By Martin Sher, AmSher Co-CEO
1) Remove all collection accounts in your data base within a 100 mile radius of the entire affected areas. My suggestion in this particular situation would be to remove the entire state of Oklahoma. The people within 100 miles will be actively helping their neighbors in the affected area.
2) If you mistakenly call someone, immediately apologize, and offer your support and prayers.
3) Make a donation to a reputable charity that helps those affected get relief.
By Martin Sher, AmSher Co-CEO
No, not the Gettysburg address, The Credit Bureau address!
Any current and/or past creditors should only be on that report for 7 years max. It is very important for everyone to get a free copy of his or her credit report every year. You can get one free from each one of the three credit bureaus, and I suggest you get one free from each one every single year. Your credit score can be affected negatively with the wrong information, so you should make sure that does not happen.
By Martin Sher, AmSher Co-CEO
If you want to collect money, never ever threaten people. It just doesn’t work!
What if you were walking around at night and someone came up to you, put a gun in your face, and said, “This is a stick up. Your money or your life?”
That is about as threatening as it gets. What would you do?
David Sher, Nate Thomas, and Martin Sher
(written by Martin Sher)
Well I’m sitting in my den making some notes for my blog, and I write down the word Compassionate. My topic was there staring me in the face! NATE! The last four letters of compassionate spell NATE. Unbelievable! Definitely a sign of some sort. Continue reading
By Martin Sher, AmSher Co-CEO
Over the next few months, I want to use this blog to help get people out of debt. I grew up in a family business that helped thousands of people get their first credit account and helped people reestablish credit after a bankruptcy. I am also a founder and a partner of a collection agency that helps customers get their debts taken care of. I have taken thousands of credit applications, made thousands of credit decisions, trained thousands of credit and collection professionals, developed one of the first credit scoring systems in my credit furniture business, and also built a custom and proprietary collection system.
I have been on the credit side, and I fully understand the collection side. I have been immersed in the credit and collection world for my entire life. Ever since I was 10 years old when I took my first credit application and made my first collection call. Continue reading
By Martin Sher, AmSher Co-CEO
What does it take to be a likeable bill collector? Many would say it’s an impossible task.
But not Karlene. In her 10 years as an AmSher collector, Karlene has called literally thousands of people who have past-due debts – that’s a lot of conversations. In fact, she’s collected more than $5 million in delinquent debt over the last decade.
And I doubt there were many people who answered the phone and thought, “Oh good! It’s the bill collector!”
But people talk to Karlene, because she is likeable and has a special, fun personality. She listens, laughs, and even cries with the people she’s talking to. She makes it her mission to help people think, consider, find money and pay their bills. We find time and time again that people appreciate her attitude and her help getting their bills paid. Continue reading
By Martin Sher, AmSher Co-CEO
Most people in the United States are honest and intend to pay their bills. It has been that way for about 237 years – that is why our credit system has thrived and our standard of living has soared.
But even the most honest, well-intentioned people run into situations in their lives when they cannot always meet their financial obligations. Even Abraham Lincoln, also known as “Honest Abe,” encountered this situation.
When Honest Abe was a child, his family was evicted from their home for non-payment of rent.
Lincoln also founded two businesses that were financial failures and ended in bankruptcy. He may have been one of the greatest presidents of the United States and one of the most significant leaders of the free world in history, but he probably would have had a lower credit score than Bonnie or Clyde. Continue reading