Michael Flock Archives - Business RadioX ®

Guy O’Brien: A Brander of Commodity Bulk Purchases

April 29, 2016 by Terry Cox

Capital Club Radio

Guy O’Brien: A Brander of Commodity Bulk Purchases

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Guy O’Brien is the founder and CEO of Bull Bridge Capital, a broker in subprime auto finance. He was previously the face of Innovate Auto finance as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Under his leadership, he implemented strategies to increase market share and contemporize the brand.

Guy is recognized as a subprime auto expert and regularly speaks at national level industry conferences to educate the market on such topics as strategic selling, negotiating, and organization issues that inhibit performance.

Here is a glimpse of what Guy shared in the interview.

The Buy Here Pay Here (BHPH) industry provides a great opportunity for the purchasing of bulk credit portfolios. The return is there, but each dealer or related finance company has their own way of doing business, No two are alike. You have to dig in and understand how they make money for you to make money.

We built our brand by segmenting the market. This segmentation was done by evaluating capital and platform constraints. We educate and influence the sellers on what makes a good deal. We are known for our ability that aligns the seller and buyer. This is accomplished by reducing the misunderstandings between them. That is our brand. It is more than price.

The work begins beyond the funding. For a bulk purchaser to receive anticipated yields from a purchased portfolio, understanding the collateral, the deal structure and the consumer is critical. All three have to be consistent. Too many times buyers just focus on one or two of these elements and expected collections are not met.

Most dealers in the BHPH market have a good brand for selling cars, but they usually have capital or platform constraints that stop them from growing. We help them extend their brand by buying and servicing their accounts so that they can focus on what they do best. Sell cars.

I am a believer in valuing human capital and servant leadership. We need to understand the heart of matter and the motive of the sale. More than price is a lot to talk about. Branding has to be built around relation base selling and the recurring needs of the seller.

Nick Papeo: Keeping the Dream Alive

April 7, 2016 by Terry Cox

Capital Club Radio

Nick Papeo: Keeping the Dream Alive

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Mr. Nicholas Papeo is the founder and CEO of several companies comprising the Financial Debt Recovery Limited (FDR) group of companies. FDR has evolved from a third party collection agency into one of Canada’s larger accounts receivable management and debt buying organizations. To date FDR has received over one billion dollars in assignments, created specialized recovery programs for governments and represented Fortune 500 clients throughout North America. Additionally, FDR has acquired approximately one billion dollars of charged-off private label credit card, bank credit card and loan debts.

Here is a glimpse of what Nick shared in the interview.

The dream was started in 1992 with 2 people counting myself. Sales calls were made in the morning and collection calls in the afternoon. I knew there was a voided space for collections in the Canadian market. Today, 25 years later, the dream is alive with over 200 people in the company.

We built this company on sweat equity and taking risks. In 1995 we were a contingency collections agency. We worked hard and provided our customers with a quality product, but we knew that if we wanted to get more return for our work we would have to change. We took a risk and became one of the first debt buyers in Canada.

To keep the dream alive, the focus was on attracting the best people or “company ambassadors” who understood how to protect the brand of our customers. These “ambassadors” were rewarded and recognized for helping us create a culture focused on determination, hard work, and skill level.

Today’s metrics for collectors and debt buyers are different than when we got started. Twenty years ago it was about building a strong relationship with your customer. Today, it is about protecting their brand and the use of a score card on how you look after their brand.

All markets are challenging. We work in an imperfect space and to level the playing field is a challenge. To be worthy in the customer’s eyes requires understanding their brand, out of the box thinking and creating a strategy. If we do this right, we keep the dream alive.

About Capital Club Radio

Hosted by Michael Flock, Chairman & CEO of FLOCK Specialty Finance, Capital Club Radio provides a forum for leaders in the middle market segment which has typically been underserved by traditional banking.

Capital Club Radio provides listeners an opportunity to gain valuable business insights and perspectives to deal with market uncertainty. Topics will include: key success factors, both personal and professional, dealing with adversity, outlook for the industry and your business.

The show airs live periodically on Business RadioX and is sponsored by FLOCK Specialty Finance

Manny Newburger: Master of Martial Arts in Law and in Life

March 24, 2016 by Terry Cox

Capital Club Radio

Manny Newburger: Master of Martial Arts in Law and in Life

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Manny Newburger is one of the leading regulatory attorneys in the debt buying and collection industry and known nationally for his expertise in consumer and commercial law. He is retained frequently as an advisor and consultant on FDCPA compliance issues worldwide and on the defense of Fair Debt cases throughout the United States. His extensive legal and industry experience, and his depth of knowledge on effective practices, are consistently sought out by law firms, collection agencies, debt buyers and creditors, to negotiate, defend, advise on, or testify in complex, technical matters.

Mr. Newburger is also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law where he teaches consumer protection law, and was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals in multiple districts, all United States District Courts for the State of Texas, and many other jurisdictions. Mr. Newburger is the principal author of Fair Debt Collection Practices: Federal and State Laws and Regulations (Sheshunoff & Pratt) by M. Newburger and B. Barron.

Here is a glimpse of what Manny shared in the interview.

Don’t let your limitations be an obstacle. I can’t think of many things I can’t do. You’d be surprised, everything can be adapted. There always another way to do something. I did martial arts for 20 years. That is reflected in the way I practice law. A lot of what I learned about negotiations I learned in martial arts… a non-confrontational approach.

There are many things that should align with the principle of “respect for the individual”; it always surprises me that people don’t see it. “Treat people well, they pay you money.” I’ve always believed that compliance does not mean an inability to collect; it has to do with the way you go about the collection process. Even as a litigator – if someone treats you like a truthful honest person you tend to testify like a truthful honest person.

“Understanding the product”, is a common denominator of success across new asset classes in the industry. You better understand the host of unique issues that can arise in each segment.

Over the years, I have looked at problems and said, “What if we don’t do things the way we’ve always done it. What if we change our paradigm and try to go about this differently.” I won’t claim it always works, but when it does, it sure is great.

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. But tactics without strategy, that’s the noise before defeat.” – Art of War

About Capital Club Radio

The show airs live periodically on Business RadioX and is sponsored by FLOCK Specialty Finance

Michael Flock with FLOCK Specialty Finance and Kit Hughes with Look Listen

March 21, 2016 by ryanredhawk

Atlanta Business Radio

Michael Flock with FLOCK Specialty Finance and Kit Hughes with Look Listen

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FullSizeRender — Kit Hughes and Michael Flock

Michael Flock / FLOCK Specialty Finance

Founder, Chairman & CEO

Michael Flock has been involved in the credit, collections, debt buying, and outsourcing businesses for more than 20 years, beginning with Dun & Bradstreet and more recently as a financial advisor and investment banker.

In 2007, he founded Flock Advisors to provide M&A advisory and capital funding services to these same industries. In 2013, Flock Advisors became FLOCK Specialty Finance. This change enabled the company to provide more funding solutions to current clients. The change also gave FLOCK the ability to expand its offerings into more market segments that have been under served by traditional banking.

Prior to founding FLOCK, Michael provided M&A advisory support to private equity firms, helped companies reengineer their operations, and led a successful recapitalization of a consumer collections agency where he was interim CEO. He was also an advisor to Croft & Bender, a middle market investment bank.

He earned his BA from the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. During his college years, he served as a White House Intern. Later he worked as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in France and also did graduate work at the Institut d’Etudes de Sciences-Politiques in Paris. He received an MBA in finance from Fordham University.

Kit Hughes / Look Listen

CEO

Kit Hughes is a typical technology entrepreneur. He dropped out of college to start a company in 1999, spent a period of time homeless, and (slowly) became an overnight success.

Eventually, Kit returned to school as a two-time research fellow at the University of Georgia leading experimental technology research projects exploring mobile computing and connected devices. He credits his business smarts to his studies in strategy and innovation at MIT.

In his agency career, Kit has worked with a variety of B2B and B2C brands across multiple touchpoints: AnheuserBusch, BP, Char-Broil, Coca-Cola, GE, NCR, Philips, Steve Harvey, and Synchrony Financial.

He co-founded Look Listen with his collaborator in punk bands, Paul Sternberg. In 2015, Look Listen was recognized as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the US by hitting the Inc 500 and the 64th fastest growing company in Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle Pacesetter Awards.

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Jim Richards: A Builder of Businesses and a Rebuilder of the Collection Industry

March 8, 2016 by Terry Cox

Capital Club Radio

Jim Richards: A Builder of Businesses and a Rebuilder of the Collection Industry

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Jim Richards is the current President of the Association of Credit and Collection professionals (ACA). He is the co-founder and board chairman of Capio Partners, one of the leading healthcare debt buyers in the U.S., and previously held key executive roles with significant industry leaders including GC Services, Medaphis, and Attention, LLC, a start-up that eventually became West Asset Management.

Jim has just recently launched a new organization, the Institute of Collection Leadership (ICL), an assembly of the larger agencies, asset buyers and law firms. Jim’s primary goal for the ICL is to use the “time, talent and treasure” of these large organizations to find new and meaningful ways to influence and change the perceptions on how the industry is viewed.

Here is a glimpse of what Jim shared in the interview.

Today’s regulatory environment is much more information driven. It is essential for the industry to get its hands around “real validated data” and be able to specifically measure the changes. It will take specific, supportable data as evidence of changes to truly affect the broader perception of the collection industry.

I’m talking about changing the reputation of the industry. Years ago, having a negative perception of a collection company was probably not so bad. It helped people pay their bills. They were concerned about being in collections but the world has changed.

At GC Services we coined the term “Early Out” back in 1981. At that time we weren’t being paid commensurate with the results we got on “In House” accounts and we were under the purview of the client. So when challenged by their sales department to continue working those accounts, , we said, ‘No, if you want those early accounts worked, you’re going to have to take them out and work them in our shop, so we can manage them ourselves, and voila, “Early Out”. Later we sold American Express on their first ‘Early Out’, then GE.

You’ve got to care for people. It’s all about people. Whether it’s your clients, your employees or your shareholders. You have to keep those three groups happy. But probably what drives me is that I get a kick of doing things that are difficult or other people haven’t done.

About Capital Club Radio

The show airs live periodically on Business RadioX and is sponsored by FLOCK Specialty Finance

Trish Baxter: A Profile in Grit and Grace

February 25, 2016 by Terry Cox

Capital Club Radio

Trish Baxter: A Profile in Grit and Grace

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Trish Baxter currently serves as Compliance Officer for Recovery Management Systems Corporation, a bankruptcy debt purchaser and servicer. Trish also represents clients in the ARM Industry regarding regulatory compliance and litigation matters.

Her prior industry roles include: General Counsel for Collins Financial Services in Austin, Texas, and as General Counsel for Unifund in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In addition to serving in the Debt Buyer Association as the new President and Chair of the Ethics Committee, Trish volunteers with CASA of Travis County in Austin, Texas as guardian ad litem for children in the child welfare system. She is also a stage-four cancer survivor.

Here is a glimpse of what Trish shared in the interview.

“In challenging times there are always competing interests with various constituencies inside organizations. To manage and balance these interests one must offer all individuals dignity and respect. This is accomplished by listening to what they believe. This keeps communication lines open to deal with the various interests.

“To compete in today’s regulated environment, each company first has to make the decision if they want to play in a regulated environment. You cannot do business where you cannot make the compliance commitment. You have to understand the compliance risks and make a decision about the costs.

“As a cancer survivor, I learned that you do not control the future, but you have control of your choices. When adversity arrives, you have to be an advocate for yourself. You have to understand the choices, consider the risks, then have the courage to make the decisions and take the actions.”

About Capital Club Radio

The show airs live periodically on Business RadioX and is sponsored by FLOCK Specialty Finance.

Matt Maloney – Creating a Legend vs Creating a Legacy

January 7, 2016 by Terry Cox

Capital Club Radio

Matt Maloney - Creating a Legend vs Creating a Legacy

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Matt Maloney is Co-founder, Chief Investment Officer & President of several companies under the FFAM360 Group (First Financial Asset Management) and is responsible for the strategic growth and development of the company. He is active with ACA, DBA and Experian user groups, holding multiple positions on boards and panels. He has co-authored one of the industry’s official Due Diligence Guidelines Manuals for Debt Buyers published by ACA International.Matt was born into the industry. His family owned a collection agency. But as the family’s business transformed and grew, Matt thought his career would be something other than working in the industry. If he were to work in the industry, he wanted his children to know the difference between creating a legend vs. creating a legacy. Creating a legend was about what he could accomplish. Creating a legacy was about building a business that was a service to both the industry and the community. Creating the lasting impact of a legacy would become Matt’s focus.

So in 2001 Matt along with his father started a company to buy and finance accounts receivables.

Here is just a glimpse what Matt Maloney shared in the Interview.

There usually is a significant learning curve when moving into new markets or asset classes. To gain this knowledge, we purchase companies with solid platforms that are less than 50% the size of our company to “tuck in”.

Purchasing a company is more than just understanding the numbers. It is about how things really work. Who has the relationships with whom and are they part of the acquisition?

We bring a holistic approach to healthcare. We purchase multiple types of asset classes within the supply chain. Moving forward the cash flow is a differentiator. The focus is on providing a capital solution.

Using the family history to build a solid a company and legacy requires staying focused and empowering others to help grow the business. For the entrepreneur, this is not easy at times. It is hard to empower when your house is at risk. Most people do not appreciate the life of an entrepreneur.

About Capital Club Radio

Hosted by Michael Flock, Chairman & CEO of FLOCK Specialty Finance, Capital Club Radio provides a forum for middle market business leaders who have been underserved by traditional banking.

The show airs live periodically on Business RadioX and is sponsored by FLOCK Specialty Finance.

Reid Zeising – From Global Hired Gun to Entrepreneur

November 25, 2015 by Terry Cox

Capital Club Radio

Reid Zeising - From Global Hired Gun to Entrepreneur

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Reid Zeising loves the work that he does and the experiences he has had, whether as an investment banker living in Atlanta Georgia, but working in Europe, or an entrepreneur and investor in multiple industries, or coaching kids to become winners by focusing on the process vs results.

Reid is the owner of Cherokee Advisors, a holding company owning positions in multiple companies that include; Cherokee Funding, Highland Products Group, Amendia, First Sports International, Slawson Exploration, Cosi, Popeyes and Genki – Noodles & Sushi. On a daily basis, he runs Cherokee Funding, a specialty finance company focused on the legal industry.

He is also active in the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and the Harvard Business School. To summarize Reid’s career, he has gone from a global hired gun to an entrepreneur.

Here is just a glimpse of what was shared in the Interview.

Reid contributes much of his success to having a value for continuous learning that was developed from mentors and professional relationships. Another key factor in Reid’s life was that he spent his childhood and later worked as an investment banker in Europe. According to Reid, these experiences made the world seem small and manageable. His business philosophy is built around creating a customer focused culture. This is accomplished by focusing on efficiencies provided by systems, processes and data analysis. More time is then spent developing networks and customers.

About Cherokee Funding

Cherokee Funding LLC is the premier legal and medical finance company headquartered in Atlanta, GA, with regional offices in Beaufort, SC. Zeising along with Christopher J. Conefry, founded the company to help plaintiffs’ secure necessary medical treatment and cash advances. Cherokee Funding is dedicated to ensuring world class medical care for plaintiffs, funds for plaintiffs to even the playing field with insurance companies and saving attorneys’ time. For more information visit: www.cherokeefunding.com.

Alex Dunlap with Flock Specialty Finance

November 10, 2015 by rhondachale

Capital Club Radio

Alex Dunlap with Flock Specialty Finance

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Today, Alex Dunlap discussed how he has helped companies accelerate their cash flow by selling their charge off debt. Alex has over 20 years experience selling debt with Wells Fargo. He is now Senior Vice President of Business Development for FLOCK Specialty Finance.