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Author: Mark Green (page 2 of 2)

Database Marketing Expert

April 17, 2009

Shop Talk: How Are You Collecting on Bad Debt?

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Seeing that 2007-08 were extremely rough years in our industry, we at Top of Mind experienced a significant rise in slow-pays and no-pays.  Ultimately, we found ourselves with high-five figure 90-day+ receivables.  Anyone who’s ever been in this position surely is aware of how uncomfortable it can be calling clients and asking for past due payments.  After all, if we’re doing our jobs right – our clients ultimately become our friends.

There are basically two common approaches to collecting on receivables – and they’re polar opposites of each other:

Approach #1)  The aggressive, finger-pointing, condescending way: I think this is the way most businesses pursue bad debt.  Heck, when I was young and ignorant, I let a few personal account balances go late.  The increasingly frequent calls I received from my debtors became threatening and borderline obnoxious.  Certainly I wanted to make good on my debt, and ultimately I did.  My motivation in paying the debt, however, wasn’t to please these bill collectors – it was simply doing the right thing and paying my bill as soon as I could.  As far as my debtors were concerned, their tactics worked.

Approach #2)  The compassionate, understanding and communicative way: I’d like to share how I’ve handled our bad debt over the past couple years.

  • I do not delegate collection calls to my employees.  In my opinion, this is the kind of s**t work that causes employees to dread coming to work.  It isn’t my employees’ fault that we let some of our clients get behind on their bill, why should it be my employees’ work to clean up a mess management created?  99% of collection calls come from me as the President of our company (with the other 1% coming from my partners).
  • I have one ground rule on how I treat a debtor – if they’ll communicate with me, I’ll bend over backward to help them.  Clients who owe us money aren’t treated as “B-class” clients.  I use my CRM system to take copious notes on all phone conversations and email threads – and I set reminders to check the status at reasonable intervals (depending on Read more
April 7, 2009

Please Get Out of My Face(book)

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Database Marketing Expert

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Part of my core schtick at Top of Mind is to ask my prospects two critical questions about email marketing:

1)  Why are so many companies leveraging email as their primary vehicle for communicating with clients and prospects?

Two reasons – email is cheap and email is easy.

2)  Why are you getting 200+ emails in your inbox every day?

Exactly.  Cheap and easy creates a low barrier to entry… and a low barrier to entry creates clutter.  Clutter is a marketer’s worst enemy.  Bad news folks – Facebook is cheap and easy too.

I’m very fortunate to have some groovy friends in the mortgage industry – and after my Facebook Webinar with Brian Brady, I made even more of them.  Now I’m getting my new friends’ updates and:

75% of the time they’re telling me it’s time to refinance, locking loans or boring me with industry vernacular I don’t understand.

20% of the time they’re giving me a play by play on what they’re eating, what color tie they’re wearing or something else I really don’t care about

Okay, so now we’ve identified the problem.  Next step is fixing it.  Here are some best practices I’ve seen and a few I haven’t.

1)  Keep an eye on your frequency. Here’s a general rule of thumb: the more compelling and fresh your status updates are, the more frequency you can get away with.  I think the sweet spot is 3 updates a week so long as they can pass the next test…

2)  Before updating your status, ask yourself if anyone really cares. How many of your 250 friends care that you’re getting ready for bed?  For me, that’s the equivalent of tuning into MIX 96 FM and hearing “I’ll Tumble For Ya” by Culture Club.  I’m flailing like a maniac for the next station even if it causes a 57-car pile up.  If I hear enough Culture Club on MIX 96, they’re off my speed dial FOREVER.  Same goes for my Facebook pals.  Sorry, just keepin’ it real.

3)  Have a strong take on something topical – politics, current events, sports, etc. You don’t have to tell your friends that you’re Read more

April 2, 2009

Should Blogs Enjoy the Same First Amendment Rights as Traditional Press?

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Aaron Krowne, Founder of the Mortgage Lender Implode-o-Meter, posted the following article yesterday.

New Hampshire Judge Orders ML-Implode To Divulge Identities of Anonymous Posters

Questions:

1)  Should blogs/consumer advocacy websites enjoy the same First Amendment protections as traditional press?

2)  Does Justice McHugh’s decision disturb you as much as it disturbs me?

3)  On the other hand, how is a company like The Mortgage Specialists  (innocent until proven otherwise) protected against an insider leaking confidential documents, the validity of which is yet to be substantiated?

I am a proponent of the ML-Implode-O-Meter and a believer in Aaron Krowne.  So I’m afraid I could be biased here.  However, if you share my opinion regarding the sanctity of the First Amendment:

a)  Aaron has created a few advocacy groups on Facebook so please look him up if interested.

b)  Here’s a list of volunteers helping Aaron.

Perhaps Aaron himself puts it best:

“If the order stands, a flood of similar lawsuits filed by corporations against ‘whistleblower’ and consumer advocacy web sites could appear across the country”

More negative coverage of “The Mortgage Specialists” can be found here.  I actually called them prior to publishing this article – fully expecting for the phones to be disconnected.  Instead, my call was taken on the first ring.  During our 2-minute conversation, the TMS employee told me that “all that had been taken care of”, it was a “compliance issue, not fraud”, and that the guilty parties were no longer with the company.

April 1, 2009

An Open Letter of Apology to Chaz Berman

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Ten years ago, as Director of National Accounts for MyPoints.com,  I found myself smack dab in the middle of an eerily similar boom-to-bust cycle we’re experiencing in real estate today.

Back then, MyPoints could do no wrong.   Advertisers were lining up to spend money with us. Investors were throwing millions of dollars our way.  We were partying like AIG executives – it was pretty sick.   Fun, but sick.

My boss at MyPoints was Chaz Berman.  During our meteoric rise, Chaz made promises that ultimately he couldn’t keep.  Promises of increased pay.  Increased responsibility.  I was on track for a VP Title and VP Bucks.  (Important note:  I was already very well compensated and had more responsibility than I could handle.)

Fast forward to 2009, the roles have reversed.  Instead of being the employee, I’m the employer.  Instead of taking directions, I’m giving them.  Here are the lessons I’ve learned from sitting on both sides of the table.

1)  Most employees are ungrateful whiners.

And looking back on my tenure with MyPoints, I was as whiny and ungrateful as anyone I’ve ever managed here at Top of Mind Networks.  Instead of focusing on what earned me promotions, money and praise in the past, I started letting some unrealistic promises made in a 180 degree different environment dictate my work ethic and my demeanor.  I took my job for granted.  I failed to realize that I was truly blessed – making a six-figure income, living in beautiful San Francisco, selling a killer product, etc.  As market conditions deteriorated, so did my attitude.  And for this, I owe MyPoints.com and especially Chaz Berman my sincere apologies.  Chaz, you were in a no-win situation and you were dealt a “Pai-Gow” of a hand.  I’m glad to see you still thriving today – you deserve it.

2)  Most employers stir the pot.

Nothing stokes the fire of negativity within a company more than a lack of transparency and communication.  In hindsight, I believe MyPoints did a poor job of setting expectations with employees – at every level of the company.  Perhaps the fact that we were a publicly traded Read more

March 26, 2009

Meet My New BFF: GoToWebinar

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Database Marketing Expert

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Hate cold calling?  No, not you Chris Johnson.  I mean the rest of us.

Me too.  So I invested a few dollars into GoToMeeting and a few hours promoting a few educational Webinars with Brian Brady on Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you can deal with my goofball face and occasional blabbering, you’ll find a couple of nuggets in the 19 minute video below.

Takeaways:

1)  Pick a hot Webinar topic.  Find an industry expert.  And give the goods.  You don’t need to sell anything.  Just give.

2)  Have your friends, referral sources and counterparts help you promote your webinar.  Return the favor when they ask.

3)  Use the Webinar registration process to build your database and collect valuable data on your attendees.

4)  Record your Webinar, use video editing software like Camtasia to reformat, and post your Webinar onto your blog.

5)  Promote your Webinar on high traffic blogs.  Drive registrants to your blog to fill out the Registration Form.

March 7, 2009

Here’s Some Piss Poor Journalism For Ya

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Database Marketing Expert

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Since Greg welcomed me aboard BHB last week, ideas have been racing through my head.  What would I write about first?

CRM execution tactics? Too predictable.

Skinned cats? I’ll leave that to my favorite cat skinner.

Then it occurred to me last night:  why not dive right in with an example of why BHB and blogs like it are putting the traditional fish rag out of business.

I’m a sports fan(atic).  I find it to be the ultimate in reality television.

But whether your remote is hard-coded to ESPN or not,  you’re surely aware of the ongoing steroid crisis in professional sports.

This week’s Sports Illustrated features an article about a former football player named Tony Mandarich, commonly known as the biggest bust in NFL history.  However, two decades ago, SI ran a story proclaiming Mandarich as “The Greatest Offensive Line Prospect in the History of Football”.  This story was written by a journalist named Rick Telander.

Now, twenty years later, Tony Mandarich Book Deal is ready to say he’s sorry for using steroids.  So he looks up good old Rick Telander Spineless Jellyfish and lands himself a feature article advertisement.

Here’s the article, please keep a barf bag nearby:  “Tony Mandarich is Very, Very Sorry”.

And here’s my favorite paragraph from said article (via Telander):

“… He lied to me.  Lied to everybody… I knew he was using steroids… but all I could do was hint at my suspicions…”

Um, Ricky baby… you knew he was taking illegal steroids, cheating and gaming the system but you, a Senior Writer for the most respected publication in sports were POWERLESS to do more than “hint at your suspicions”?

Telander’s article goes on to reveal that

  • Mandarich was known at his local gym as the “Doctor”

So what Telander’s telling us here is that he could have easily broken arguably the biggest sports-related story of the decade if he simply noses around the gym a little bit to explain how/why…

  • Mandarich magically transforms from a 6′ 3″ HS kid who rode the bench on his JV team into a behemoth that bench presses 585 pounds and “runs like a deer” in college

Wait a second.  This blog is supposed Read more

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