president’s page
By Martin Sher, IFCCE
On the Clock
ACA’s new Collection Clock will help demonstrate the importance of the credit and collection industry
Over the next 10 years, the collection industry will return a minimum of $500 billion to the U.S. economy and will
create more than a million new jobs. We are a very
productive and integral part of the U.S. and world
economy. The purpose of this article is to start the
discussion on how we can best demonstrate our
industry’s impressive productivity.
Do you remember “The Ed Sullivan Show?” If
you are too young to remember,
I would describe it as a precursor
to “America’s Got Talent.” There
was one particular act where a
man had a table with about 20
sticks and 20 plates. He would
stand a stick up on the table, put
a plate on the end and give it a
spin. Then he would put up one
plate after another until all the
plates were spinning. Some
would wobble, but he would
simply run to it and give it
another spin.
In order to significantly
improve the public perception of
the credit and collection industry, many people will
need to be spinning many plates.
ACA Public Affairs Director Mark Schiffman is
already spinning many plates. One of the more
interesting plates he’s spinning is the Collection
Clock. The Collection Clock will track the amount
of money collected and the number of new jobs
created by the credit and collection industry. The
purpose of the Collection Clock is to magnify the
tremendous results we get in the industry and to
show the cumulative effect of our hard work year
after year.
For example, if we collect $50 billion a year for
10 years, the clock will display $500 billion 10 years
from now. The numbers will change approximately
every second for 10 years. If we create 100,000 new
jobs a year, then after 10 years it will show
1,000,000 jobs created. This number will also
change at a similar interval.
The clock will be displayed on ACA Online, but
it can also be displayed on your company’s website
or projected on walls or screens in your office. It
may even be displayed on the walls of ACA’s
federal government affairs office in Washington,
D.C. I picture members of Congress and
dignitaries coming to events in our Washington
office and seeing this interesting and entertaining
display. It would definitely be a conversation
piece and an effective way to show our
productivity. When you talk about the $500
billion that will be collected and the millions of
jobs that will be created, the perceived value of
our work will rise in the eyes of our clients,
regulators, media and congressmen. Stay tuned.
Please read Mark Schiffman’s article on page
52 to learn more about our public relations
efforts and watch ACA News Link, Collector and
ACA Online for updates on the Collection Clock
project. cm
Martin Sher, IFCCE, co-CEO of AmSher
Receivables Management in Birmingham, Ala., is
2010/11 president of ACA International. He can
be reached at msher@amsher.com.
