Aging Workforce is Straining Social Security

Did you happen to see the Associated Press article on Monday entitled: Aging workforce strains Social Security, Medicare?

If not, the healthcare factoring specialists at PRN Funding summarized the startling findings below:

Social Security and Medicare, the government’s two largest benefit programs, are in worse shape than previously thought due to the increasing aging population and the slow-rebounding economy. Moreover, Medicare is in the worst shape because of rising health insurance costs.

The predictions from last year was that the Medicare hospital insurance fund for seniors would run out of money in 2024, and Social Security’s retirement fund would run out in 2038, with the disability fund running out of money by 2018.

The latest projections from March indicate that the disability fund would run out of money two years earlier in 2016.

8 Simple Communications Tips for Factoring Brokers

PRN Funding truly values the relationships that we have with our factoring brokers because they are so passionate about finding the best funding source for their clients. Yet, we’ve seen plenty of cash flow consultants who struggle with communicating with current and potential factoring customers. The invoice funding specialists put together a few pointers to help our factoring brokers focus and get the word out about your cash flow  business and PRN’s healthcare factoring services,

  • Figure out how much time you intend to dedicate toward honing your communications skills
  • Decide how much money you are willing to invest into communications
  • Start with a list of who your current customers (Current customers are your best customers!)
  • Begin a second list of who you want to have as new customers (Hint: Start with ones that are similar to your current customer-base.)
  • Ask you current customers how they prefer to communicate (i.e. phone, email, text, social media networks, etc.)
  • Use the same communications channels that you current customer prefer to speak to potential clients.
  • Ask for feedback on your messaging efforts and fine-tune where applicable

Sounds simple enough, right?

CDIA (formerly MTIA) Closing its Doors

Did any of our medical transcription invoice factoring blog readers see the letter that the board members of the Clinical Documentation Industry Association posted on their web site?

If not, here’s a copy of what’s on the site’s home page:

Dear CDIA Members and Supporters,

The Clinical Documentation Industry Association (CDIA) has weathered many financial challenges over the past few years from the significant contraction in the marketplace and overall unhealthy economic conditions. In response, we rebranded the association to expand our reach beyond medical transcription, editing, voice, and speech recognition to encompass every touch point in the clinical documentation continuum. Our flagship event, the CDIA Annual Conference, had broadened the educational program to bring together these complementary audiences.

Unfortunately, the external factors have become too strong for the association to overcome and this is why we are writing to you today. On behalf of the CDIA Board of Directors, we regret to inform you that the association is closing and the annual conference planned for April 2012 in Baltimore, MD has been cancelled.

This has been a very difficult decision that the Board did not take lightly. The association’s finances could no longer sustain the organization to serve the members and support the annual conference. Over the next several weeks, CDIA representatives will be winding down the association and information will be sent regarding recent payments made to the association.

Thank you for your support of CDIA and participation in the association. We encourage you to continue to promote the spirit of CDIA’s mission, values, and advocacy platform as you continue your involvement in other associations, including the Health Story Project (www.healthstory.com) and AHDI (www.ahdionline.org).

Sincerely,

The Clinical Documentation Industry Association

The medical transcription invoice funding specialists asked the president of PRN Funding, Phil Cohen, what his thoughts were on the CDIA’s closing, and this is what he had to say:

First and foremost, on a personal level, I’m saddened by the announcement. I’ve either exhibited or attended the annual CDIA show since 1992! However, I don’t believe that the association’s closing is any indication that the medical transcription (or clinical documentation industry) is hurting. Rather, it just shows how the amount of mergers and acquisitions have been affecting the industry. To date, there are fewer smaller MTSOs in the industry and there are also fewer large players in the industry. For an association to remain active, viable and financially sound, it needs more contributing members, not fewer.

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on CDIA’s closing?

How to Qualify a Factoring Prospect by Asking Three Simple Questions

It’s a factoring broker‘s job to deliver companies with cash flow issues to the appropriate funding source. Although this task sounds easy enough, in reality, it’s not always so simple. Picture this scenario:

You have a client in need of cash flow who has been in business for a year, has three large customers and gets paid in less than 30 days. Eager to help this entrepreneur get the cash he needs to expand, you refer this small business owner to one of your factoring partners immediately.

The factoring company tells you that they are interested in pursuing the lead, and they’ll have an update for you as soon as they reach out to the prospect. The next day, you get a phone call from the factoring firm telling you that they are no longer working the deal.

Has this ever happened to you? If you answered yes, then I have some good news for you. There’s a simple way to drastically reduce the chances of the above situation ever happening again. All you have to do is ask three key questions before referring a lead to a factor…

Click here to read the entire article on Factoring Investor or watch the video summary below:

Bank Lending to Businesses is Up, but For How Long?

Yesterday, the Fiscal Times reported that bank profits are currently the highest they’ve been in six years. The healthcare factoring experts at The Factoring Blog included some of the article’s highlights below:

Bank loan balances rose $130.1 billion, or 1.8 percent, in the 2011 fourth quarter compared to third quarter, according to a quarterly report by the FDIC released on Tuesday.

Furthermore, credit to businesses, up $62.8 billion, or 4.9 percent, led the increase in lending totals.

While much of that went to large and medium-sized businesses, the FDIC said that for the first time in the seven quarters that the figures have been tracked, lending to small businesses, defined as loans of $1 million or less, went up. Such lending increased $2.8 billion, or 1 percent.The FDIC quarterly report showed the industry earned $26.3 billion in the fourth quarter, up $4.9 billion, or 23.1 percent, from a year earlier. However, the increase was largely due to banks setting aside less money to guard against loan losses.

The amount set aside for loan losses in the fourth quarter was $19.5 billion, down 40.1 percent from a year earlier.

Officials have warned that this trend cannot continue much longer.

Click here to read the entire article: Bank Profits Highest Since 2006.

2012 Small Business Outlook

Small Business Trends posted the results of recent survey of 5,000 small business owners conducted by The Shafran Moltz Group’s.

Watch the video summary below:

Overall, the 2012 outlook for small business owners remains uncertain. Here are some of the survey’s highlights:

  1. 45% of respondents thought the economy was finally steady and do not believe there will be a double dip recession.
  2. Over 1/3 of the respondents thought that the economy was basically stuck in neutral or GDP could even decrease this year.
  3. 69% of small business owners thought they would see health insurance premiums increases from 5% to 20%, and a quarter of the respondents predicted premium increases of 20% or higher.
  4. 68% of the small business owners think that banks will stay missing in action for lending capital in 2012.
  5. The most common concerns small businesses mentioned for the coming year were how the continued uncertainty in the economy and gridlock in Washington affects their own inability to make decisions. Added fears were how the euro crisis and lagging home prices will hurt the overall economy in the long run.

Click here to read more about the 2012 Small Business Outlook according to The Shafran Moltz Group.

Factoring Broker February Deal – Refer a Client, Get an iPad2!

PRN Funding has an exciting offer to share with factoring brokers and cash flow consultants!

For the month of February, if you refer a factoring client* to PRN Funding, we’ll send you an iPad2!

Currently, PRN Funding is seeking factoring relationships with the following:

  • Medical Staffing Agencies
  • Medical Transcription Services
  • Medical Coding Companies
  • Nurse Staffing Companies
  • Allied Health Staffing Businesses
  • Outsourced Medical Billing Services
  • Home Care Agencies (billing Medicaid)

Contact Nikki Flores at 866-776-5407, ext. 104 for more details!

Hurry! The offer to receive an iPad2 ends March 1st.

*iPad2 will be shipped after approved client factors $100,000 in invoices.

Factoring Brokers: Managing Cash Flow in Times of Uncertainty

From the housing market crisis to the infamous bank bail outs to the most recent elections, a lot has happened recently that will have lasting effects on the cash flow industry in a multitude of ways.

The lending crisis is having a tremendous effect on small business owners, as banks and credit card companies raise borrowing costs and slashed credit lines. At the same time that the banks stopped lending, many small business owners saw their account receivables slowing down, which led to a cash flow bottleneck.

Check out our YouTube video for more information:

While we would like to know what lies ahead for the cash flow industry, no one knows for sure what the future holds. However, one thing will go unchanged during these times of uncertainty-the need for business owners to proactively manage their cash flow will never go away.

As factoring brokers, your services will be in high-demand over the next year as the fate of economy remains unsettled. Not only will you need to continue to locate non-traditional lenders (i.e. factoring firms) for your clients, but you will also be called upon to give a factoring broker plan to help business owners navigate through these turbulent times.

Click here to read some suggestions for factoring brokers to keep in mind as small business owners navigate these times of cash flow uncertainty.

How Factoring Brokers Can Close More Deals

Typically, the invoice factoring sales process happens in three parts: (1) Explanation of what is factoring by the broker to the business owner, (2) The conceptual embrace of factoring by the business owner, and (3) The closing, (a.k.a. the business owner agrees to factor his/her receivables). All too often, the process stalls in the closing phase of a factoring deal. The last thing a factoring broker wants to have happen is to see his/her hard work throughout the sales cycle come to a standstill. The following “Five Tips for Closing More Factoring Deals” are designed to help factoring brokers become more effective with the closing piece of the factoring sales process.

Sell the Business Owner What They Want, Not What They Need
A cardinal rule that many salespeople forget to follow during the closing process is a basic one: listen to what the business owner wants. Without a doubt, when a business owner approaches a factoring broker, he/she needs to improve his/her cash flow, but what they really want is cash. Make sure that your closing technique narrows in on the fact that invoice factoring will indeed fulfill their want – to have cash. Which sounds better to you? Saying something like “Factoring your invoices will help improve your cash flow;” or saying something like: “When you can sell your invoices to a factoring firm, you can literally receive cash the same day you invoice.”

Sell Invoice Factoring as a One-of-a-Kind Financing Solution
In the sales world, the word “only” is probably one of the most influential selling agents when it comes to closing a sale. As luck would have it, most business owners have never heard of the concept of factoring. In addition, these same business owners often approach a factoring broker when other traditional financing methods have failed them. This built-in scenario gives factoring brokers the ability to offer a very appealing and tailored one-of-a-kind solution to get a business owner cash fast-invoice factoring. Who could turn down that kind of offer?

Click here for Additional Tips for Closing More Factoring Deals.

The Perfect Invoice Factoring Deal

Rather than elaborate on one specific deal that worked out for the better, this article will expand on three surefire attributes all involved parties (brokers, factors and prospects) need to have in order for a factoring relationship to run smoothly from beginning to end. All it takes is a little preparation, good communication and some organization.

Preparation

Brokers:
Before a factoring broker even thinks about referring a prospect to a funding source, it’s important for him/her to do some behind-the-scenes prep work ahead of time. Examples of this prep-work include:

  • Knowing all of the pertinent details about each of your funding sources(i.e. Monthly minimums/maximums, industries they serve, general fee structures, length of time it takes to close a deal, how they prefer to receive referrals, etc.)
  • Educating yourself as much as you can about the prospect’s company and/or industry (i.e. Do they provide services or products?, Who are their customers? How much do they bill?, Why do they want to factor? How long have they been in business? Do they have any liens?, etc).
  • Gathering pertinent information from the prospect to help the factor qualify the lead appropriately (i.e. Current invoice aging report, Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization, Contact information for company principles, etc.)

Factors:
Factoring firms also need to be adequately prepared to receive a lead from a broker. This can easily be accomplished by having a structured referral program already in place so brokers know upfront what the factor expects from them. In addition, factoring firms should have dedicated personnel available to help brokers through the process of submitting a prospect.

Prospects:
The best prospects to work with are those who are prepared to answer questions pertaining to their business and who have pertinent business documents on-hand and ready to distribute to the broker and/or factor. For example, most companies should be able to easily access their most recent tax returns, provide financing reports (i.e. invoice aging, profit/loss statement, balance statement, etc.), and supply copies of company registrations.

Click here to keep reading More Tips On Finding the Perfect Invoice Factoring Deal.

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