ealizing high recovery rates in collections is the goal of any check guarantee service. By going beyond that and combining proven account-collections methods with additional business-development consulting services, Capital Recovery Associates (CRA) of Harrisburg, Pa., has become one of the top-rated companies in the industry.

Because CRA has been in operation since 1978, it has the perspective and experience to be more than an account-collection service for its clients. CRA offers comprehensive collection services for a variety of commercial and consumer debt claims along with being able to offer customer-development consultation services.

CRA will design a service based on each client's needs. It specializes in the retail and health fields, and its clients include many of the largest retailers, financial institutions and hospitals in the nation. For these clients, CRA is able to provide collection services ranging from telephone calls and letter writing to account tracking and reporting.

Shell Sharma, CRA Vice President, said that finding its niche in the marketplace has made the company one of the nation's top 10 recoverers.

"We specialize in bad checks. It's been a big business opportunity for us," he said. "The most key factor, though, has been our ability to not disassociate ourselves from the clients." While CRA's forte is the recovery of delinquent accounts and dishonored checks, its hallmark is flexibility to meet the needs of its customers as defined by the customers themselves.

Most businesses today have staff limitations and lack the resources to be able to promptly collect past-due accounts. "We understand the importance of minimizing loss and maximizing profit and offer our clients the opportunity to increase their recovery percentages while maintaining the goodwill of their customers," Sharma said.

CRA represents more than 500 clients across the country with tens of thousands of merchant locations. The list includes big names like Rite Aid, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks (2,300 locations), Foot Locker, Sonoco, Wal-Mart, GNC and Pizza Hut. Its clients also include smaller companies and merchants.

To locate, develop and land those accounts, Sharma, a former "independent guy" himself, said CRA works with ISOs nationwide: "It's not the regional requirements so much as the area of specialty and expertise we look for. ISOs are critical to our business - defining the markets as we get to the next level, utilizing their contacts, and knowing their localized and regional markets."

ISOs can recommend services for its customers, he said. That can include referring the client to a CRA business-development consultant. Working together as a team helps establish "an innovative vision, an ideology to build an infrastructure. We help them understand how they can achieve their goals in the most cost-effective way."

Sharma said his company approach is to focus on individual needs. CRA examines the present collection needs of new clients and future collection needs of current clients. For example, if a store has repeat offenders, the detailed account analysis that CRA provides leads the client to see where mistakes in the system are made.

"We create customized reports for each specific client," he said. "We monitor their accounts and performance and design a service for them. Of course, we'll cater to our clients, but if there's something wrong, we will act as consultants."

Current status reports on accounts are customizable and provided regularly and frequently. The information can be communicated in a variety of ways to get it to the clients how and when they need it. Account referrals and information, including statements and contracts, can be mailed, faxed, phoned, downloaded on disk or sent electronically. To make good on the bad debts, CRA focuses on professionalism and keeping lines of communication with debtors open. The company has a 100-member staff of ACA-certified collections professionals who attend ongoing seminars in advanced telephone-collection techniques. This means being able to explain options to debtors, creating a sense of urgency and guiding them to overcome roadblocks on the path to timely payments of outstanding debts. The staff also includes bilingual members.

Account reps adhere to all federal laws and regulations that fall under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and govern the activities of the collection industry.

A CRA account representative is assigned to partner with each client and make contact by phone and mail with customers who have bad debts. Open and ongoing communication continues to be an essential part of CRA's successful collections program. Its clients always know the status of the accounts in question.

When accounts are forwarded to CRA, the information is immediately entered into its computer system. The collection process begins within 24 hours with a letter explaining the request for payment. Within seven to 10 days, an account rep contacts the debtor with the intention of moving the account toward resolution - and payment of the balance.

Thousands of telephone calls are placed throughout each day. All accounts are placed on the Mosaix 4000 predictive dialing system. When the dialer reaches the debtor, the call and accompanying files are transferred to the collector and displayed on a computer screen. The collector can instantly identify the debtor, the amount due the client and all other pertinent account information.

CRA collectors at 60 workstations are able to contact an average of 32 accounts per hour using this system. Each phone in the call center is randomly monitored to assure that collectors comply with agency policies, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act rules and any other regulations.

Skip-tracing capabilities cover nationwide verification of change of address, telephone, zip code and bar code; the ability to use debtors' names, addresses, phone numbers or neighbors' names, phone numbers and addresses to locate the debtor; 24-hour online access to billions of public records, such as driver and criminal histories, property and corporate information, and liens and judgments; credit-profile reports; a database to provide property owner, address, purchase date, mortgage amount and mortgage holder information; and bankruptcy databases.

Because of the nature of the collections business, Capital Recovery Associates needs to be focused on results. Achieving those results means a professional team approach to high recovery rates for maximizing its clients' revenues and increased profits.