Utility companies, like many businesses, were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. With people struggling to pay their bills, that left utilities with growing accounts receivables. Karen Jonas, Senior Vice President of Business Development at IC System, and Eric Port, Recovery Manager at DebtNext, provided some insights on the matter and some welcome news for utilities struggling with mounting AR balances.

“What we see is a lot more utilities are starting to regain focus on their write-off collections again,” Port said. With the pandemic beginning to subside, there is a renewed effort on recoveries and a shift in the type of recoveries utilizing digital methods, such as email and text.

Debt collection rarely, if ever, has a positive connotation. Joe Erickson, Director of HR at IC System, spoke with Eric Johannes, Director of Corporate Marketing at IC System, about how this relates to the significance of creating positive culture in this sector.

Erickson has worked for IC System, a family business founded by his grandmother, for 22 years. He sees the main benefit of working for a private-owned company as being able to say when something is wrong and act with integrity, even when difficult. “Our core values are something that we’ve stuck by, and we have held to even when it is inconvenient,” he stated. “Being a private-owned company, we’re able to be more flexible, we’re able to do what’s right for our clients maybe more and were able to do what’s right for our employees maybe more.”

Because collections has a negative connotation, it’s crucial for IC System to spread the message that they are trying to do good. “We’re really trying to be the good guy and be an extension of our clients and treat people the way we’d want to be treated out there,” Erickson explained. This involves finding the right people to do the job and being a good steward of clients, the community, and employees.

IC System creates a culture of buy-in where employees believe in their vision. “If you have people that are not living your core values, it can spoil the water and it can make it bad for everybody else. And I think that we protect that, we protect our core values, and we really don’t make our people work with people that don’t align with us,” Erickson said.

To learn more about IC System and how they instill positive culture, subscribe to Closing the Books on Spotify OR Apple iTunes.

IC System has over 85 years of experience in medical and dental debt collection, rent recovery and other business collections. For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

Tax time for collections agencies is a time when conversions and recovery increase. This window of time when debtors may have additional funds is prime time for collection success. Discussing why this is and offering more insights, Bryan Campbell, Business Development Manager at IC Systems, joined Closing the Books host Tyler Kern. 

“From an activity standpoint, it’s a seasonal lift. Inbound volumes are up over 10%, conversion rates by 7%, and payment size by 20%,” Campbell shared. 

Campbell attributed this rise in recovery to consumers wanting to meet their obligations. “There’s a psychology to it. People get a refund and have the means to pay. Very rarely do consumers not want to at all. It’s just they don’t have the ability to do so.”

“If they are exploring it or unhappy with previous results, it’s time to get into it. The first refunds hit around early February, and you want to be ready to benefit when the money is there.” 

Campbell also advised that turning accounts over to collection should happen after 90 days. From there, collectors can begin collecting on the account in about 35 days after the debt validation notice and the time consumers have to dispute it. “Most debts are collected within the first 90 days of delinquency. It decreases after that. If you wait longer, the value decreases. It’s much lower after 120 days.”

With strategies in place and the ability to negotiate settlements, many businesses can see Accounts receivable (AR) recovery increase during tax time and all the months of the year. 

IC System has over 85 years of experience in medical and dental debt collection, rent recovery and other business collections.

“There’s a lot of science behind it,” Selbitschka said. “We’re looking at the portfolio as a whole. So, as the accounts come in, we’re looking at average balance, we’re looking at where the consumer is located, how long the consumer had the services. Were they a continuous payer, where they a one and done? There’s all that information that goes on behind-the-scenes we look at before we make a phone call.” Utilizing data during this phase provides accurate information upfront and ensures a better return on collections.

Selbitschka said IC System utilizes a data vendor who channels up to eighteen pieces of different information to create a score. This score generates a 5-tier model for IC System’s dialer team to assign penetration rates.

“One of the neatest things about our model is it’s very interactive during the first thirty days,” Selbitschka said. The model factors all of IC System’s communications, contacts, payment arrangements, unsolicited payments, wrong addresses, bad phone numbers, refusal to pay, and consumer interactions, and fluctuates accounts up and down the various tiers. This approach provides- real-time data for the dialers, and it is a competitive advantage over a collection agency using a static credit score to make call decisions.

It’s critical that scoring isn’t a one-way street. IC System generates a score from the consumer as well. That data allows IC System to make continual process improvements and provide consumer satisfaction results to clients.

On this episode of Closing the books, a podcast by I.C. System, Host, Eric Johannes, sat down with Kay Drinkwitz, a Lead at IC System. The two discussed Drinkwitz’s 27-year journey at I.C. system, from her early days as a college student to her work today as a mentor for other collectors, as well as how the task of debt collecting has evolved throughout her years at I.C. System.

Drinkwitz was only 18 when she got referred by her supervisor to start at I.C. System. She recalls her first years working in debt collection being intimidating, especially when comparing herself to some of the more experienced collectors. “I was very soft on the phone,” Drinkwitz explains, “I think it helped me develop a lot of my self-confidence over the years. I’ve grown with the job for sure.”

After graduating college with a degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Mathematics, Drinkwitz found that her job at I.C. system ultimately worked best with the life changes she was experiencing at the time. Now, 27 years later what started as a part-time job in college has turned into many years of experience and fostered relationships.

“I definitely could not work for a company that was not in line with my own values,” Drinkwitz explains. “We really try to put people first and that's important to me. The approach that we have always taken is to try to help people and try to do the right thing.”

The two go on to discuss the evolution of debt collecting at I.C. system, such as changes in terminology like “consumer” instead of “debtor”, as well as dealing with the negative connotations associated with debt collecting and navigating through difficult conversations with consumers.

For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

With 50 states and seemingly a different set of rules for each, keeping up with the regulatory changes in the collections industry can be tricky. But Michelle Dove, Corporate Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at IC System, said it’s all in a day’s work. She joined host Tyler Kern to shed some light on the latest industry regulations and provide some best practices for keeping on top of the changes.

Dove’s primary job with IC System is to manage litigation. Still, she also spends a fair amount of time reviewing policies and procedures to ensure everything follows the ever-changing laws and regulations.

“There are some federal laws that are overarching and govern everything we do,” Dove noted. “The FDCPA, in essence, tells debt collectors that you have to treat consumers fairly. The FCRA governs how we report debts if our clients elect a credit reports’ accounts. The FCRA tells us how to do it right. The TCPA governs how we call consumers and mostly dictates how and when we can call cell phones.” And there are many other privacy-related laws debt collectors must follow.

The more states that create their own regulatory operations and laws, the trickier compliance is for companies like IC System. It can get exhausting, but overall, Dove said it’s a good thing.

“I think for a long time in our industry, we collected debts a little bit unknowing of what the requirements or expectations were, and we usually found out when we got it wrong,” Dove said. “The good news, with all of this regulation, is it tells you how to collect debts the right way, and so ensuring compliance then is the next step.”

For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

On this episode of Closing The Books, a podcast by IC System, Host Tyler Kern talked with Mary Prendergast, Vice President of Business Development at IC System, and Gary Meza, CEO, and Owner of GTM Medical Consulting, whose mission is to become the leading business advisor for physicians in the Mid-Atlantic by helping its clients achieve best practices both financially and operationally. The trio talked about how a business adviser can improve your healthcare organization’s revenue challenges.

Meza and GTM Consulting help practices that are struggling. Having worked with over 100 practices from numerous backgrounds, he helps them by restructuring them and making them more financially sound. One of the main issues he sees is billing efficacy, which in turn becomes a cash flow issue.

“To flesh this out I ask physicians if I can review their accounts receivable and monthly billing report,” Meza said. “Very seldom do they review these on a regular basis. They just want to practice medicine.”

The business of healthcare has changed over the last ten years, however, with practices now forced to enlist a business consultant or business manager. Meza has been a long-time partner of IC System, introducing clients that need help with self-pay solutions. The pandemic, however, has brought a fresh round of challenges to the industry.

Listen to hear more about these challenges and how a business adviser can help improve a healthcare organization. For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

Class was in session on Closing the Books as Tyler Kern got a crash course in the secrets behind writing an accurate collections RFP to capture vendors’ attention and deliver the results businesses desire.

IC System Proposal Manager Mark Pollard provided insights into what vendors like IC System look for in a well-written RFP that helps them communicate how their solutions will make a perfect fit for a prospect’s business.

There are many standards and requirements in an RFP that won’t change over time, but Pollard said he’d seen his fair share of RFPs that had not changed in 20 years. With technology changing and many other aspects of a business rapidly evolving, Pollard recommended companies regularly review and update their RFP process and documents.

A key consideration Pollard said that some businesses don’t give full attention to during a collections RFP is their debt portfolio.

“Know that the details of your debt portfolio are yours,” Pollard said. “The hesitancy I see with some buyers is they’ve been working with a collections vendor for a number of years. That collections vendor has accomplished a certain amount of success and returned a certain amount of dollars to them. When when you ask them about that success, and what has your incumbent provider accomplished over the last, say, four years, they say they don’t feel right about sharing that; it’s kind of maybe proprietary to the incumbent provider.”

This information is the buyer’s information, and they are within their rights to share it in an RFP.

For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has long been an organization that seeks to build trust between businesses and consumers. Most people are familiar with their grading, which is the result of customer reviews.

They also have the Torch Awards for Ethics, and IC System is a 2021 winner. Discussing the award and what it means, Closing the Books host Tyler Kern spoke with IC System President and CEO John Erickson and Lisa Jemtrud, VP of Community Relations for BBB Minnesota.

Jemtrud explained the basics of the award. “Its purpose is to lift up those businesses showcasing ethics, and it’s been held annually since 2000.”

Next, Jemtrud discussed eligibility. “You don’t have to be accredited with the BBB but must have a letter grade of B or better. The company must be in the service area of Minnesota or North Dakota and be in a good financial position. Additionally, the business can’t have a record of complaints or government actions.”

Beyond those specifications, the determination of a winner focuses on four main aspects: how a company treats its customers, vendors and employees, as well as what they are doing for the community. An independent panel of judges from various industries also looks at the application and how it describes how the company executes ethics daily.

John noted that IC System has long appreciated its affiliation with the BBB and its A+ rating. “We’ve been applying since 2010 and had been runner up before winning this year. The award embodies everything we’re trying to do at IC.”

IC System was so committed to this they even put it in their strategic plan. “It lines up with our core values, and it was a part of our strategy. We view it as a great accomplishment.”

For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.