You may remember reading our blog “Do You Know Where Your Assets Are?” posted in February. In it we pointed out that, over the past four years, DebtNext, a NL Alliance Partner, has performed over 200 operational field audits on the industry’s leading collection law firms and agencies, for the leading companies in the debt buying, utility, telecommunications and healthcare industries. Well….a client we referred to DebtNext just completed their first audit and gave me a glowing review! She told me that Thom Majka at DebtNext “is brilliant,” and that the data he provided after the audit “far exceeded [our] expectations. It was thorough and complete.”
DebtNext conducted a financial audit, security audit and performance audit. “They found lost remits and identified accounts that were sitting for 18 months, when a suit should have been filed,” our client said. Since the audit, the firm has been collecting more money than ever before. They are now communicating and performing better. “The price of the audit could be two times as much and still be an amazing value. We will definitely be using them again!”
The process DebtNext (DN) incorporated with the NL client, and how it can help others that are in the same position is explained by Thom Majka, DN Director of Business Development:
“The key to a successful audit is in setting the expectations with the collection law firm. DN sends its pre-audit questionnaire to the vendor prior to the on-site audit; the questionnaire is an outline and overview of the specific areas that will be reviewed during the audit process.
“The questionnaire, which focuses on performance, assists the DN team in tailoring the process to each client. Performance depends on the vendor’s people, systems and processes. The audit described here enforces how our PSP (People, Systems, Process) audit program uncovered issues related to improper account handling by one of the firm’s employees (people), who was responsible for managing accounts according to the firm’s work-flow/collection-treatment policy (process).
“DebtNext auditors are the client’s eyes and ears. We ask the questions during the audit, in order to get the best understanding of the vendor’s strengths or weaknesses, as they relate to the firm’s people, systems and processes.
“The DN message to its clients and their respected vendors is: ‘It’s not what you expect, it’s what you inspect.’”
By Beverly Unrath & Thom Majka
Categories: Business Relationships, NL Insider
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