Busy with the holidays and general end-of-year craziness? We get it! ACA company members now have until Jan. 17 to complete their Benchmarking Intelligence data entry to ensure they receive the next free report.
12/19/2023 2:05 P.M.
5.5 minute read
Thanks to a deadline extension, ACA International company members now have until Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, to complete their Benchmarking Intelligence submission so they can receive the next free benchmark report. Start the year off with actionable data you can use to drive a higher profit margin in your business!
For information explaining what this platform is and how it works, ACA members can watch a recorded webinar hosted by ACA CEO Scott Purcell, President David Williams, President-Elect Tim Haag and Past President Courtney Reynaud.
To watch it, go to the Benchmarking Intelligence page on ACA’s website, make sure you are logged in (only logged-in members can watch the video), and scroll down to the Webinar Recording box.
“The data in this system is so important to identifying areas where you might be underperforming or overperforming, as well as how to capitalize on those things,” Reynaud said in the webinar. “I know a lot of people look at their P&L, monthly collector reports, monthly sales reports and things like that to get a sense of how they are doing. But this platform goes so far beyond that. It is a culmination of all of that information and more that will help you drive business decisions as you go forward as well as correct any issues that you might find along the way if you spot outlier trends.”
The data-rich benchmarking report will be available on Jan. 24 for members who meet the data input threshold for the quarter.
Program Enhancements
We appreciate your feedback on our Benchmarking Intelligence program and are excited to announce some new enhancements!
- We’ve added Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) reporting. What does this mean? After you complete your data submission, in addition to seeing your trended quarterly results, you’ll also see TTM results and be able to compare them.
- ACA is engaging the collection software community with the goal of increased support in automated reporting to make the data input process faster and more efficient.
- Coming soon in 2024: We’re launching a new community for participants who want to talk about the program.
Why Should I Participate?
Comparing your agency’s performance to that of your peers, anonymously and by business vertical (e.g., health care, utilities, credit cards, etc.), can help you identify potential gaps, highlight achievements and more.
ACA members may remember the previous incarnation of this service, Top Collection Markets Survey, that we offered a few years back in PDF form. We’ve taken the premise of that publication and juiced it up with today’s technology, making it easier than ever to participate and mine valuable data.
Each quarter, ACA company members who sign up for our Benchmarking Intelligence platform and enter their data by the deadline receive a free benchmark report with anonymous, aggregated industry information, allowing them to see how their operations stack up against those of their peers.
“In a market that is ever-changing, tools like Benchmarking Intelligence are absolutely critical to compare your operations to those of your peers in a truly confidential, compliant and aggregated basis,” said Michael Lamm, managing partner at Corporate Advisory Solutions. “If you are not providing your data, you are missing access to key data sets to help you better grow/scale and drive a higher profit margin in your business.”
Benchmarking information gives you unique insights that you can’t get anywhere else. Not only will you see the standard report, but you will also be able to create your own comparisons using a variety of criteria.
- Curious about how your results compare to companies of the same size who also use text messaging?
- Want to know the average gross collections of your peers serving the health care market?
- Looking to benchmark your settlement costs to those of other ACA member companies of the same size?
You can do that!
How Do I Get Started?
First, you’ll need to contact ACA’s Member Services team here to request access. Once you have access to the platform, you can download a full exportable list of the entire question set and begin reviewing the metrics and compiling the relevant data.
Identify the people in your company who can help with the data collection and data entry. Compiling and entering the data can take a bit of time, especially if it’s your first time in the platform. You may want to create custom reports for this process—a task you’ll only have to do once that will make things much easier in the following quarters.
Tip: It will likely be most efficient to work through the survey questions by areas of focus. While some areas may seem smaller or larger based on the original number of metrics, if your company serves multiple verticals, you will have to multiply that number of metrics by the number of verticals.
Use the icons within each category and section to identify any missing metrics. You need to eliminate any red warning symbols. The more green check marks, the better!
Have Questions About the Process? Attend Our Office Hours
Participants have access to the regular “office hours” hosted by Dynamic Benchmarking, the company that facilitates the platform. They can give you personalized answers to your questions and help you navigate the database.
Attend our upcoming office hours event on Thursday, Dec. 21 at noon EST. Even if you haven’t signed up yet, we encouraged you to attend this Office Hours so you can learn more about the platform and get your questions answered.
Topic: ACA International Benchmark Intelligence Office Hours
Date/Time: Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86739547018
Meeting ID: 867 3954 7018
We have also added an Office Hours event next month for last-minute questions before the submission deadline: Jan. 10, 2024, at noon EST.
Take Advantage of This Member-Exclusive Benefit
If you haven’t signed up to participate yet and want more basic information about what this platform is and how it works, visit the Benchmarking Intelligence page on our website.
You can also check out this FAQ, which explains who is eligible to participate, how to get started and how this can benefit you.
Next, reach out to ACA’s Member Services team here and let them know that you want to participate in the Benchmarking Intelligence program. (You must be a Company Division member of ACA to participate.) You’ll need to sign and return an agreement before you are granted access to the secure platform.
Once you have access to the platform, you can download a full exportable list of the entire question set and begin reviewing the metrics and compiling the relevant data. Get started today to make the most of 2024!
Remember, subscribe to ACA Daily and Member Alerts under your My ACA profile when logged in to acainternational.org to receive updates on the ACA Huddle.