Let’s Negotiate!

Negotiate (ni-goh-shee-eyt) To arrange for or bring about by discussion and settlement of terms: to negotiate a loan.  We are negotiating everyday sometimes without realizing it.  Parents and children negotiate everyday for things.  “Take out the trash and I’ll pay you an allowance.”  We negotiate at work for better pay, better work conditions, better assignments.  Sales people negotiate with clients and so on.  Negotiating is rampant in our society.  Presumably if you are a great negotiator you will more often than not get what you are bargaining for.  This could be a raise at work, a better price on that home you are purchasing or a great deal on a vacation.  One would think that given the benefits of being an efficient negotiator that more would be taught on the subject.  That the school curriculums especially business schools would place a high priority on the subject.  Donald Trump probably ranks very highly as one of the best negotiators out there  ”if” one operates on the premise that success in negotiating equals getting the better part of the deal.  By the way, tonight I have someone coming to look at my wifes used car we have up for sale.  The price is advertised for $8900.  Our needs are to get the car “gone” while earning enough money to make a decent enough down payment on a new car so as to keep my wife’s car payment in line with what she pays now.  I don’t know what the needs of the buyer are.  So, I will ask and by finding out what he wants I might be able to learn how we can “both” get what we want and move forward in negotiations.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.  Is being an effective negotiator getting more of what you want at the expense of the other side?  Or, is it getting most of what you want while the other side gets most of what they want?  Which is the preferred outcome?  Can you think of a negotiation where you won and the other side lost?  Can you think of a negotiation where you won and the other side won also?  I’d love to hear your thoughts on this because I know you are all out there negotiating everyday.  What was the last thing you successfully negotiated and why were you successful?  Post it here for us to view.  Thanks. 

TEL DTR POE NLT; TEL RES N/A, LMTC V/M (the code is broken for you)

If you can understand the title to this blog then you were at one time or are now a bill collector.  For the rest of you who cannot figure it out, the long version is….. “I telephoned debtors place of employment and he is  no longer working there, then I called his residence and there was no answer so I left a message on the voice mail.”  Of course if you are contacting debtors all day long you need to develop a very good “shorthand” to save time and your wrists.  The collection industry has standardized this shorthand and teach it to all of their employees so everyone can understand what was said.  How do I know this you ask?  I spent 22 years in the credit and collection business and in the next series of my posts I am going to be taking questions from you the public about collection agencies, their tactics, what you should do if… and so on.  So, if you want your questions answered or if you  know somebody that’s being pursued by a bill collector you can anonymously post your questions or opinions here and I will attempt to offer some insight from someone who’s been on the “other” side of the phone call.    We can talk about legal actions, settlements, threats, licensing, collection tactics and strategies, will they sue you?, how they make money etc.  So please reply to this post with your questions and I will reply to every one of you.  I promise!  Just hit the button right over there ———->      where it says “leave a comment”.  Watch for the first questions to be answered!

I Didn’t Know Creating Surveys Was So Easy! Really!

Hi. I’m working on a project for a client of mine.  He’s a landlord.  We decided to create a very small, uncomplicated survey to gather some of the feedback we’ll need for the project research.  What I learned is that there are all kinds of interesting and easy to use survey tools free for the asking on the internet.  One with a particularly cute name is Survey Monkey.  (why does everything with monkey after it sound cuter?, try it, mechanic monkey, yard monkey, playground monkey, I wouldn’t want to go to dentist monkey, and of course there’s the one made famous by a car commercial….the trunk monkey)  So, just Google “Survey Tools” and you will find what I found.  So, will you complete my little survey?  This is only for people who rent or want to rent.  The survey is at this link…http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=KKMOJJ_75597748  so just click the link or if that doesn’t work as it is oft not to do, then try copying and pasting into your browser.  I really appreciate your completing this four question survey.  (We kept is really short to make it easy to process the answers and draw conclusions)

What To Do With All This Milk?

Yesterday I was speaking to a farmer.  I like talking to farmers and fishermen(please insert fisherpeople if your so inclined).  The reason I like to speak to farmers is because they are really easy to talk to.  They listen well and they aren’t afraid to tell you any of their problems….in fact it seems they like it.  When speaking to business people such as Presidents, Directors and Ceo’s I find it’s a challenge to get them to even admit they are in trouble, much less to get details out of them.  But no, not the farmers, they will tell it all in the first call.  I have helped quite a few farmers and fishermen with their financial problems and specifically civil suits.  I always feel good about solving their problems, saving them money and helping them move on in a positive way.  In yesterday’s call the farmer proudly explained his business to me and then the financial challenges he was facing.  He eventually stated that he’d be paying his creditor in full and I agreed that intervention on my part would be unnecessary.   Another thing I like about farmers is that they have integrity, are very honest and almost always seem to be quite humble people.  Furthermore they are very hard working people.  Some of us complain (or brag) if we have to put in a 10 or 12 hour day two or three times a week, or that we might have to work on Saturday or Sunday to get caught up on something.  Oh and we always take our week off down south.  Not farmers!  No, they work 12 hour days routinely….and on Saturdays and Sundays doing easy chores we would call major home projects.  They almost never take vacations down south because the money’s just not there.  They’d also feel silly sitting around doing nothing when so much is waiting for them back at the farm.  So what makes these people work so hard for so little?  Working the land or in this farmers case, raising pigs is not easy work.  In raising pigs the costs of feeds has escalated while the price per pound has dropped.  They are dealing in the volatile world of commodities….of supply and demand which is riskier and more volatile than stocks.  The costs of raising animals is constantly on the rise as fuel prices, feed, animal welfare costs etc. are constantly rising.  Then on top of all that there’s the bureaucratic bumbling of regulatory bodies that make sure farmers humanely manage their stocks and keep their premises clean and tidy.  As an example recently I was speaking with a dairy farmer who temporarily lost is license to sell milk to the milk board because his barns needed a fresh coat of paint and some cobwebs in the corners of his barn needed cleaning according to an inspector.  He lost $117,000 in revenues due to this revocation of his selling quota.  Granted he did admit that he took too long to clean the cobwebs etc and took full ownership of the oversight.  I wondered where all that milk went during this period of not being able to take his milk to market? (I have a strange mind)  After all, the cows are still producing milk daily.  Turns out he actually donated the milk to a neighbouring farmer to feed his hogs. (for awhile some just got dumped out, what a waste!) Okay, so where am I going with all of this.  I don’t know.  What I do know is that I’ve come to admire the hard working, quiet dedication of these farmers and fishermen in Nova Scotia and beyond.  They humbly go about their chores and endure financial  hardships that often result in them losing land, houses, boats and farms that have been in their families for many generations.  I think it’s time that the Federal and Provincial governments did more to protect the livelihoods of these people.  Correct me if I’m wrong but  I think these two professions are two of the oldest professions (I won’t comment on the oldest, that could be another blog later) out there and we cannot operate our world without them.  I believe these two professions should be ”protected”  the same way we protect nature reserves, wildlife and indigenous peoples.  We need farmers and fisherman to not only exist but to succeed economically.  There has to be a way to give them preferrential treatment when it comes to access to funding both in grants and loans.  There has to be protections for them against losing their land and farms.  There has to be less bureaucracy for them to function and a farmer or fisherman should have special status that gives them rights to the land and the sea.  These are noble people, noble professions that have existed since the beginning of mankind.  We need these guys! They should never be wanting for funding.  They should have the right to be just as wealthy as our highest paid physicians, politicians or athletes.  Yet, they are so humble and gentle, they anonymously go about their days asking no one for help…..and getting none.   Thank you to farmers and fishermen everywhere who toil endlessly without thanks.  I know my little rant will not likley make a difference for you but I want you to know that I like talking to farmers!  I will help in any way I can.    If you know a farmer or a fisherman and want to say thank you to them….just leave a post!  Maybe  you have a story about a farmer or fisherman, leave a post.  Maybe you disagree with my rant and think they get too much assistance now……leave a post!  Thanks. 

Your Angry Little Money Light Is On Again!!

Today started out pretty boring….I had to get my car in to the shop to get a new thermostat and coolant temperature thingy installed.  This if done correctly, would make the little angry money light go out on my dashboard.  Oh, yeah, that’s officially known as the “Check Engine Light” or CEL.  I always thought instead of making it look like a small engine they should have made it in the form of a dollar sign. $$  That’s because when that little sucker comes on…..your spending money!  And isn’t it extremely annoying everytime you start the car?  It’s staring back at you like a dog waiting for a biscuit. You have to feed it!  And then there’s the embarassing explanation everytime someone gets in your car.   Anyway, that’s another blog, another day.  I satisfied the CEL’s desire for cash and went back to my office to get some work done and hopefully get a new client or two….January was a slow month.   I started speaking  to prospects….those that have been sued by others and who should need my valuable assistance in making the thing go away.  The first prospect I spoke to owed in excess of $17,000 to his creditor/supplier.  I asked why he did not pay the debt up until now and what he intended to do in his situation.  His answer was that he hadn’t paid it because his finances were poor and he intended to pay it in full as soon as he got the money.  I suggested that I could settle the matter out of court for him and negotiate a substantial amount off of the total.  His answer….no thanks I want to pay it in full because we owe it.  I said well aren’t you a nice guy. (sarcasm) They sued your a** and you want to pay them in full?  Ok, well I didn’t say it that way.  He said yes and that he felt obligated to do so.  I  hung up the phone admiring the guy.  Still clientless I made some more calls.  Finally locked in on another potential client.  He only owed $6400 to a law firm for unpaid legal bills.  (probably a divorce, I wonder if he’s paying his alimony or child support?) I asked him, why he did not pay it and what his intentions were now that he was facing litigation?  In short his response was he didn’t want to pay it, couldn’t pay it because his is broke and has bad credit.  His strategy was to show up at the hearing. (without first filing a defence)  He is employed and I warned him that the law firm would probably take a quick judgment because no defence was filed and there would be no hearing.  Then they would proceed to garnishee his wages.  After what was a good one hour discussion of his personal finances we agreed he should visit a bankruptcy trustee.  Free advice for him and no client for me.  Oh well, what’s for lunch?  There are two kinds of people in this world.  Those who care….and pay and those who don’t and don’t.  I’m in the former group…not the latter.  I’m conditioned to pay.  When that little angry money light comes on I just obey and pay.  (I wonder if they studied behaviour conditioning and found out that a little light on your dashboard works better than dog biscuits?) Oh sure I grumble a bit…okay maybe a lot but then I pay.  Tomorrow’s another day.  Hey leave me a note if you have a Check Engine Light story….I think I’ll start a blog about that.   Have a great Superbowl weekend and I’ll be back next week with another blog.  Cheers!

Why Use A Professional Debt Negotiator Part II

Okay, so I’m continuing from last week’s post……see that post below this one…..These are the three things we do for our clients:

 First, we don’t want the judgment creditor to take judgment against our client.  All too often the defendants in these  cases ignore the matter and don’t file a defence in time to avoid a default or quick judgment depending on the court.  I have to get the case and begin negotiations before the plaintiff is in that time zone where he can enter default judgment.   My goal is to negotiate an out of court settlement quickly so that my client does not have to file a defence and never gets judgment entered against them.  That’s why it is so important I get the case as soon as or even before the defendant is even served in the matter. 

 Second, I want to save my client money!  That’s the big benefit of using our service.  By the time a creditor files suit to collect their money the account is usually 90 days to 365 days old.  By now they have written the account off of their books and are really interested in getting what they can and moving on.  My responsibility is to find the right balance between what that creditor will take as a settlement and what my client the debtor can afford to raise in payment.  This is an art that requires an acute understanding of the legal avenues available the plaintiff and the collection vulnerabilities of my client.  This is where my twenty five years in the credit and collection business pay off for my clients.   I can’t give away any secrets here because I have to assume some of my adversaries are reading this blog as they do their research on me and my organization just as I do on them.  The primary goal here is to save my client lots of money while reaching a settlement that everyone can go away happy with.  So far, we are batting 93.5% success!

Third, we handle all communications with the creditor, collection agency or lawyer handling the case for the plaintiff.  We are unemotional in our dealings with your creditors so we are able to quickly get to the meat of the matter so to speak.  This takes the stress and worry out for our clients.  They don’t  like to receive calls or messages from collection agents or lawyers.  The communications aspect also means it is our responsibility to make sure that all the loose ends are tied up and the agreement is legal and clearly notated and the necessary discontinuances etc are properly filed. 

Yes, we do all these things and then only charge a percentage of the amount we save our clients….if we don’t save them money we don’t charge!  Our clients only pay for success!   Wouldn’t it be nice if everything you bought worked that way? 

Hey, don’t read and dash….leave a comment to let me know you care….or don’t give a damn.   And, watch for an update next week…….and feel free to follow our blog! 

 

 

 

Why Use A Professional Debt Negotiator?

Clarification – Professional Debt Negotiator  (pdn) versus Mediator.  A mediator tries to find a common ground between opposing parties.  The mediator does not side with one party or the other.  A PDN is hired by one of the parties in the negotiation and the PDN tries to negotiate an outcome suitable to all parties but his primary interest is that of his client, not the opposing party. 

You might be wondering why a company would go to a professional debt negotiator for help or you may be analyzing your own company’s  financial situation and wondering if its something you should do?  In the next few installments of  “the blog” I will attempt to shed some light on what good it might do you and what your options might be.  So, please come back each week to get the next installment in this series on why a company uses or should use a professional debt negotiator. 

Companies come to us in all shapes and sizes with varying amounts of debts outstanding.  While we usually don’t handle individual cases under $5,000 we do handle small cases when the company has multiple debts to negotiate.  Due to the fact that our service here is fairly new (a little over a year at time of writing) most of the companies we work for had been approached by us as opposed to them seeking us out. They didn’t seek us out because they didn’t know we existed and they didn’t know we could help them.   (what’s that saying….uh I think it goes something like “it’s not the stuff you don’t know about that should worry you, it’s the stuff you don’t know you don’t know about that should worry you”.The word still isn’t getting out there because our happy satisfied clients understandably don’t like to admit they had to use our services and thus are reluctant to refer the same.    

What tips us off about a potential client are the legal filings in the various judiciaries around the province.  We monitor the actual business to business legal filings for notice of action for debt both in the Supreme Courts and the Small Claims Courts.  (Small claims court in Nova Scotia handles cases up to $25,000.00)  It always makes me chuckle when I contact a potential client about their case and they often will ask how I know so much about their situation.  I tell them I have a cousin who is a judge at the Supreme Court and he gives me the inside track.  They don’t realize that all legal filings are a matter of public record and are available for their neighbours, bankers, suppliers and nosy people like me to see.  The credit bureaus also pick up the legal filings for their records.   Some actually get upset at me for calling them about it and hang up on me.  In most cases I have their immediate and undivided attention.  Sometimes they think that the Claimant or Plaintiff has asked me to contact them or that I am working for the plaintiff.  I have to explain that I am hoping to represent them, the debtor in the matter.  Then they open up and the story starts to unfold.  (Oh, there’s always a story and in a future installment of “the blog” I will list all the reasons people don’t pay their creditors.) 

There are three things we want to do for our clients when we take them on and on my next installment I will outline the three things we try to do for them.  Please check back next Friday when “the blog” is updated and thank you for reading. Please leave me a bloody note so I know who’s reading my blog………if you do I’ll be grateful and thank you for it. 

My Heart Goes Out To Haiti

What a huge tragedy in Haiti.  My  heart goes out to everyone in Haiti and everyone with friends and relatives there.  I wish every success to the aid providers as they work to assist those in need.  This is one of the worst human disasters in recent history and it’s happening to an impoverished people who least need it. Perhaps if there is any positive to come out of this it’s the fact that the world’s attention is now focused on this tiny nation of 9 Million souls.  Perhaps now, this area can receive the help and attention it needs not just in the short term but for the long term as well.  In addition to food, water and medical help they will be in need of  security, infrastructure and good government.  Finally enough suffering is enough and the healing and rebuilding can begin.  We wish you well Haiti!  May God Bless!

The Tax Murderers

My purpose in life now is to aid financially troubled businesses.  More specifically, come to the aid of businesses when they get sued by suppliers, creditors, collection agencies etc and negotiate an out of court settlement that benefits all parties.  In the past year I have worked with 19 businesses in such trouble, handling some 31 cases.  Happily I report that 29 of those cases were settled to all parties satisfaction without judgments being entered.  In one case I fired my own client and the other case simply wasn’t a good enough settlement for my client to accept, so  he opted to go to court.  Why do these companies get into trouble and why do they ignore matters until it gets so serious you  might (or might  not) ask?  There are a myriad of reasons for getting into financial problems but they include overextension of credit, unanticipated reductions in sales revenues, unanticipated increases in expenses and ignorning tax liabilities.  I’d like to talk right now about that last item….tax liabilities.  Almost every case I see now I see that the business is behind in their tax payments to the feds for payroll remittances, GST or HST and Income Taxes.  Once the bill collectors at CRA get fed up with you, they send in their auditors, (the Hitman) gather all the information they  need to go after you such as bank account info, receivables info (intelligence) and they seize them without notice. (commit an act of murder) The business is essentially shut down.  I have helped some businesses recover from this disaster….but why not avoid it?   New business owners I’m talking to you!  When you set up  your current account at the bank, set up a tax account as well in which you can transfer your tax liabilities out of your regular chequing account so the funds are separated.  When I make a sale and a cheque comes in I deduct 13% for HST and transfer that to my tax account, I also deduct another 25% for Income Tax and put that in the tax account.  The remainder is left in the chequing account to deal with day to day operations.  If you keep doing this for all of your tax liabilities you will have a fattening account that your banker will be impressed with.  He may even extend credit to you more favourably because you have it.  You may be able to give yourself short term loans from it.  Mainly,  you will have peace of mind when it comes time to do your quarterly HST remittances, payroll remittances and you will have your income tax payable at year end.  If more businesses started out this way a lot more would avoid  being murdered by the tax man.  I just see this so often I had to comment on it.  Hopefully someone out there will see this blog and follow the free advice!  Don’t let your business be another tax fatality!   Please check back in a week’s time for another commentary and thanks for reading.  BTW, you can check me out on Haligonia.ca where I was interviewed by Dr. Paul in the “Death of Truth” series.  Here’s a link to Youtube to the first of a three part video, be sure to locate part II and III.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRrMEf0e45E

Premiere post by Kenboy

Wow!  Here I am finally….blogging.  This is my very first official blog and I apologize in advance if it is boring or comes off as elementary.  Eventually once I become accustomed to using WordPress I’ll make the content and the fuzz around it more interesting.  I intend to use this forum to discuss the things I do for businesses that are in financial trouble….my experiences in that area…not selling it.  I also intend to talk a bit about my hobby on occasion which is my experiences in refereeing, judging and timekeeping combat sports like mma and boxing.  And finally just talk about recent events or happenings or experiences.  Someone recently warned me about blogging that “it’s a great place to tell the truth but the worst place to tell a lie”.   So, if your reading this (and I can’t imagine why you would be) drop a note to welcome me to the blogosphere!  I’d appreciate it.  Watch for regular updates as I begin telling the truth about what I do and how I see the world.  Cheers!