Commercial Collection Agencies of America's Annual Meeting 2019

Commercial Collection Agencies of America is the only collection agency certifying body in which ALL members are certified. Several of the organization's members are entering their 46th year of agency certification. Today, they have 39 agency members and growing.

What are the benefits to you as a creditor for using a certified member agency? You will receive the following protections and advantages:

• Professional services to help attain maximum dollar recovery
• Prompt remittance of funds to creditors
• Minimum $300,000 surety bond coverage
• Maintenance of separate trust accounts for collected funds
• Reputable collection procedures that maintain your customers' goodwill
• Ongoing oversight to ensure adherence to a rigorous code of ethics
• An experienced agency that has been in business for a minimum of four years
• Agency executives attend annual meetings and complete continuing education courses
• Assistance in choosing legal counsel when necessary
• Creditors may call upon the Executive Director if a complaint arises

Just as we want to ensure our vendors are bonded and insured, we should have standards that we want our agency to be governed by. If you aren't sure if the agency you are using today is certified, visit www.commercialcollectionagenciesofamerica.com/member-directory. If your current provider isn't listed, you now have a list of certified agencies at your fingertips.

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Speaking of certified agencies, Altus Receivables Management earned the industry-respected Certification of Accreditation and Compliance. Altus Receivables Management was recognized and awarded this achievement. Stacey Summerville, Director of Administration Support in attendance and accepting on Altus's behalf. Congratulations to the entire leadership team at Altus on this achievement and for believing in holding yourselves to a higher standard

It was an honor and pleasure to be a guest and speaker of Commercial Collection Agencies of America at their annual meeting. My first day started with traveling to the beautiful Delray Beach Marriott Resort in Florida. Where we kicked off the week of events with an evening of music, dinner, drinks, and watching a perfect sunset on a private yacht. It was a great networking event, and no matter what direction I turned, I observed competitors (friends at heart) sharing ideas. This group of professionals operates continually at an elite level with very high standards.

My immediate impression was that this event was going to be something extraordinary and unique. And oh boy could I say that again! Another first at this event was the Commercial Collection Agencies of America Standards Board met there as well.

The kick-off luncheon for the rest of the attendees did not disappoint. Guests of the event had the opportunity to dine at 50 Ocean, where they enjoyed gorgeous views of the Atlantic Ocean. It seems everywhere I turned, lots of laughs and long-time friends were catching up. Senior Director Product Management and Strategic Initiatives, Rob Unger spoke to us about NACHA. NACHA, also known as the National Automated Clearing House Association, manages the development, administration, and governance of the ACH Network, the backbone for the electronic movement of money and data in the United States. We were educated on the difference between classic ACH, same-day ACH, and the new ACH option to be announced sometime in 2021. If you are interested in learning more, visit www.nacha.org.

The first day was complete with dinner and cocktails poolside at the Welcome Cocktail Reception and Dinner. Another thing I love about this group was their charitable work in their communities. A portion of this year's meetings proceeds was donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Early to bed, for Friday was a full day of educational sessions.

It's Friday morning, rise and shine! I scurried down for the start of the second day. I was excited to hear how the group interacted in the first session on how to Create Successful Business Relationships for Life. You could hear that they all genuinely wanted to find solutions for whatever needs their clients have. In wanting to further educate themselves, stay up to date with technology and organizational culture. It was refreshing to hear them working together towards how they can be the best long term partner for their clients. Technology and transparency were buzz words; I heard throughout this dialogue. This session was followed by the Association's Young Professionals in Collections educational roundtable on Obtaining & Retaining Good Employees. The group encouraged members and attendees on the importance of culture and flexibility when able.

The Anatomy of A Commercial Collection Case- A Mock Pretrial Hearing. Wow, was this funny, enjoyable, and kept everyone on their toes. The audience was playing the jury! It was so crucial for the members to understand the terms and conditions and the importance of paperwork. Great job to all participants in their acting roles. What day could not be complete with The Great CCA of A Cake Competition! Where we split into teams and worked in a timed manner together on creativity and execution. We were responsible for naming our bakeries, decorating our cake boxes while incorporating the CCA of A theme. Once again, the camaraderie heard and felt through the room was enjoyable. Executive Director, Annette Waggoner surprising everyone with a cake eating contest to end the Triadic Tournament. The evening complete with late-night drinks on the beach!

Saturday Morning was here and after finishing my freshly squeezed Florida orange juice and omelet, it was time! Commercial Collection Agencies of America allowing me to speak with their members in an open forum. I focused on ensuring the agencies know that we are educational tools and resources as we are to all. A discussion on credit reporting was launched by Rob Lawson, from Credit Today. Where Mark Edwards, Managing Director at Creditsafe USA strongly encouraged the members if they weren't reporting delinquency today, they should speak with them. I echoed these sentiments that it's so important that agencies are reporting to the credit community as much as creditors.

As I gathered my suitcase to catch my flight back to the cold, I noticed members staying to play tennis, a round of golf, relax on the beach or join the group of members on the private charter fishing. You can tell these elite professionals have a long history together with lots of future memories yet to be made. The association's next meeting was announced for March 26-28, 2020, in San Francisco.

In closing, let's hold more agencies to this higher standard! I want to personally thank Bruce Godwin, President, Pete Roth, Vice-President, Fred Wasserspring, Treasurer, David Herer, Secretary, Meg Scotty, President Emeritus, George Bresler, Board Member, Humberto Matz, Board Member, and certainly not least Annette M. Waggoner, Executive Director. It was a pleasure to be a part of your member's annual meeting, and I look forward to the opportunity to speak again! To learn more about Commercial Collection Agencies of America please visit www.commercialcollectionagenciesofamerica.com.