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Joey Nichols has spent his entire life in the collection industry. Now a second-generation agency owner, Nichols loves Hootie and the Blowfish and helping other agency owners, especially legacy ones like himself, see things through a different lens. Read on to learn more about Joey, the sage advice his father gave him as a kid that still sticks with him today, and what he’s doing at three o’clock in the morning while you are still sleeping.
Name: Joey Nichols
Job Title: Partner
Company: CBC / ART
Length of time at current company: 20 / Life
Length of time in industry: Life
How did you get your start in the industry?
I am a second-generation agency owner. My family started Tri County Collection Agency in 1962.
What is your career highlight so far?
My highlight is never losing clients because of poor performance and increasing the size of our company through acquisitions while helping other second-generation owners decipher their paths forward.
When or how are you most productive?
When I need to be — I generally get things done as needed and don’t leave things on the the burner for too long. But there have been plenty of nights where I I wake up at 3am and work on solutions to underlying issues.
Which industry professional do you admire most?
There are so many that make an impact on the industry daily – I don’t have anyone atop my Mount Rushmore.
What is one thing you do better than everyone else?
I tend to see things for what they are. All agencies face the same struggles day in and day out but at the end of the day — we don’t just collect money — we sell people on paying their bills. I’m big on technology, but the basic principles of collection still apply since our first office was founded in 1962.
What do you like most about this industry?
It is so cutthroat, but everyone plays as though it isn’t — you ask 100 agency owners in a room (regardless of agency size) who has the best processes and everyone will raise their hand and say, “me.” It doesn’t matter if one of the owners has a $100 million company with space-age tech and one has three employees and still uses file cards. The beauty of the industry is they may both be correct. They probably do it best in their situation and for their clients.
What is one thing you wish you could change about this industry?
I wish it was really still about helping clients and doing a great job. When consultants and equity money came into the industry it changed everything. The top half of the industry became about building empires and building to sell. It became more about meeting metrics and less about helping clients and the patients.
The industry truly became lazy 40 years ago. If an agency did a better job than your agency, instead of making the agency better — people just started cutting rates. They were making money and building their business but it took accountability out of agencies.
If you weren’t in this industry, what would you be doing?
I would be somewhere between commercial real estate and owning car lots.
Describe a typical work day.
It’s all over the place. It starts when it starts and ends when it ends (or does it ever end?). I tell anyone that works with or for me — if you have email on your phone — silence me after 5pm. If I have a thought it goes in an email or in my notes — maybe I wake up at 3am and BAM — there’s the answer or maybe there’s the question. There is always something that needs to be addressed and when that issue comes to the forefront — that’s when I take action.
What is your guilty pleasure?
I love me some Hootie and the Blowfish and traveling as much as possible.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
How much money will it make you? I was a pre-teen and had an issue with a person and I was explaining to my dad what I was going to do and how I was going to get the best of the situation and the person. I was soooooo mad. My Dad just looked at me and said, “If you get the best of that person or your revenge, how much money will it make you?”
The situation and conversation is hard to put in words but at the end of the day I got the message — why spend your time on something that has no gain or positive outcome? Sure, it makes you feel good. But what can you accomplish with that energy if you use it toward something positive? Put your efforts toward positive goals.
What are you currently reading?
I am about to start Financial Success for Teens and Financial Literacy for College Students. I have an upcoming senior and freshman in high school and unfortunately they do not teach enough about personal finances to our young adults. I am going to read the books and have my kids read them and start the process of financial responsibility and education.
What is one fact you’d like everyone in the industry to know about you?
I am open to about anything in the industry (acquisitions, partnerships, referral plans, consulting) and if I don’t know you, I would like to. Success breeds success and there are so many ways do things the correct way in our industry. Sometimes people just need to talk things through and look at things a little differently. Sometimes a 5-minute conversation can have a 5-year impact.
Who else would you like to see answer these questions?
Debbie Frank
