ACA has built a vehicle to help your company stay profitable—all you need to do is drive it. Start 2024 off right by participating in the Benchmarking Intelligence platform—free for ACA company members! You have until the end of December to submit your Q3 2023 data, so get started today.
12/08/2023 2:05 P.M.
6 minute read
Comparing your company’s performance to industry benchmarks, anonymously and by business vertical (e.g., health care, utilities, credit cards, etc.), can help you identify potential gaps, highlight achievements and more.
ACA International’s Benchmarking Intelligence platform can give you that information. Each quarter, ACA company members who sign up for our Benchmarking Intelligence platform and enter their data by the deadline will receive a free benchmark report with anonymous, aggregated industry information, allowing them to see how their operations stack up against those of their peers.
The secure Benchmarking Intelligence platform is hosted by ACA’s outside vendor, Dynamic Benchmarking, which provides benchmarking technology for nearly 100 prominent associations.
But how does the platform work, and why should you take the time to participate? Nicole Succop, an account manager with Dynamic Benchmarking, explains.
I have a lot to focus on in my own company. Why should I care what my competitors are doing?
You can’t control your competition, but you can make sure you are keeping pace with market standards. Benchmarking data can provide perspective on the overall industry and show you current trends so you don’t fall behind when it comes to attracting and retaining clients.
Are your results in line with what other agencies are experiencing? So far we’ve been hearing from Benchmarking Intelligence participants that this tool has been the most useful when identifying overhead costs in regard to staffing comparisons both for office/administrative/executive level and for collection positions.
Are you looking to expand into new markets? The data you can get from this platform lets you see how others in the industry are performing there so you’re not going in blind.
The platform asks me to share a lot of sensitive data. How do I know it will be safe and secure?
The platform, powered by Dynamic Benchmarking, protects all data submissions and the delivery of results using multiple layers of security and encryption. Your response data is encrypted and protected by SSL when in transit from your browser to the Dynamic Benchmarking databases. You can see this SSL certification by putting your mouse on the lock icon next to the HTTPS part of the URL at the top of your browser.
Only individuals on file with the Benchmarking Intelligence database will be able to view the deidentified data from your firm—and even your own data is protected within your own organization.
How can I gather the data required to participate? How long will it take me?
The best suggestion I have here is to include others on your team to help find the data you plan to submit. Depending on the size of your agency, HR and/or accounting personnel might be helpful in gleaning the size of your workforce and departmental costs/revenues associated with each. You might also find that marketing and communications-focused team members may be able to assist in gathering some of the statistics (outbound phone call count, number of emails, number of complaints, disputes, etc.).
Go into this with eyes wide open: Compiling and entering the data can take a bit of time, especially if it’s your first time in the platform.
You’ll probably 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. That will help to cut down on the amount of time spent searching for some/any of the data. Find out if your collection platform can have custom report parameters set up to match the data being requested in the Benchmarking Intelligence platform. It might take a bit to get it set up initially, but any automation in pulling that data will assist in time efficiency in the future.
What are you hearing from participants about this platform?
The comparison opportunities listed above have been the most “received feedback commentary” thus far.
There is also a scrolling window of feedback commentary from participant members and ACA team members you can view on the ACA site right here. You might find it helpful to reach out to one or more of these participants to pick their brain on some useful points.
We are also always accepting feedback and updated metrics for future consideration. If you participate and find that a next step calculation or follow up metric would be even more helpful for you, it’s worth submitting the request via the study feedback section—you might just get what you asked for implemented in a future quarter of collection.
I signed up to participate but I’m overwhelmed and confused about how to get going. How can I get help?This article contains a suggested checklist to help you get started. Read through it to get a sense of what is required.
Once you’ve signed up to participate, you’ll get invited to the regular “office hours” hosted by Dynamic Benchmarking. Join one of our upcoming Zoom calls to get personalized answers to your questions. The upcoming office hours are:
- Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. EST
- Thursday, Dec. 21 at noon EST
These office hours sessions are designed to provide a safe space for open conversation with Dynamic Benchmarking directly. In the past few sessions, we’ve addressed specific definitions from certain metrics and requests for added metrics or auto calculations within the system. I also take a few bullet points back to ACA for future consideration on behalf of the membership, while allowing the member to remain anonymous, if preferred.
The User Guide within the platform itself will provide assistance in how to actually enter the data. Find it here.
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.
ACA members can also watch an explanatory webinar hosted by ACA CEO Scott Purcell, ACA 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.”
If you’re looking for an easy-to-read document, 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.