Diplomatic Approach Leads Community College to Place 5,000-account Order
August 31, 2006 – Bloomington, Illinois – District Sales Manager Blake Collinsworth recently sold a 5,000-account new order to a college in central Illinois. With over 11,000 students, it is one of the largest community colleges in the state.
The college decided to use the GreenFlagSM Profit Recovery service for student tuition accounts after unsuccessfully attempting to collect the money themselves. Collinsworth explains, “They had been spending time writing letters internally and had only been recovering 7 percent of their outstanding accounts. They immediately saw the value GreenFlag Profit Recovery could bring to their A/R challenges.”
According to Collinsworth, the college had long searched for a compromise between the struggle of internal recovery and the high cost and pressure tactics of outsourcing to a percentage-based agency. “The members of the board of directors at the college were uneasy about sending any student accounts to ‘collections.’ However, when they saw the diplomatic approach of our demands, their anxiety was immediately removed. They felt they had found the ideal solution.”
The college also liked the ease of uploading accounts electronically to the Online Client Portal (OCP). They were further reassured when they learned that another local community college, using the same internal accounting software, had no trouble uploading accountsto the OCP. Check us out today at www.greenprofitrecovery.com or call 866-629-9092 EXT 101 ask for Sam.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
"The ultimate goal is we want our books back"
When libraries notify patrons that materials they borrowed are late and fines are due, it's not really the money they are after.
"The ultimate goal is we want our books back," said Carol Brey-Casiano, president of the American Library Association. "We want people to understand that when they are issued a library card, it is just as important as a credit card."
It shouldn't be surprising, then, that some public libraries go as far as enlisting the help of collection agencies to recover materials that are not returned.
Of the 18 public libraries that responded to a recent online survey by the Wheeling-based North Suburban Library System, 11 libraries reported they use collection agencies to collect overdue books and fines. For some it is a new practice, one they decided to adopt because the money they receive from state and federal sources has dropped in recent years.
At other libraries, collection agencies have been used for decades. The Schaumburg Township District Library has been using a collection agency the past 20 years and now uses two regularly, IC Systems and Transworld.
Brey-Casiano said the Oak Park Public Library used Transworld services while she was director there from 1991 to 1995. And the El Paso Public Library in El Paso, Texas, where she currently works as director, began using Transworld at her recommendation.
"It is not really a collection agency," Brey-Casiano said.
Transworld sends a series of letters that get increasingly more strongly worded. If a patron fails to return the overdue materials or fails to contact the library to pay for them, the person may be referred to a collection agency, she said.
'Sharing the wealth'
"We are not trying to be law enforcers. We are trying to get our materials back," Brey-Casiano said. "The most important thing about overdue books is you are keeping someone else from using them."
When patrons return library materials promptly, more people in the community have access to the library's resources.
"We are sharing the wealth," Brey-Casiano said.
While some libraries send their own overdue notices, Brey-Casiano said paying for outside services like Transworld saves staff time and can be more effective because the company deals with collections on a much greater volume than an individual library would.
Within the past two years, the El Paso Library determined it had lost $250,000 worth of materials that were long overdue. Library officials have reduced that amount by using the collection service and offering amnesty periods when patrons were allowed to bring back materials "fine-free and with no questions asked," Brey-Casiano said.
The Indian Trails Library in Wheeling, which also serves the Cook County portion of Buffalo Grove, does not use a collection agency but regularly evaluates whether the method would be cost-effective.
"We look at it once a year," said Tamiye Meehan, director of Indian Trails. "It's not yet viable."
Meehan said hiring a collection agency would cost more than the fines that go unpaid. The library collects about $48,000 a year in late fines. The fines that are never paid or waived equal less than 3 percent of that amount, Meehan said. She did not have recent data on the value of materials that are borrowed during the year and never returned.
Most libraries experience the highest losses from people who come in, apply for a library card, borrow a book and never come back, said Meehan.
"A collection agency isn't going to be able to find those people," she said.
Material recovery
For more than two years, the Vernon Area Public Library, serving Buffalo Grove residents in Lake County, has been sending the names of persons delinquent in returning the materials they borrowed from the library to a collection agency.
It's a tactic more and more libraries are using these days to get their materials back in circulation, and it's proven successful.
Unique Management, a collection agency being used by many libraries, has recovered 81 percent of library fines and long ago borrowed materials from the Lincolnshire library, said Stephen Territto, head of circulation at Vernon Area Public Library.
"They do a wonderful job recovering our materials," he said.
Although Unique Management has prompted patrons to bring back library materials, it can be a drawn-out process.
After library materials don't appear back in the library on their due date, the library starts sending four notices over 45 days. When that 45th day rolls around and the patron still hasn't returned the item, they can no longer check out library materials. If the materials are not returned by the 60th day from its due date, the offender's name is turned over to the collection agency, which sends a letter to the offender.
If the patron doesn't make contact after a period of time, another letter is sent. And, if still there is no word from the patron, they can expect to get phone calls from the agency.
There is at least a month from the date the last letter was sent before the agency reports the patron to a credit bureau.
But, once patrons with overdue materials see the library means business when they receive that letter from the collection agency, they respond relatively quickly, Territto said.
And more often than not, they respond with an apology rather than with a gripe.
"They've responded with very few complaints," he said, adding he's only received three or four since he began as head of circulation just over a year ago.
Territto feels the library is not projecting a bad image. Instead, it is displaying a positive image for the general public by making sure the materials paid for with taxpayers' dollars remain available, he said.
Patron names are only sent to collection if they have over $25 in fines or lost itme charges.
The Vernon Area Public Library pays Unique Management $10 per delinquent patron, but the fee does not come out of the pockets of other patrons. The offending patron gets stuck with the tab.
The Elk Grove Village, Crystal Lake and Skokie public libraries; the Palatine and Cary area public library districts; the Cook Memorial Public Library District in Libertyville and the Gail Borden Public Library District in Elgin all report satisfaction with Unique Management to collect long-overdue items.
In the 10 years that Jeffersonville, Ind.-based Unique Management has been in business, the number of clients has grown from two to 600, said Richard Neal, Unique Management's manager of strategic partnerships. And they are all libraries in the United States and Canada.
"We use the gentle-nudge approach," Neal said. "We motivate or encourage patrons to go back to the library and either return the materials or work out a payment plan."
Neal estimates the firm helps the library recover the missing materials or reimbursement for them in 65 percent to 75 percent of the cases it handles. Studies show only 1 percent to 1.5 percent of a library's patrons fail to return materials when they are due, Neal said.
Call Sam J. Banda to do a free account receavable analysis for you at 866-629-9092 or e-mail me sbanda7@gmail.com visit us on line www.greenprofitrecovery.com and please watch the videos.
(originally published by Pioneer Press (Chicago Northwest suburbs) - picked up on Collectionindustry.com 7/8/04)
When overdue notices aren't enough
Some public libraries turn to outside help to recover their inventory
BY KIMBERLY FORNEK
STAFF REPORTER
Staff Writer J.T. Morand contributed to this article.
"The ultimate goal is we want our books back," said Carol Brey-Casiano, president of the American Library Association. "We want people to understand that when they are issued a library card, it is just as important as a credit card."
It shouldn't be surprising, then, that some public libraries go as far as enlisting the help of collection agencies to recover materials that are not returned.
Of the 18 public libraries that responded to a recent online survey by the Wheeling-based North Suburban Library System, 11 libraries reported they use collection agencies to collect overdue books and fines. For some it is a new practice, one they decided to adopt because the money they receive from state and federal sources has dropped in recent years.
At other libraries, collection agencies have been used for decades. The Schaumburg Township District Library has been using a collection agency the past 20 years and now uses two regularly, IC Systems and Transworld.
Brey-Casiano said the Oak Park Public Library used Transworld services while she was director there from 1991 to 1995. And the El Paso Public Library in El Paso, Texas, where she currently works as director, began using Transworld at her recommendation.
"It is not really a collection agency," Brey-Casiano said.
Transworld sends a series of letters that get increasingly more strongly worded. If a patron fails to return the overdue materials or fails to contact the library to pay for them, the person may be referred to a collection agency, she said.
'Sharing the wealth'
"We are not trying to be law enforcers. We are trying to get our materials back," Brey-Casiano said. "The most important thing about overdue books is you are keeping someone else from using them."
When patrons return library materials promptly, more people in the community have access to the library's resources.
"We are sharing the wealth," Brey-Casiano said.
While some libraries send their own overdue notices, Brey-Casiano said paying for outside services like Transworld saves staff time and can be more effective because the company deals with collections on a much greater volume than an individual library would.
Within the past two years, the El Paso Library determined it had lost $250,000 worth of materials that were long overdue. Library officials have reduced that amount by using the collection service and offering amnesty periods when patrons were allowed to bring back materials "fine-free and with no questions asked," Brey-Casiano said.
The Indian Trails Library in Wheeling, which also serves the Cook County portion of Buffalo Grove, does not use a collection agency but regularly evaluates whether the method would be cost-effective.
"We look at it once a year," said Tamiye Meehan, director of Indian Trails. "It's not yet viable."
Meehan said hiring a collection agency would cost more than the fines that go unpaid. The library collects about $48,000 a year in late fines. The fines that are never paid or waived equal less than 3 percent of that amount, Meehan said. She did not have recent data on the value of materials that are borrowed during the year and never returned.
Most libraries experience the highest losses from people who come in, apply for a library card, borrow a book and never come back, said Meehan.
"A collection agency isn't going to be able to find those people," she said.
Material recovery
For more than two years, the Vernon Area Public Library, serving Buffalo Grove residents in Lake County, has been sending the names of persons delinquent in returning the materials they borrowed from the library to a collection agency.
It's a tactic more and more libraries are using these days to get their materials back in circulation, and it's proven successful.
Unique Management, a collection agency being used by many libraries, has recovered 81 percent of library fines and long ago borrowed materials from the Lincolnshire library, said Stephen Territto, head of circulation at Vernon Area Public Library.
"They do a wonderful job recovering our materials," he said.
Although Unique Management has prompted patrons to bring back library materials, it can be a drawn-out process.
After library materials don't appear back in the library on their due date, the library starts sending four notices over 45 days. When that 45th day rolls around and the patron still hasn't returned the item, they can no longer check out library materials. If the materials are not returned by the 60th day from its due date, the offender's name is turned over to the collection agency, which sends a letter to the offender.
If the patron doesn't make contact after a period of time, another letter is sent. And, if still there is no word from the patron, they can expect to get phone calls from the agency.
There is at least a month from the date the last letter was sent before the agency reports the patron to a credit bureau.
But, once patrons with overdue materials see the library means business when they receive that letter from the collection agency, they respond relatively quickly, Territto said.
And more often than not, they respond with an apology rather than with a gripe.
"They've responded with very few complaints," he said, adding he's only received three or four since he began as head of circulation just over a year ago.
Territto feels the library is not projecting a bad image. Instead, it is displaying a positive image for the general public by making sure the materials paid for with taxpayers' dollars remain available, he said.
Patron names are only sent to collection if they have over $25 in fines or lost itme charges.
The Vernon Area Public Library pays Unique Management $10 per delinquent patron, but the fee does not come out of the pockets of other patrons. The offending patron gets stuck with the tab.
The Elk Grove Village, Crystal Lake and Skokie public libraries; the Palatine and Cary area public library districts; the Cook Memorial Public Library District in Libertyville and the Gail Borden Public Library District in Elgin all report satisfaction with Unique Management to collect long-overdue items.
In the 10 years that Jeffersonville, Ind.-based Unique Management has been in business, the number of clients has grown from two to 600, said Richard Neal, Unique Management's manager of strategic partnerships. And they are all libraries in the United States and Canada.
"We use the gentle-nudge approach," Neal said. "We motivate or encourage patrons to go back to the library and either return the materials or work out a payment plan."
Neal estimates the firm helps the library recover the missing materials or reimbursement for them in 65 percent to 75 percent of the cases it handles. Studies show only 1 percent to 1.5 percent of a library's patrons fail to return materials when they are due, Neal said.
Call Sam J. Banda to do a free account receavable analysis for you at 866-629-9092 or e-mail me sbanda7@gmail.com visit us on line www.greenprofitrecovery.com and please watch the videos.
(originally published by Pioneer Press (Chicago Northwest suburbs) - picked up on Collectionindustry.com 7/8/04)
When overdue notices aren't enough
Some public libraries turn to outside help to recover their inventory
BY KIMBERLY FORNEK
STAFF REPORTER
Staff Writer J.T. Morand contributed to this article.
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