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Overdue Advice is the podcast about cash flow strategies to grow your business. Each episode covers an aspect of credit management and accounts receivable. "Legal Collections (and How to Avoid Going to Court)," "Debt Doesn't Die: Estate Collections," and "How Professional Collectors Recover More," are just a few areas covered with rare industry insights. There's no show like it!
Host Bryn Griffiths talks with guests including published authors, veteran collectors, accounts receivable trainers—and Brian Summerfelt, the CEO of MetCredit, North America's leader in ethical business debt collection, to examine all sides of debt recovery. Most importantly, you'll learn how to improve your business' cash flow—and put an end to bad debt forever.
Bryn Griffiths [00:00:02]:
This is Overdue Advice, the podcast about how and why debt collection works for your business. Brought to you by MetCredit. Welcome to Overdue Advice. My name is Bryn Griffiths. Well, every year at this time, the RMA, the Receivables Management Association of Canada, they host their big event, and this year's no different. Plus, they've given this year's conference a fascinating and somewhat jarring name. We'll tell you about that in a second. But today we're chatting with RMA board member and event organizer Mark Daprato.
Bryn Griffiths [00:00:36]:
There's lots of details, lots of new stuff. There's great speakers on board, so much more. So, Mark, let's get started and break this down.
Mark Daprato [00:00:43]:
Yeah, no problem. We actually have the Receivables Management Association of Canada National Conference come up in Niagara Falls on November 14. And we're pretty excited about this year and that it's a big conference and we've changed up a lot of things. We're really focusing on this concept of massive disruption in not just of the receivable space, but almost thinking about it in the finance and even just as broad as the working environment and how things are shaping up. So we're really looking at a generational shift in AI, banking, housing and the workforce and how it's all going to impact business. And we're going to spend two days talking about that.
Bryn Griffiths [00:01:26]:
Okay, let's backtrack on the name of this event again. How and why did you come up with this one?
Mark Daprato [00:01:33]:
So, on massive disruption, the concept came from the last few years of the conference. We've talked a lot about the pandemic and work from home and how is that affecting regulations and changes in the industry. And when we thought about this year, we said, okay, so that's kind of happened. And now what we're looking at is, so what is the future really going to bring? And what we kind of landed on was it's really going to bring, we're just in a moment of massive disruption. We're now in a hybrid work environment. The birth of AI, whatever that ends up really being, is upon us. And companies are really beginning to invest and think about it and really how the workforce is even going to interact in a hybrid work environment. How is it interacting with the changing, pretty significantly changing economic landscape and AI? We really thought it would be worthwhile to dig into a lot of these topics.
Bryn Griffiths [00:02:31]:
That title for this is almost disruptive in its own. When I saw it, I went, wow, that's pretty bold. That's very strong. What's the reaction been just to the title of the event?
Mark Daprato [00:02:44]:
Well, it's been very good. In fact, a lot of the people who've been registering for it have been saying to us that they're quite interested to see the conversations that we're going to have. And they're curious more than anything because it's a bit of a bold statement. But along with the bold statement, what we did this year for the conference was we said, okay, normally at our conference we have a lot of people stand up and they speak and they give great presentations and they're wonderful. And this year we said, let's actually even disrupt the conference a little bit by having more panels. And frankly, we're kind of hoping that we actually have the panels actually get a little spicy. We're kind of hoping that not everybody on the stage is agreeing with each other because we don't think it's a cookie cutter world in everything that we're looking at and thinking about. So we're kind of hoping it cuts across everything, including the conference.
Bryn Griffiths [00:03:37]:
Well, I haven't attended one, but I'm guessing that people might sit there and they listen to the speakers and they'll nod their head, maybe shake their head quietly if they don't agree. But it just sounds like there's going to be way more interplay or interaction between people at this one. And that would excite me greatly because you're right, great ideas come out of great discussions.
Mark Daprato [00:03:56]:
Yeah, 100%. That's how we're thinking about it. And it's funny, I've been to some other conferences where I've really seen how they have done, frankly, I think a better job at figuring out how to get people really engaged through the conference. We actually even changed it to say, let's have less time, maybe even a little less time of the speakers doing all the speaking and let's create more networking time and more one on one time with the speakers so that the conversations can really continue and flourish. Because these are pretty interesting people we have coming and speaking, and we're really happy with that. We want to find ways for these folks to engage a little bit better.
Bryn Griffiths [00:04:37]:
Can we talk about who is coming to talk?
Mark Daprato [00:04:41]:
Yeah, we've actually got a number of different folks. Brian Porter from BMO is going to be our resident economist coming in and talking and coming and talking at it. We've got folks from Equifax Borawell and other folks from BMO and a number of top Insolvency trustees are going to be speaking as well. So we're quite excited because we've got some very senior people in their space coming and talking about some pretty interesting and some pretty interesting topics.
Bryn Griffiths [00:05:23]:
How did you get wrangle into looking after this event?
Mark Daprato [00:05:30]:
I was on my first year on the board, and one of the gentlemen who had been running this conference for years said he called me and he said, so I've been told you're the guy.
Bryn Griffiths [00:05:43]:
Here we go.
Mark Daprato [00:05:45]:
That's what I said, is that Rut wrote. So I said, I'd be more than happy to try and try to work with the team and figure out how to keep the excellence of this conference running. And really all I am is a guy who sort of hosts meetings and tries to bring really great people to the table to just do excellent work because everybody's so passionate about it.
Bryn Griffiths [00:06:07]:
Well, I have talked to numerous people who have attended previous ones. And the one thing they all say, and it seems to be a common thread, is that they just keep finding ways to raise the bar the next year. To raise the bar. Now granted, we've gone through an interesting three to four years here where things might have been somewhat disrupted, but does it concern you about the fact that you got to raise the bar to the next level? It just sounds to me like this is going to have a little extra fun involved to it, if you know what I mean.
Mark Daprato [00:06:34]:
Yeah, I think it's kind of the challenge, right? I think everything that you're doing, if you're not learning, then what kind of fun are you having? When we thought in the middle of the pandemic, I remember we had a huge conversation about, well, we'll have to cancel the conference this year, we can't do it, all those things. And then we found this just terrific online tool that was recommended to us and we actually ended up doing an entirely virtual conference and it went off actually really well. Then that gave us new technology to now have a lot of our conference, and we still use that technology today to interact with everybody virtually through the conference. So we're not printing stuff anymore and all we've moved into 2019 now. It's so good. All of these things build upon themselves. And as we got back in person last year, we really learned a lot again about how to do this and we just said, let's really raise the bar again this year. So I think it's really good.
Mark Daprato [00:07:38]:
And I do think at the end of the day, the one thing that you hear about this conference that everybody wants is they want networking and they want learning. And so as long as we're providing that, and it really is new thinking and new learning and a chance to network, we think it works really well.
Bryn Griffiths [00:07:53]:
I don't want to say there's never been any what's the word? Obviously with networking and learning there's one thing, but this interaction to me just gives us a little extra more oomph, I guess. Am I wrong in saying that?
Mark Daprato [00:08:09]:
No, I think that's it exactly. The idea really is how do we really create time and place for people to spend time. A good example is a number of our speakers that we have that often would have been even on the main stage. We've actually set up sort of a side room with all the exhibitors, with some tables set up where the people who are truly interested in hearing from, say, that regulator or that legal mind, it'll now be a chance. For four or five or six people to go stand with that person, listen to a small presentation, but generally have a conversation as opposed to speaking for 27 minutes on stage, taking four minutes of questions, moving along. It's just trying to rethink how can we get people a little bit engaged differently?
Bryn Griffiths [00:09:04]:
So why is this conference important?
Mark Daprato [00:09:07]:
So this conference really is important because it gives people in the creditor space, the legal space, the trustee space, collection agency space a real chance to hear what's going on if there are legal changes, compliance changes, regulatory changes, and things that really affect how banks and creditors and collection agencies and debt buyers and debt sellers work with customers. Because that's what this is all about. It's about giving customers the best experience they can have with all of us. It's important that we all know the latest and greatest information that's going on. So one of the things the conference does is really tries to focus on that as does the RMA itself with its governance and Government relations committees. But along with that and that knowledge, it's a chance for a whole bunch of people to get together who don't necessarily get to see each other other than at this conference or maybe one other time in the year to really talk about what's going on, what's driving business forward, what's helping their companies succeed, or where are they struggling? And same thing with consumers. It's really important that we all keep talking about what are consumers needs? And it's really important that I think we as an organization provide as much thought, leadership and chance for communication on those topics as we can.
Bryn Griffiths [00:10:41]:
How long have you been involved in this industry?
Mark Daprato [00:10:45]:
I've been involved in the industry for about seven years now. I came to it from other industries and came into it and spent a lot of time learning all facets of it.
Bryn Griffiths [00:10:58]:
So is it a bit of an eye opener?
Mark Daprato [00:11:00]:
Yeah, a real eye opener. And what's really interesting about it is when you think about receivables, I think there's so many different contexts that people have and it can feel harsh sometimes. And I think the really great thing that I've witnessed certainly with creditors and ourselves and all the other companies that we work with, there's a real genuine desire for people to be thinking forward and think about customers. I just keep coming back to it. It really has become a very customer centric industry and people have really thought, I think a lot differently than in years past about how do we do that? And really thinking about how compliance and really being on track with what the regulations are and making sure that compliance standards and customer standards and all of those things everybody's constantly being educated on and thinking about. And it's really interesting and it's been a real eye opener and really great to see where I think so many people in this industry that I've come to know, I just know what they want to do and that's always just do the right thing. It's pretty neat to watch.
Bryn Griffiths [00:12:25]:
Tell us a little bit about your background.
Mark Daprato [00:12:29]:
So my background is pretty wide and varied. I'm a bit of a marketing bit of a marketing business person by trade. I'd worked at large Telcos national restaurant brands and also had a pretty good crack at a pretty large Internet ecommerce startup and really learned a lot about running businesses, running marketing campaigns. But really understanding a whole lot about the essence of my whole career has been what's the customer journey? And whatever it's been, whether it was with one of the large telcos or a restaurant or an ecommerce site, it all comes down to how well are you treating your customers? And I think that's why this has actually been a nice industry for me to come into because it is a real opportunity for everybody to constantly think about how do we be customer centric?
Bryn Griffiths [00:13:28]:
Well, there's a common thread through all that and that's basically collections as well, right? You've got to get out there. And so I got to think that through all of the different companies you've worked alongside, there's that common trait.
Mark Daprato [00:13:42]:
Sure. Yeah, there is. And it's interesting, before I actually got straight into this industry, it was an area of the industry that I didn't really know a whole lot about. I was very busy generating customers and I didn't see a whole lot of this side of it. And it's been really wonderful to sort of see how you can look at it a little differently and think about it. But yeah, it does come down to collections and I think there's been a pretty significant sea change in the last 20 years to how collections is thought about, at least from what I've seen.
Bryn Griffiths [00:14:19]:
Tell everybody where you're at right now and what you're doing.
Mark Daprato [00:14:23]:
So I'm the chief commercial officer at the Cannon Seed Financial Group and we're a significant debt buyer and insolvency purchasing and servicing company. So we work with a lot of different creditors and a lot of collection agencies and folks as we continually try to help solve issues for people by doing the work that we do. And I'm in Toronto and we've got an office in London, Ontario, and we're owned by a company called Jefferson Capital in the US, which is just a wonderful leader in the space in the US.
Bryn Griffiths [00:15:09]:
One of the things talking to our friends at Metcredit and they talk about how crazy things change year to year to year and you've got to stay on top of it. And that sounds like this is a huge part of this event coming up.
Mark Daprato [00:15:22]:
Yeah, very much. There's a lot to stay on top of and really listen and listen to what people have to say. A big part of what we're doing right now is focusing on what are the areas of focus that we want to concentrate on for our panels. And we're beginning to have good meetings with our panelists to really make sure that we're bringing the best information forward.
Bryn Griffiths [00:15:50]:
Receivables Management Association of Canada Incorporated. You're now involved in this, and I'm looking at the long list of the people who are on the board. It's a wide, varied group in here. I think that's.
Mark Daprato [00:16:05]:
Yeah, no, it's great. And I'll tell you, we meet very regularly as a board, and we're constantly having really interesting conversations, often kicked off with government relations, and thinking about what is the learning that we can bring to the table and what are the things that we can advocate for for the industry in Canada.
Bryn Griffiths [00:16:26]:
What do you think the one takeaway out of this is going to be? Is it possible to limit it to one.
Mark Daprato [00:16:33]:
Think?
Bryn Griffiths [00:16:33]:
Because there's going to be a lot of differences of opinion on stuff. I got to think yeah.
Mark Daprato [00:16:38]:
I think here's what I'll say is what I hope is one of the takeaways, okay. Is that the answers to a lot of the questions that people are going to be talking about are not binary. It's not black and white. We're going to see a lot of gray in terms of how we can be thinking about what are the technological shifts going to mean, what will it mean in terms of the speed of change, of how we operate and what the opportunities are? I hope, frankly, there's going to be a lot of conversation which will get people thinking about the next questions to ask and not necessarily say, AHA, thank you. They've given me the silver bullet. I'm hoping we're touching on some larger topics that get people really thinking about how to challenge themselves and think about their strategic plan next year and even the year after that, because we've hopefully fostered a few nuggets for them to think about and take away as they run their businesses.
Bryn Griffiths [00:17:35]:
The real challenge of this podcast is somebody might download it in December, right. They may have missed this event, but there's got to be ways that they can maybe catch up and find out what's happened at this event. We're talking, obviously, pre event now. I'm talking post event. How do people reach out to Receivables Management Association?
Mark Daprato [00:17:55]:
Yeah. If they go to our website, which is the Rmacanada.org, they can get in touch with us there, register there, and learn a little bit more about how to get involved, see the information about past conferences and get involved with us.
Bryn Griffiths [00:18:13]:
Are you having fun? Because I know we're getting down to the crunch here.
Mark Daprato [00:18:16]:
Oh, yeah. Now is kind of the fun time.
Bryn Griffiths [00:18:21]:
Yeah.
Mark Daprato [00:18:21]:
Okay. We're seeing it come together, but there are a series of was just before we got on here this morning. I was receiving texts already this morning saying, hey, what about this? What about that? And so it's lots of fun. We're now in the devil is in the details moments.
Bryn Griffiths [00:18:40]:
This is a busy time, too, because Lindsay Kirk, who's the president, obviously was going to join us today, and she has sent you my way, and I can't thank you enough for that. This has been great, but I think she's going to owe you a coffee in Niagara Falls.
Mark Daprato [00:18:53]:
I think she's going to owe me a big cup of joe in Niagara Falls, and I'll be taking her up on it.
Bryn Griffiths [00:18:59]:
Thanks for your time on this. This has been great.
Mark Daprato [00:19:01]:
OK, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Bryn Griffiths [00:19:03]:
Well, that's it for today's episode of Overdue Advice. Big thank you to Mark Daprato for sharing his insight on today's podcast. Hey, it's easy to find us online. Metcredit is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter at Metcredit. And you can also check out Brian Somerfeld's blog as well. That's easy to find. It's blog metcredit.com. And don't forget, the website also includes numerous helpful tools and calculators to assess your business debt risk.
Bryn Griffiths [00:19:30]:
We also want to hear from you, so subscribe, like or leave us a review on this or any of our podcasts and make sure you share the podcast with your friends and business associates. You can drop us a line at overdue Advice@metcredit.com. Overdue Advice, the podcast about cash flow strategies to grow your business. I'm Bryn Griffiths.
Mark Daprato [00:20:00]:
F.
Bryn Griffiths [00:20:05]:
This series is proudly produced by the team at Road 55. Road 55 creates content that connects. For more information, check our website www dot road 55 dot cast.