully utilize content on your website, make sure that any keywords that are important to your business are found in the first hundred words of the article. This way Google will be more likely to find the keywords and pull up your website instead of others. For example: on our Backdoor hires website, we have articles about the nine most common excuses for Backdoor hiring. These articles include some of keywords that are relevant to our business such as placements and collections. Once we put that content on our website, we have seen an increase in the amount of traffic and attention our website gets. All because we put a few articles with carefully chosen words, Google will find and suggest us to people using their search engine.

This is all part of the bigger picture of content creation. Even if no one reads it, you want something to help get those keywords on your website. Articles using keyword SEO are an easy way to explain to Google what you do and place important words on your website in a natural way. One important note is that despite the main purpose of the content is to highlight those keywords, it is still necessary to have good content in the surrounding text.

You may still be hesitant because despite the clear advantages of writing content for your website, this is a time-consuming process that you may not be well-equipped to do. Not all of us are English or Journalism majors, so we do a video blog which will then be used by our content writes to create an article. It is a win-win situation because we can quickly create our video blog and then send it over to the content writers to finish the job. We also have found that keywords naturally come up in our interviews and then our writers transcribe them into an article.

Another bonus that comes from using your content to help your keyword SEO, is that once you have about ten to twelve articles, you can take them and turn them into chapters for a book. Any small publisher can take your book and produce a few copies which you can hand out at trade shows!

We cannot emphasize enough how content creation can be HUGE for your website; we have seen a 50-70% increase in website traffic by using this idea. It is not painful, and you do not have to be an English major to do it well. If you have any questions about how content creation can help your keyword SEO, please reach out to Ally Cole at ally@elocglobal.com.

Quote 1: Articles using keyword SEO are an easy way to explain to Google what you do and place important words on your website in a natural way.

Quote 2: In order to successfully utilize content on your website, make sure that any keywords that are important to your business are found in the first hundred words of the article.

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We have spoken in the past about counter suits and the various reasons that they can occur, but this article will go a bit deeper into how we work to help prevent them. First, it is important to note, that about 80% of our collections are done in house and no attorney is every involved. For most agencies, 30% to 35% of the collections will be given in attorney fees for outside counsel. We do not have that problem because of our in-house counsel that is included in the initial fee; this is one of the ways that we provide an additional safety net for you.

At any point in time, our company is dealing with about four hundred active lawsuits and three counter suits. Notice, our counter suits account for about 3% rather than the standard 10% of other companies. This is because we work hard to watch for situations that may lead to counter suit and advise our clients on how to avoid them. Sometimes, we can see them coming from a mile away and those are generally ones that involve employees with harassment issues or other serious matters. Occasionally, we will have ones that come across our desk that should not even be qualified for a counter suit. The most important piece of advice we can give is to be aware of the risks of a lawsuit. In almost every situation, a counter suit comes back because the lawyers will say they do not owe you and that your lawsuit is not viable; this is a very common affirmative defense, and generally the first thing that any lawyer will file, because it is difficult to claim on errors and omissions.

The most common counter suit that we see is when there is some frivolous lawsuit and they want you to pay their attorney’s fee. Our company works hard to avoid these situations by reviewing any lawsuits at least twice before sending them to the litigating attorney. In our process of reviewing the case, we look to see if something similar could have happened in the past and we will recommend you do not sue in situations that could come back worse for you than the person you are suing. The worst scenario is if the counter suit comes because of something they could have been internally handled, and that is where real problems begin because if you answer the complaint, they have an affirmative defense.

We recommend that the best way to handle any collections problems is to go through an agency first, rather than a lawyer, because it has less liability. We have never had a client sued during a collection that went through our agency, but by going straight to a lawsuit there is always a risk of counter suit. We cannot make predictions on counter suits, so it is always best to avoid putting yourself at risk for one. One general rule that we follow, and now pass along to you, is that if you are concerned when you turn a collection over to us that the debtor is threatening to sue, unless it is coming from an actual attorney, the threat is baseless. Vice versa, we have seen situations where an attorney was already involved before any threat was made which tipped us off that the client was preparing to counter suit.

The best advice we can give is to always try and avoid going to a lawsuit in any collections situation. Let our agency help you avoid the possibility of a counter suit, and if you have any further questions contact Samantha Cole at samantha@aercollections.com.

Quote 1: About 80% of our collections are done in house and no attorney is every involved.

Quote 2: Our company works hard to avoid these situations by reviewing any lawsuits at least twice before sending them to the litigating attorney

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER), and Ally Cole, brand manager for ELOC Global, explore lead generation using LinkedIn. Ally says that LinkedIn is such a good place for lead generation because when people log in to LinkedIn, they are typically already in a business mindset. While people may log in to Facebook to post pictures of their family, Twitter to read the news, or Instagram to document their dinner, the general consensus is that LinkedIn is for business.

It is also more efficient to target people on LinkedIn because of the information that people post to their profile: the school they went to, the company they work for, their specific position, etc. Ally says that LinkedIn can also be used to stay current with pain points of a specific person, company, or industry, which can of course be used as a segue to offering your services. Wilson says that at AER, they combine LinkedIn marketing with telemarking, but not telemarketing in the form of robo-calls. Wilson does not believe that robo-calls will be around much longer in general because everyone hates them so much that the government will eventually give the people what they want and do something to effectively ban robo-calls.

AER’s telemarketers are actual people who dial the numbers. In today’s world, the telemarketers get sent to voicemail at least 80% of the time, and when that happens, Wilson says there is technology available that will allow the telemarketer to leave a pre-recorded voicemail from someone other than the person dialing the number. So if your company has 1 salesperson that stands out from the rest in terms of quality, you can basically replicate that person by leaving a voicemail on behalf of them. One last nugget of wisdom from Ally is that “no one is ever mad about message they needed to hear.”

This translates into targeting the correct people on LinkedIn to get both quantity and quality when it comes to leads. Wilson agrees that targeting the proper audience, aka a hungry audience, is very important and something that every business should do to maximize their leads and sales. If you want to follow up with Ally about LinkedIn marketing or anything else, you can email her at ally@elocglobal.com.

2 Key Quotes

· Ally says that LinkedIn is such a good place for lead generation because when people log in to LinkedIn, they are typically already in a business mindset.

· One last nugget of wisdom from Ally is that “no one is ever mad about message they needed to hear.” This translates into targeting the correct people on LinkedIn to get both quantity and quality when it comes to leads

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, give advice on some things they’ve found in client contracts that can be “ticking time bombs” which prevent successful collection down the road. The specific example that Wilson and Samantha are eager to warn clients to keep out of their contracts because they saw it in a contract recently and it made them scratch their heads is something similar to “the prevailing party will have their court costs paid by the other party.” Wilson likens this language to an open invitation for the debtor to sue you if the court does not side in your favor.

When cases are escalated to AER, those that go through the collections process that need to have a suit filed are sent to AER’s forwarding attorneys. In all but one type of scenario, the suits are filed on a contingency basis and doesn’t cost the client anything other than court costs. The one scenario where the suit is filed but the attorneys bill by the hour is when there is a counter-suit filed. The previously mentioned phrase invites such a lawsuit and assumes that the court is going to side in your favor. Wilson says it’s not bad to have some language about attorney’s fees, but make that language specific to the payment of the invoices.

Samantha recommends that any legal contracts you plan on getting signed looked over by an attorney to verify that the legal terms and language makes sense, because more important than sounding nice is a contract that is effective in court. Wilson says people who have “adopted” contracts from former employers or industries as their own, aka those that weren’t built from scratch, should pay particular attention to the possibility of “ticking time bombs.” Lastly Wilson says that in all his years in business, he has learned well that attorneys are going to attempt to pick apart your contract no matter what; it’s just their job.

He says it’s better to have them try to do that with the claim “it’s too vague” than to have them use these “ticking time bombs” in the form of language that is too specific (or doesn’t make sense). The overall theme is to keep your contracts simple and straightforward. To follow up with Samantha, you can email her at Samantha@aercollections.com. Or if you have a collections issue that you want AER to take a look at, feel free to call Wilson at 800-452-5287, extension 6578, or you can email Wilson@aercollections.com.

2 Key Quotes

· The specific example that Wilson and Samantha are eager to warn clients to keep out of their contracts because they saw it in a contract recently and it made them scratch their heads is something similar to “the prevailing party will have their court costs paid by the other party.”

· Samantha recommends that any legal contracts you plan on getting signed looked over by an attorney to verify that the legal terms and language makes sense, because more important than sounding nice is a contract that is effective in court.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, revisit the important topic of getting a signed contract. Samantha explains how disheartening it can be to receive a case that looks perfect for collections in by all other indications but then it turns out the contract is not signed.

If you’ve had clients give excuses for not signing the contract or putting it off, she says you would be far from the first. Some of the popular excuses include “the fax machine is not working,” “we don’t have a scanner,” “the printer is out of ink,” or the catch-all “we were just too busy last week to sign.” Samantha says that even though all of those excuses don’t really count since cell phones can basically replace all of those machines when it comes to signing a document, the bulletproof solution is to use a service like Docusign.

For a nominal monthly fee you can upload any document to Docusign, drop in as many signature, initial, or other boxes as you want, and email it to the client. The service will even let you know when they open the document so you can know when to follow up and best of all it can even capture the IP address of the person signing it. Wilson says the IP address is one more thing that can be helpful if the case goes to court. In those situations where the case goes to court and the client says “that’s not my signature,” instead of having to spend money on a handwriting expert to vouch that it is, which is still not an open/shut case because the debtor will hire a handwriting expert to vouch that it isn’t, you can just show that you have their IP address.

Docusign also makes the process extremely easy and convenient for your clients to the point that they really have no excuse not to sign, other than they don’t want to in the first place, and in that case you might want to reconsider whether you should do business with them. Depending on how much you like Docusign, it can become a one-stop-shop for your contracts because of the other features and services they offer, such as document storage, reminders/notifications, and automation features.

AER practices what it preaches when it comes to getting contracts signed and always gets contracts signed by clients looking to have AER collect debt on their behalf. It’s just one of those things that cannot be overlooked. To follow up with Samantha, you can email her at Samantha@aercollections.com. Or if you have a collections issue that you want AER to take a look at, feel free to call Wilson at 800-452-5287, extension 6578, or you can email Wilson@aercollections.com.

2 Key Quotes

· Samantha says that even though all of those excuses don’t really count since cell phones can basically replace all of those machines when it comes to signing a document, the bulletproof solution is to use a service like Docusign.

· In those situations where the case goes to court and the client says “that’s not my signature,” instead of having to spend money on a handwriting expert to vouch that it is, which is still not an open/shut case because the debtor will hire a handwriting expert to vouch that it isn’t, you can just show that you have their IP address.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) is joined by Ally Cole, brand manager for ELOC Global, to look further at positioning yourself (or your company) as an expert. Wilson believes that a good tool to position yourself as an expert, even though it may be a little old school, is regularly sending out an e-newsletter that provides good value and is not too self-promoting.

That is not to say you can’t add in any information about promotions you might have going on with your products or services, but that should definitely not be the focus of (or distract from) the newsletter. Ally says that when thinking about the content to put in an e-newsletter, remember the first rule of a good marketing campaign: put yourself in your customer’s shoes and ask what they would want to read about. Next, Ally says it is important to make the content easy to understand.

Wilson says that if you have multiple clients ask the same question in a period of time, such as a month, answering that question could be great content for your newsletter. Next, nobody wants to put the effort into producing an e-newsletter for it to not make it to their clients’ mailboxes because it got caught in the spam filter.

Before sending out the e-newsletter to the whole email list, test to make sure it goes to where you want it to go, and if it doesn’t, reduce some of the things that would trigger a spam filter to activate, such as too many phrases of “buy here.” Ally says a quick Google search will bring up many pages that give tips on do’s and don’ts with e-newsletters, which will help you avoid the spam filter.

Wilson also says that prompting your clients, in a polite way, to whitelist your domain will also help prevent your e-newsletters from ending up in the spam folder. If you want to follow up with Ally about e-newsletters, something her team can provide clients for a monthly fee, you can email her at ally@elocglobal.com.

2 Key Quotes

· Wilson believes that a good tool to position yourself as an expert, even though it may be a little old school, is regularly sending out an e-newsletter that provides good value and is not too self-promoting.

· Next, nobody wants to put the effort into producing an e-newsletter for it to not make it to their clients’ mailboxes because it got caught in the spam filter. Before sending out the e-newsletter to the whole email list, test to make sure it goes to where you want it to go, and if it doesn’t, reduce some of the things that would trigger a spam filter to activate.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Ally Cole, brand manager for AER, are talking about customers’ websites (staffing firms’ websites) showing up as unsecured, after just finishing their annual travel season. Ally explains that this is in no way a small or insignificant problem, though unfortunately some clients may view it that way.

First, the URL is going to notify potential visitors that such websites are not secure. That’s a credibility hit right off the bat, on top of the fact that even if the content on the website is high quality and a person would consider making a purchase, they are less likely to give their information to a website their browser/search engine is telling them is unsecured (aka untrustworthy). To be clear, it is not only one specific type of browser that has made it a point to notify users very clearly they are about to visit an unsecured website; this is basically all browsers (Chrome, IE, Firefox, etc).

People fear, and rightfully so, that unsecured websites are compromised or nefarious to begin with, or at least the odds of one of those scenarios being true are higher. Ally also says that Google strives to represent relevance and reliability in their search results, so if a website is showing as unsecured it is going to hurt the search ranking as well. None of this has to be the case for your website because the fix is very easy; Ally would be glad to walk you through it. The key ingredient related to unsecured websites is the SSL certificate and whether it’s out of date, not correctly configured, or just missing altogether. If you want to follow up with Ally about getting your website secured, you can email her at ally@elocglobal.com.

2 Key Quotes

· First, the URL is going to notify potential visitors that such websites are not secure. That’s a credibility hit right off the bat, on top of the fact that even if the content on the website is high quality and a person would consider making a purchase, they are less likely to give their information to a website their browser/search engine is telling them is unsecured (aka untrustworthy).

· Ally also says that Google strives to represent relevance and reliability in their search results, so if a website is showing as unsecured it is going to hurt their search ranking as well.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel and wearer of many hats for AER, finish their series on the top excuses for back door hires. On top of these podcasts, AER is also hosting a free webinar on the topic of back door hires. If you want more information about the webinar, feel free to send an email to Wilson@aercollections.com. Excuse number 7 is when the company says “we didn’t hire the candidate as an employee, we hired them as a consultant” and excuse number 8 is “we hired them for another position.” These two excuses are different, but at the same time very similar, so Wilson discusses them together.

For excuse number 8, Wilson has seen that sometimes it turns out to be an honest mistake due to poor communication or poor processes internally at a company, where a candidate was accidentally hired for another position. Of course he as has also seen where it was not an accident, but a company intentionally trying to avoid paying placement fees. For excuse number 7, Wilson says from his experience that companies using this excuse are more likely to be trying to avoid paying placement fees.

At that point, a staffing agency is free to try and make the company pay, but Wilson believes the company has already said they are not going to pay so the recommended course of action is to escalate the case to collections professionals, such as AER. As a reminder, a signed contract with high-quality, specific wording on when placement fees are owed is always a good defense against these two excuses and another one that is covered later in the podcast.

Samantha says that she has seen some companies put details in their job postings such as “sales manager in a specific city,” which gives them legal room to hire a candidate for the same position (sales manager), but in a different city, and claim it’s not the same position. Samantha has also reasoned against companies claiming a candidate they hired technically doesn’t work for them by citing labor laws that point to the reality that they do.

2 Key Quotes

· Excuse number 7 is when the company says “we didn’t hire the candidate as an employee, we hired them as a consultant” and excuse number 8 is “we hired them for another position.”

· Excuse number 9 is “yes we hired the candidate but a different candidate left prematurely so we’re taking this one as a credit.” Wilson says this scenario pops up in about 10% of AER’s cases

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Ally Cole, brand manager for Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Wilson Cole, President of AER, discuss creating hype for your webinars to make people want to watch them. Ally says that laying the ground work for successfully marketing your webinar is similar to the concept of dating. In dating, instead of asking the person to marry you on the first date, the odds of a successful relationship are much better if you gradually build anticipation and excitement over time and after several encounters.

So for your webinar, you can increase the odds of successfully marketing it by going over bits and pieces with clients weeks or months in advance. This way the clients are looking forward to watching the webinar instead of having it “forced on them.” Wilson says this process of previewing pieces of or themes from the webinar is similar to a trailer for a movie. It makes people want to watch the movie, and given the resources that go into creating a webinar, you want people to watch it of course; as many people as possible, right? Ally says that another benefit of creating a preview or trailer for your webinar is that it gives potential users a much better idea of how beneficial the webinar will be for them.

The saying “time is money” is very old but seems to be more true now than ever before. Without a preview or trailer, potential viewers may be interested by skip it because they don’t want to waste around an hour (or more) of their time. Wilson adds that it is of course helpful to also complete the usual SEO work related to your webinar to make it more accessible/searchable on that front too. If you want to follow up with Ally, you can email her at ally@elocglobal.com.

2 Key Quotes

· So for your webinar, you can increase the odds of successfully marketing it by going over bits and pieces with clients weeks or months in advance. This way the clients are looking forward to watching the webinar instead of having it “forced on them.” Wilson says this process of previewing pieces of or themes from the webinar is similar to a trailer for a movie.

· Without a preview or trailer of your webinar, potential viewers may be interested by skip it because they don’t want to waste around an hour (or more) of their time

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, continue the theme of the previous podcast; “excuses debtor companies give for back door hires.” First up for this podcast is “we hired the candidate, but they did not last the 90 days.” When Wilson hears this excuse, his first hope is that the creditor’s signed contract with the company has a clause that says something to the effect of “our guarantee is contingent upon payment being made in a timely manner.”

There are of course examples where a client honestly just lost track of time and ended up paying slightly behind schedule or outside of a defined “timely manner” window. If the client company is otherwise punctual with payments or a longtime client, it is probably better for business to just let go of honest mistakes. Wilson makes clear these are not the types of client companies being talked about here. The companies being talked about here are ones that never paid, had no desire to pay, and/or ignored multiple invoices along the way.

Samantha talks about some specific situations she’s experienced related to this excuse. While the previously mentioned language about the guarantee being contingent upon payment being pad in a timely manner is generally helpful to creditors, Samantha explains how sometimes it can cause further confusion depending on how it is phrased. If there is language that mentions prorating the fee for candidates that do not last (30, 60, 90 days for example), it is helpful to have language specifying the pro-rating amounts and the time periods for prorating.

Language for “90 day guarantees” that include an outright refund is generally not a good idea and leaves a door wide open for companies to take advantage of staffing or recruiting firms. Wilson also adds the reminder that if the debtor or debtor’s attorney asks for the contract after the dispute has started, they are definitely not doing so to figure out how to pay you, but always to build a defense. The next excuse for this podcast is “we weren’t interested in the candidate when presented to us, but the candidate contacted us on their own after a period of time, saying that they don’t have a contract with your firm, so we don’t see how we owe your firm a fee after hiring the candidate.”

Wilson talks about how ridiculous this excuse is given that the series of events after the candidate was presented by the staffing or recruiting agency, however accurate or inaccurate as described by the company, would not have happened in the first place if the agency didn’t present the candidate to the company. Samantha says that on the legal side, her argument is similar to Wilson’s, though she typically phrases it as “but-for.” In other words, “but-for the actions (of the agency filing suit), the candidate would have never known there was a job available.” This is especially true if the job was not posted to any job boards.

This excuse is commonly linked to salespeople who are back door hired because the skill set of the salesperson lines up perfectly with the type of candidate who would reach out directly to make a sale (in this case, that they should be hired for a position). If you have a back door hire that you want to get an opinion on, you can send an email to wilson@aercollections.com.

2 Key Quotes

· Language (in contracts) for “90 day guarantees” that include an outright refund is generally not a good idea and leaves a door wide open for companies to take advantage of staffing or recruiting firms.

· The excuse “we weren’t interested in the candidate when presented to us, but the candidate contacted us on their own after a period of time, saying that they don’t have a contract with your firm, so we don’t see how we owe your firm a fee after hiring the candidate” is commonly linked to salespeople who are back door hired because the skill set of the salesperson lines up perfectly with the type of candidate who would reach out directly to make a sale (in this case, that they should be hired for a position).

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, sit down to discuss 2 more excuses companies give for back door hires. The top phrase that Wilson looks out for when evaluation whether the back door hire was an honest mistake or specifically planned by a person who never planned on paying the staffing or recruiting agency is “we never signed an agreement.”

Wilson does not get surprised when an attorney says that phrase because it’s a standard procedure for creating a defense, which is their job. But if that phrase comes from anyone else, especially the owner of the company, it’s a totally different story. Wilson and Samantha both emphasize the importance of the recruiting or staffing agency having a signed contract. Half of the cases that AER receives are ones where there are no signed contracts but AER is still able to collect, however AER is able to collect 50% more (on average) when there is a signed contract, on top of their being an overall higher collection rate when there is a signed contract.

Samantha goes on to say that relying on anything less than a signed contract, such as just a notice (or the following clause from an unsigned contract) that fees are due if hired “within 12 months of last discussion,” is becoming less reliable across the country. Multiple states have ruled that an unsigned contract cannot pass as an oral contract, even if it contains the phrase from the last sentence, because oral contracts have to be executed within 1 year. For staffing or recruiting agencies that may say “it’s hard to get clients to sign,” technological advancements of the present day, such as DocuSign, have made that process easier than ever.

Some legal jurisdictions, such as Massachusetts, even require a signature; without it, a case from a creditor saying a debtor didn’t pay will get thrown out immediately. Another risk of not getting a contract signed is that it’s almost guaranteed you will not be rewarded the cost of attorney’s fees if the case is escalated to litigation. During Wilson’s time in the industry, he has seen many contracts from recruiting or staffing agencies that contain the phrase “if you do not sign the contract, you agree to the terms by the acceptance of the resume.” In his experience, while it’s better to have that phrase in the contract than not to have it, it simply does not substitute for having a signed contract, which is always better.

Moving on, another popular excuse given by companies for back door hires is “we paid another recruiter.” Wilson says that the timing of when that excuse is given is a big factor in how strong a creditor’s case is. The longer after presentation it is given, the stronger the creditor’s case, while the opposite is true the sooner it is given. Samantha says that it is very important for staffing or recruiting agencies to never respond to this excuse with anything to the effect of “ok, never mind then,” because that effectively waives the fee.

This means that even if the staffing or recruiting agency finds that the company lied and the recruiter they said they paid doesn’t even exist, it’s hard to make a case against the company because the first thing they’ll say is “the fee was waived.” She says instead, staffing agencies should ask for some type of verification or documentation when they hear this excuse. Even if the company is telling the truth, they may still have a financial responsibility to pay a partial fee instead of walking away paying nothing at all.

2 Key Quotes

· The top phrase that Wilson looks out for when evaluation whether the back door hire was an honest mistake or specifically planned by a person who never planned on paying the staffing or recruiting agency is “we never signed an agreement.”

· During Wilson’s time in the industry, he has seen many contracts from recruiting or staffing agencies that contain the phrase “if you do not sign the contract, you agree to the terms by the acceptance of the resume.” In his experience, while it’s better to have that phrase in the contract than not to have it, it simply does not substitute for having a signed contract, which is always better.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Ally Cole, brand manager for AER, run down a list of SEO hints and tips to improve your marketing. Ally said one key component is using content to boost your SEO. To do this, you would write content and then post it to Facebook or other sites and create backlinks from the content to your website. The way the Google algorithm works with SEO is that it’s all about credibility; credibility is built by having your website referenced in more places.

One of the benefits of using Recruiting and Staffing Solutions Magazine’s (RSSM) services is that you can publish content to the magazine and create backlinks to your website, on top of the exposure you get from the magazine article in the first place. AER itself utilizes these SEO techniques and the proof is in the Google search results when you search for such things as “staffing debt” or “past due debt” and the top results are AER and ELOC Global pages.

Ally says that SEO is similar to how a spider-web is stronger with more strands of web connecting to more places. Wilson says that a smart way to find other companies who may be interested in beginning a mutually beneficial SEO partnership is to think of vendors inside of the same industry where you operate that are not competitors to your company (their clients match your clients).

For example, AER is in the staffing and recruiting industry, but is not a competitor to a banking company that caters to the same industry, so they can swap articles/content and help each other’s “SEO spider-web” grow. Wilson says you can even swap client lists too (if appropriate trust is present) because the non-competitor company may have contact information that you do not. This can not only help with SEO but building a mutually beneficial referral system. To recap, 3 things you can do to improve your SEO right now are

1) have content that you can add value to the people you are trying to add as clients,

2) put that content up on your website,

3) share that content so that it gets posted to as many other websites as possible (boosting you in Google search). This is a much better plan than paying a company that will create a bunch of low-quality backlinks, supposedly improving your website’s SEO, but once Google finds out it will actually hurt your website.

All of this is important because as Wilson says, the business cycle has compressed so much that by the time a potential client calls you, they are much closer to choosing who they plan to do business with than in the past. You don’t want to be left behind because you didn’t employ a good SEO strategy. If you want to follow up with Ally about SEO or other marketing opportunities, you can email her at ally@elocglobal.com.

2 Key Quotes

· Wilson says that a smart way to find other companies who may be interested in beginning a mutually beneficial SEO partnership is to think of vendors inside of the same industry where you operate that are not competitors to your company (their clients match your clients).

· To recap, 3 things you can do to improve your SEO right now are 1) have content that you can add value to the people you are trying to add as clients, 2) put that content up on your website, 3) share that content so that it gets posted to as many other websites as possible (boosting you in Google search).

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Ally Cole, brand manager for ELOC Global, and Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) discuss marketing to different demographics using different strategies on today’s podcast. Different audiences on different social media platforms respond differently to the content that they experience. For example, skilled marketers would communicate to audiences on Facebook differently from how they would communicate to audiences on Instagram. Skilled marketers can also pick which of their social media posts are worth the extra effort to get them promoted or boosted, which will help them reach a larger audience. Advertising can be deployed alongside social media posts. Ally says it is also important to remember what part of the buying process someone is in when they see your advertisement. For example, a banner advertisement on Facebook is a gentle reminder of who your company is, while a Google AdWords advertisement is more active because at that point the person is searching for someone to collect their debt (or search for whatever good/service your company provides). Brand awareness is important, similar to having advertisement in the right place at the right time. Ally says the goal of great marketing is to put your money where your client is, because a huge part of marketing is making sure people know who and what you are, along with where to find you, and making it simple for them too. The topic of the content posted to a social media platform also differs depending on the platform. For example, LinkedIn posts are typically work-related and articles, while Instagram posts are typically posts and not work-related. Wilson also talks about how people who land up on an AER landing page will receive a pixel (or their browser will receive a pixel), and that pixel will make sure AER-related advertisements display in the advertising space of their browser for the next week or so. Wilson goes on to say this is a service that AER pays for but it is inexpensive and well worth the cost. Banner ads, on whatever platform, are a fabulous way to get in front of clients who might not really know who you are. Wilson says that remarketing has had a huge impact on AER. AER is also going to start interviewing staffing industry leaders (free of charge) for Recruiting and Staffing Solutions Magazine (RSSM) for a new series called “profiles in success.” For more information about that or to follow up with Ally on any other marketing topics, you can email her at ally@elocglobal.com.

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Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER), and Wilson Cole, President of AER take a few minutes today to talk about top excuses companies give for back door hires. Annually, AER interacts with about 3,000 staffing and recruiting firms globally (about 1,500 staffing and about 1,500 recruiting). The terminology for back door hires differs slightly depending on the industry and can also be known as “tempnapping” or “conversions.” Excuse number one is that the company “already knew the candidate.” This could be that the candidate used to work for the company, the candidate worked with the company on a project some time in the past, or the company just knew the candidate due to their visibility within the industry. This specific excuse is vague and just plain not good enough. Samantha goes on to explain that companies know a lot of people, and ironically, she gets to “know” the attorneys of other companies when they try to use this excuse. But what does that even mean? Just because a company “knew” a candidate from somewhere does not mean they knew the candidate was looking to make a transition and that distinction makes all the difference in the world, especially the staffing and recruiting world. She says another key element is when the company told the staffing or recruiting firm that they already knew a candidate. Doing so as soon as the candidate’s resume is sent over, before any interviews, is much different from doing so weeks or months later, after the candidate has become a back door hire and the staffing or recruiting firm has caught them in the act. Another excuse, a variation of “we already knew the candidate” is when a company will tell a recruiter to specifically target the staff of its close competitor. The company will do this because they don’t want to start a war by directly stealing the staff from their competitor; the recruiter is just there for plausible deniability. This excuse ends with the recruiter bringing back the name of a candidate ready to switch sides and the company who hired the recruiter says “oh, we already know that candidate, so no fee is owed,” which is very disingenuous because of course they already knew the candidate, due to this typically happening in niche markets and/or because the company told the recruiter who to specifically target in the first place. If have a collections issue that you want AER to take a look at, feel free to call 800-452-5287, extension 6578 or extension 6681, or you can email Samantha@aercollections.com or Wilson@aercollections.com.

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Ally Cole, brand manager for ELOC Global, and Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) discuss lead magnets and engagement on the podcast today. Wilson says that lead magnets used to be known as direct response advertising, but while the name has changed over the years, the function is the same. Instead of a company advertising directly to customers to buy their product, they advertise for other goodies that will get the customers in the door (or in this case onto a website), such as a free whitepaper or a free report on a topic that would be of interest to the customer. Once the customer is looking at the website, the rest of the sales funnel hopefully guides the customer to making a purchase. Each sales funnel that follows a lead magnet is custom-made for the types of customers that would be interested in the specific lead magnet they chose. For example, a client who chose a lead magnet related to finding back door hires would enter a corresponding sales funnel that would lead to a probable sale of back door hire solutions. Even though AER is a 27+ year old company, there is always a need to add more clients. Using marketing strategies, such as the ones explained in this podcast, helps AER add about 14-15 new clients per month. Wilson confirms that a number of those new clients each month come from employing marketing strategies that center around content marketing. Ally stresses the importance of putting yourself in the shoes of your prospective clients when you create your content as it will help you see what their concerns would be or what issue they are trying to resolve. If you have any follow up questions for Ally on today’s topic or any other marketing topics, you can email her at ally@elocglobal.com.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) takes a minute to go over marketing and its importance to those who wish to succeed in the collections industry. The person who plays a big role in marketing related to AER is Ally Cole (ally@elocglobal.com), Wilson’s daughter. In this and future podcast episodes, she and Wilson will explain the marketing processes that AER employs to land clients. AER has over 3,000 staffing and recruiting clients (which translates to a large market share). AER coordinates with Recruiting and Staffing Solutions Media (RSSM) to build and maintain its list of clients. RSSM can help your company with SEO, branded magazines, websites, and other marketing services too if you so desire. The main marketing lesson for this podcast is videos and their effectiveness at conversion (of potential clients into paying clients). Video marketing’s increased effectiveness lies in being more visually and verbally stimulating than a long marketing emails filled with hundreds of words that you have to read.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, explore the specifics of what happens when a debtor makes an offer to settle part of their debt with a client. First and foremost, Wilson completely understands that these offers can frustrate clients even further, after already being frustrated from having to jump through hoops to get money owed to them by the debtor in the first place. But he says AER is legally bound to present the offers to its clients, even if they are low offers, most of the times an offer is made. Samantha goes on explain it is important to relay offers to clients if the debtor has substantially changed the offer since the last time or if a long period of time has elapsed since the last offer. It is important both legally and ethically. Something important for clients to consider when hearing offers from debtors, even if they are offering below the minimum the client has said they are willing to accept, is the potential net gain if the case goes to court.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, explain the importance of never telling a client you have voided their contract. First of all, if a staffing agency is turning over a case for collections they should always turn over all information they have related to the case (good, bad, or indifferent) at the onset. Failure to do so can lead to the collections firm being ambushed and ultimately sink the chances of collecting on the debt. Lately AER has encountered an uptick in the number of cases where clients have for whatever reason failed to include a key piece of “bad” information initially or at all (until it was too late). Wilson has begun asking clients “is there any documentation or information that is not going to help your case?” in an effort to get out in front of such situations. One particular example of “bad” information that is regularly left out by clients is that the contract between the staffing agency and the client was voided. This information is particularly harmful because voiding a contract generally means that the contract never existed. Sam points out that this is different from terminating (or cancelling) a contract, which means that the contract does not exist after a certain point in time but up until that point in time it does exist (and is valid). She also notes that if there are any “smoking guns” for cases that come across her desk, the faster they are identified the better, because the odds of collecting from a debtor are greater than the odds of collecting from a debtor’s attorney. Likewise, the odds of recovering from a blindside from a debtor are greater than the odds of recovering from a blindside from a debtor’s attorney. To follow up with Samantha, you can email her at . Or if you have a collections issue that you want AER to take a look at, feel free to call 800-452-5287, extension 6578, or you can email .

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Webinars as marketing tools are what Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Ally Cole, brand manager for ELOC Global, expand on during this podcast. For the purposes of this podcast, Wilson specifies that he is talking about longer webinars, such as 45 minutes or longer, not short videos, such as those under 5 minutes long. Ally points out how webinars can be part of the content portfolio that a person or company can put together to help position them as an expert in their industry or field. Assuming the value is sufficient enough, people will come to you for the content, instead of you having to go to them. Content such as webinars will also help build rapport between you and potential or current clients.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) Ally Cole, brand manager for ELOC Global, sit down to talk about positioning yourself in your industry/market as an expert. Wilson explains how he learned years ago the importance of positioning yourself as an expert in your industry, so he has been doing the same thing for himself and AER for years. According to Ally, one of the best things about being an expert in your industry/market is that it increases the odds potential clients will come to you instead of you having to go to them. There is an important difference in the dynamic because when it comes time for the sale, people feel like you’re offering them something, which increases the odds of a sale more than if you have to go to the client and people feel as if you’re asking them to buy something.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, sit down to talk about signing client’s contracts. Wilson explains that signing a contract drawn up by a client company, which is more common when dealing with larger companies, is not necessarily a bad thing but in general it is something that will give them the upper hand over you (as the staffing agency). This will be expanded upon more later, but a key thing the staffing agency should do is actually read, with attention to detail, the contracts they are signing. It may seem like common sense but you would be surprised how often this simple step does is not done properly. The biggest “gotcha” in client contracts is language that says something to the effect of “if the staffing agency doesn’t present an invoice within 60 days of presentation then the invoice will not be valid.” While initially it’s understandable for client companies to want language like this to protect from vendors coming back after a long period of time and claiming they never got paid for work that never actually happened, the unintended consequence is that it gives less-honorable client companies a tool to use to prevent having to pay vendors.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Ally Cole, brand manager for ELOC Global, cover the topic of getting maximum utilization out of your marketing content. For example, if you do a podcast there are multiple other ways to re-present the content from the podcast, such as an article like this one, a video on YouTube, and images with quotes from the podcast shared on Instagram. It is a good idea to re-present the information in multiple ways because different people learn or retain information better in different ways. Some people are visual learners, some are audio, and some people like reading.

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Today Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, are talking about personal guarantees. To begin with, trying to get an HR manager to sign a personal guarantee is probably a waste of time because it will likely have no weight (especially if the HR manager gets a different job). A personal guarantee is a form that states something to the effect of “if the business fails or fails to pay, the staffing agency can go after the signee personally.” A personal guarantee can be part of a larger standard contract or a separate/special contract.

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For this podcast, Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER), Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, and Luke Menzies, UK solicitor, discuss back door hires. It turns out that back door hires in the UK occur in about the same manner as they do in the US. A recruiting agency introduces a candidate, client company says they’re not interested and then goes quiet, and turns out a few month later that the client company hired the candidate in secret so the recruiting agency would know nothing about it (or that they are owed a fee). The excuses for back door hires in the UK are also very similar to the excuses for back door hires in the US: 1) “we forgot you presented the candidate to us when we just happened to find them on LinkedIn later on,” 2) “we didn’t understand or receive your terms of service,” 3) “the same candidate was introduced by a different agency,” and 4) “we knew them already.” Luke explains that the worst thing a recruiting agency can do to hurt their case after it learns a back door hire has occurred is communicate in a way that shows a lack of confidence about getting paid the fee that the agency should have received. Luke’s solution to this is to stand firm behind the terms of service and resist the temptation to offer a deal too quickly.

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For this podcast Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Ally Cole, brand manager for ELOC Global, talk about new versions of marketing tools that have been around for decades but were recently upgraded by technology and given new names. Some examples of these new versions of marketing tools include sales funnels and lead magnets. As Wilson explains, the old versions of these tools were known as sales emails, which were super long and went through the details of the AER collections process and the perks of going through it. Before that there were sales letters, which basically did the same thing as sales emails but were in paper form and mailed/given in person to prospective clients. Modern day sales funnels are more effective than tools of the past because of the research into human behavior that has been utilized in the marketing industry when creating tools like sales funnels.

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Today Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, are discussing statistics related to the cases that are turned over for collections. 80% of the time AER will be able to collect on a case using only the collections processes the professionals at AER have refined over the years. Of the 20% remaining cases, half of them will need more work and are recommend for a lawsuit and half of them are not. This podcast will mainly focus on the 10% where the collections process did not yield a collection and the case is not recommended for a lawsuit. One classic example of such a case is where the case was turned over after the debtor went out of business years ago, all known points of contact are no longer valid, and the agency that turned over the case is mad that AER is unable to collect any money. Here the key factor is that the agency waited too long to turn over the case for collections and had they done so sooner, some collections could have been possible.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Ally Cole, marketing manager for AER, take some time to talk about Facebook and the marketing opportunities for your company. In some circles there seems to be some confusion on whether Facebook marketing is dead or not. Wilson and Ally are inclined to believe Facebook marketing is not dead because the same people who say that it is are typically the same people who claim Facebook can topple governments and creating much upheaval in general. It doesn’t make much sense for that to be true and for Facebook marketing to not be effective at the same time. Ally explains the 3 types of audiences you can use for Facebook marketing: custom, saved, lookalike. Lookalike audiences are built off of your existing audience by looking for users similar based on given criteria. Legacy forms of marketing such as TV or billboards typically cost much more up front and know much less about their users.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens, & Ross (AER) and Samantha Cole, in-house counsel for AER, sit down to discuss asset sales. The popular conception of asset sales is that a purchasing company owns everything from the company they purchased, including their debt. This is not correct. When a company does an asset sale, typically because it is going out of business, the purchasing company typically doesn’t own the purchased company’s liabilities, such as debts or litigation. Asset sales are typically the purchasing company purchasing only assets (the good stuff) and leaving liabilities (bad stuff) behind in a useless shell. Winning a judgement against a shell is pointless because it has no assets so in the end you will never collect any money. Notification/litigation that doesn’t start until after a company begins an asset sale is does not have a high success rate of debt recovery. That scenario frequently ends with the holders of debt winning judgements against a useless shell company, which again, are not really victories because no money is typically collected. Odds of debt recovery are much better when notification/litigation against the debtor company occurs prior to an asset sale. In that case, the debtor company has to notify the purchasing company of such pending litigation. How much of a difference does it make? Wilson gives the figures that AER typically collect 80% of the time if litigation has begun prior to an asset sale, but 3% of the time if litigation did not occur until after the asset sale.

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Wilson Cole and Samantha Cole are the president and in-house attorney respectively for Adams, Evens & Ross (AER). In today’s podcast they are talking about what to do when a debtor tells you that they’re not going to pay you. Regardless of reason, it is vitally important for you to stop any and all communication immediately. This need cannot be overstated. There are many reasons for this, the least of which being that stopping all communication is a good legal move in general when you are faced with a situation that has clear legal implications. Next, stopping all communication drastically reduces possibility of a company undermining their own case, sometimes beyond repair. What are some of the ways a company can undermine their own case with a debtor who is refusing to pay? One big way is for the company to attempt to get at least a partial payment instead of no payment at all, so they tell the debtor to pay 50% of the original amount, for example. Attorneys for the debtor will later seize on this offer and make it much difficult to later attempt to collect the full amount. Disagreements over discounted amounts can also be construed by debtor attorneys as disagreements over whether there was an agreement between the company and the debtor in the first place.

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The world has evolved a long way in terms of communication. From handwritten letters to emails and now through telephone calls, personal messages to voicemails. But, often calling a person over the phone especially sales calls can often be annoying. When a client was contacted multiple times by a company, they usually ignored and didn’t pay attention to that call. So how do you deal visitors over the phone without being hung up on or completely ignored?

With the rise of technology, traditional answering machines have been replaced by voicemail services which accommodate many different types of operations, allowing business to run more efficiently saving time, effort and money. The success of any business depends on client satisfaction.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens & Ross (AER) and Recruiting and Staffing Solutions Magazine (RRSM) sits down for another podcast from the road. This episode he wants to talk about marketing, an important part of building up his current base of over 3000 clients and handling $50 million per year in collections. One thing that will position your company to close more sales, make more money and have more clients call you instead of having to call out to them, is to position yourself as an expert. Note that being an expert by itself is only half the battle. It is vitally important to let the marketplace know that you’re an expert, aka positioning yourself as an expert, especially as more of an expert than your competitors. There are multiple ways of achieving this, such as webinars or videos, but the way that Wilson ultimately found to be most effective was writing articles for magazines for a trade magazine in his industry. You will most likely find that this to be not as difficult as you may think because these magazines are eager for content. But before you say “of course, because print/magazines are dead,” consider how un-competitive the magazine space has become from a marketing standpoint because all of the other companies are fighting for attention in the digital space. Being a published author in either space increases your credibility as an expert a given area.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens & Ross (AER) and Recruiting and Staffing Solutions Magazine (RRSM) takes time to discuss the topic marketing (outside of collections). One key tool for marketing is growing your email list, which he suggests you do by such strategies as creating lead magnets, and not by such strategies as buying a list. To create a lead magnet, create a list of non-competing companies in your sector, create an offer for them to distribute to their clients and create a free resource related to the offer (such as a whitepaper), notify the non-competitor of the offer and give it to them to distribute to their clients, and email the free resource to the new contacts as they respond to the offer. This process can be automated and is a great way to grow your email list because your company is being presented by a trusted source.

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Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens & Ross (AER) and Recruiting and Staffing Solutions Magazine (RRSM) sits down for another podcast from the road. This episode’s theme is LinkedIn marketing. On the road to his current base of over 3000 clients and handling $50 million per year in collections, Wilson explains that marketing is one area where it has been a necessity to grow his knowledge. LinkedIn has had a huge impact on getting prospects and clients in regards to collections and staffing, especially over the past 2 years. The essence of what to do is make a connection with a cold prospect on LinkedIn, start a discussion regarding issues they may be experiencing, and continue the communication until the prospect has become a client. One note regarding this process is to follow best practices on LinkedIn, as they apply to recruiters and the like.

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Today Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens & Ross (AER), takes a few minutes to give information on back door hires (BDH). This is when a company hires one of your candidates or temporaries onto their payroll, leaving your staffing agency out of the loop. There has been a large increase in this issue over the past 5 years. As technology has improved, there are ways it has aided in the detection of BDHs but also ways it has helped companies hide BDHs. There is one trick to cutting the occurrence of BDHs that involve your firm by at least half and that is to get a signed agreement/contract. The reasoning of some staffing agencies to not get a signed contract is that if they have to make a legal argument, they will say that by accepting the candidate, whether the company signed an agreement or not, it’s as if they did. This is an incredibly weak legal argument; even weaker than oral contracts. Some of the shortfalls with oral contracts are that they cannot last longer than a year and if contract cannot be fulfilled in 12 months, it no longer exists. A number of clients have come to AER, said they presented a candidate, the candidate was hired as a BDH in under a year, but they are not getting paid because the company that hired them is using a defense that the verbal contract voided itself because part of it stretched beyond a year. This defense by debtors (or their attorneys) is usually shored up by them also pointing out that they didn’t sign anything.

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Another podcast from the road with me, Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens & Ross (AER). Today I want to discuss the secret weapon of collections industry. It’s so effective that here at AER, half of our collections would get paid if we only used this one tool. This tool is the sequential collection letter. It may be stereotypical and dreaded, but again, I am speaking from 27 years of experience when I tell you it is effective. The key to its effectiveness is that it does not need to be aggressive. You can even do sequential collection postcards instead of collection letters. I hear from clients that if they send out collections letters, they would lose all of their clients. Unfortunately these are also the same clients that also ask me “why do I get paid slowly?” The answer, whether they want to hear it or not, is because they have trained their clients to pay them slowly. Frequently in these cases I also see the friendship dynamic working against them. I’m talking about how building a rapport and friendship works great when it comes to sales, but it actually has a negative impact from a collections perspective.

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This is the next edition of the Adams, Evens & Ross (AER) podcast with me, Wilson Cole, President. Today we’re going to talk about reducing credit risk. 80% of businesses will go out of business within the first 5 years. After that window, even the 80% of the surviving 20% won’t make it through the next 5 years. Reducing risk to me means that if you’re extending credit, to make sure you’re covered. The best way I can explain it is that as crazy as it would be to give a large amount of money to a complete stranger, think of providing services to a complete stranger asking for staffing services, without properly reducing your risk, as the same type of crazy thing. Unfortunately I have had many clients who did not have that mindset, or had it but acted against their better judgement anyway, before they called me to explain the bad situation they were in. The situation typically involves a staffing company owner/executive saying that through some type of connection they provided staffing services or opened up a line of credit to a new business in town, and now they owe thousands of dollars but won’t return my calls.

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Hi, this is Wilson Cole, President of Adams, Evens & Ross (AER), and the topic of today’s podcast is the statistics/numbers behind back door hires (BDHs). To start off with, I want to let you know that we’ve performed millions of searches and put in a lot of hours to observe these statistics. The first type of statistic revolves around which industry is most likely to perform a BDH. The industry that is least likely to perform BDHs is the financial industry. Even though they still happen, from the numbers we’ve observed, they happen at a rate of 1 out of 700 presentations. The continue along this line, the manufacturing industry has BDH rate of 1 out of 610 presentations, the engineering industry has a rate of 1 out of 594 and the legal industry has a rate of 1 out of 535. The industry that has the most frequent rate of BDH, note this is industry and not position, is the medical industry where 1 out of 490 presentations turns into a BDH.

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President of Adams, Evens & Ross (AER) Wilson Cole takes this podcast to talk about collection letters. This is the first thing he asks if a client has done when they call him to let him know they have a collections situation they may need to hand over. If the client says they have not sent out a collection letter yet, he suggests they do it before proceeding to anything else and this is why. It prompts a response and that response is a litmus test in regards to whether or not the debtor will end up paying. In response to a collection letter, sometimes the debtor will say “they’re not going to pay because…” In this scenario, it obviously lets the creditor know they need to move forward with the collections process, but the creditor should also make note to stop any/all communication directly with the debtor at this point because otherwise, anything said/done beyond this point will be used as a defense on why they (the debtor) should not pay.

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President of Adams, Evens & Ross (AER) Wilson Cole talking today about setting and maintaining credit lines. As he has expressed before, think of setting up credit lines as if they were credit cards. If credit card company will give you credit, they may say it’s unlimited, but it’s based on ability to pay back/creditworthiness. Base credit line on creditworthiness and not the degree of their need of your services. Separate client companies into different classes. Class A companies would be big/publicly traded companies, such as Coca Cola, who would typically never have a credit problem, though they may have temporary cash flow issues.

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It all falls under the same legal concept and the rule of law as it says that under certain circumstances you have to sign the contract or else it is not a valid contract. If it was never approved, then it is not binding or valid. If you’re a recruiter and you don’t have a signed contract, then, you don’t have a case.

An oral contract cannot be longer than one year, because if you do, that’s more likely do not having a contract at all. But, an email or an acceptance of a resume could be connected to your contract, by following an attorney’s legal advice.

It doesn’t mean that the acceptance of an email or the approval of a resume means that you accept the terms and conditions. It gives an argumentative point and not absolute unless you bind it to your written contract and have it signed.

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Whatever their reasons are, whether they say like they never signed a contract with you, they come from referrals, and they are an independent candidate or whatever, note that Back Door Hire Solutions will still be able to trace and collect them, but you need to have a signed contract. You make sure what you put everything in your agreement and if they’re hiring for any position in any capacity, always make it something your safeguards.

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You have to make sure that the client agrees that they owe you a fee of xyz percent regardless of the other candidate reach out to them directly or indirectly hired and what you want to have in your contract is that they owe a fee for a period of 12months from the last point of presentation or the last discussion of that particular candidate.

What Every Staffing and Recruiting Firm Should Know: Recent Episodes

Wilson Cole