Guest Editorial
Greetings from the great state of Alabama ROLL TIDE ROLL!
Verification is More Important Than Skip-Tracing! Yes I said it, and I know that many of you may be shocked to discover that I could actually hold anything in higher regard than my much-esteemed art of skip-tracing, but let’s take a broader view of the landscape—many, many miles of landscape!
An assignment, on average, nationwide is 38 miles one way from your location. You’re typically given multiple addresses to run down due to too much skip-guessing and not enough skip-tracing, or verification. Multiply the number of addresses that you have to chase down by the sky-rocketing cost of fuel, insurance, labor and a multitude of other incidentals, and you come to realize that the only thing that is not on the rise is profits!!
So when faced with the reality of the numbers, simple math tells you that it is not profitable to leave your office unless you have a valid reason, and this is where your front-end verification becomes more important than your back-end skip-tracing. Profits come from that first night’s recovery. Obviously, the ratio of profit diminishes on an account that has been worked for weeks or months, depending on your contract and area of expertise.
The data that you use for your front-end verification needs to be spot on, and not have you throwing darts in the dark. There are many good data providers in the marketplace to choose from. It is no secret that I work for and advocate MasterFiles. It’s not simply a matter of being a part of MasterFiles; I honestly believe in the product and have used it over many years to earn my living. I have sat in your chair, so I understand the challenges you face each day and what you need to make your job easier and MAKE MONEY!
Since I have real-world experience with your situation and your needs, I recently helped our R & D division with a new product that can make the difference in front-end verification with just a simple click of the mouse. The name of this product is the “Mini Profile”. Your time is simply too valuable to dig through page after page of information in order to locate the key pieces needed to move forward with the file.
The “Mini Profile” provides you with all the addresses reporting to the subject, along with any working phones at each location. It also delivers the property records and all details of the most current address reporting to the subject, along with the locations of any other properties he may own. The report conveniently includes all neighbors surrounding the most current address, and provides any working phones for those parties as well.
Within seconds of receiving an assignment you will know the age of the address in relation to the subject, and who has a working phone at that location. You also have access to a past or present landlord to verify residency or get additional information on the skip or verify if the subject owns the property. You have the name of the subdivision and the relevant characteristics of the property (eg. Is there a garage at the location?) Lastly, you get a list of surrounding neighbors to contact all in “Real Time”. Now you can make an informed decision as to whether the account needs to be dispatched to the field, and the field agent can take the report with him to do some basic skip-tracing on site, giving you a better chance of a first-day recovery as opposed to just another dry run.
By using the “Mini Profile” on the front end you will reduce costs and increase profits by having the current information at your fingertips in a concise, reliable report. Logically this will give you more time on the back end to concentrate on those harder to locate accounts.
If you would like more information on beefing up your front-end verifications, reducing cost and boosting profits, please feel free to subscribe to SKIPGURU.COM at no charge to you or your staff it is my way of paying it forward!
Until Next Time… Follow Me on the Path to Better Skip-Tracing!
Alex Price is a nationally-recognized expert on the Art of Skip Tracing and author of Skip Tracers National Certification Program with over 25+ years of experience in skip-tracing, collections and public speaking. Alex began his career with Barnett Bank as a field representative collecting past-due accounts. He then moved to World Omni Finance, where over the next ten years he worked in all aspects of collections and handling the nationwide charge-off skip portfolio.
Contact Info: alex.price@masterfiles.com , Office: (972) 735-2353, Fax: (972) 735-2354
Alex is correct. But verification costs a legitimate recovery company time and money. How do you spend more money on a deal that pays you substandard fees and nothing unless you get the car? You don’t. It’s fill according to the major forwarders. They don’t bother to check anything before they put it out because they can always close and send it to someone else again and again until they find one of us dumb enough to do all the work for free in hopes of getting more VOLUME! Again, stop working for slave wages and tell them NO! For a non-contingent assignment every account needs to worked in the office before a tire turns, it is the key to success.