Commercial Payments Blog Feed

Be the Ball

2002 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:18:01 -0500

I recently had a chance to visit St. Louis during one of the baseball playoff games. As I saw the fans migrating to the ballpark, I recalled that old adage I heard so often as a youth, “Be the ball.”

Get it in (the right) Gear.

1709 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:21:02 -0500

When I first started preparing for the MS 150, I went down the road on my bike peddling like crazy to keep up with the pack of other riders.

The Enterprise Toolbox

1708 — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:09:00 -0500

Recently, while working on my wife’s car, I had to shuffle through several toolboxes to find the tool I needed. I wasn’t looking for anything special, just a particular pair of pliers to do the job.

Mobile Payments one year later – still a solution in search of a problem.

437 — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:40:18 -0500

Gartner recently published a report stating that Mobile Payment Users will grow a whopping 38% from 2010 to 2011, forecast to total over $80 BILLION. Despite these enormous numbers, analysts note the mobile payment market is growing slower than expected. As you know, I am a huge fan of the overall concept of mobile payments. I even blogged about the super-nifty Starbucks App last year. But, I think the major reason mobile payments have yet to hit mass market adoption is that the ROI for both buyers and merchants is still upside down.

Quality Control: Technology is a Tool, not a Failsafe

618 — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:31:54 -0500

As a transaction processing company, Multi Service has processes in place to ensure programs are running according to plan: securely, accurately, efficiently. Most of these processes are automated, running overnight, with key individuals receiving summaries and checklists of everything that has been looked at, tied out,

Forget Plan b, We’re on Plan iv

1709 — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:37:37 -0500

As the operations manager, I am responsible for diverse groups of people (the data entry group being just one) and processes (mail handling, paper invoice and billing management representing just a few).

Collecting Payment: Right vs. Privilege

2002 — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:47:17 -0500

Back in June, my colleagues posted a series of blogs on communication styles: Harmony, Urgency, Accuracy. Ralph made some excellent posts about the need for urgency in a collections department, and for many collections groups, whose goal is to get an open invoice paid – no matter what – urgency may be the only message that needs to get across.

Innovation Where it Matters, One Year Later.

437 — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:15:17 -0500

Last April, Multi Service launched our “refreshed” corporate brand. The look of a lot of things around here have changed since then: the website, our sales materials, even our buildings have been going through a major facelift. But the biggest impact, I think, has really come from four words: Innovation Where it Matters.

You Can’t Improve What You Can’t Measure

441 — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:05:23 -0500

The computer on a bicycle can give me instant feed back on my performance. When I’m cycling on a familiar route it tells me how I’m performing relative to past performance based on my average pace, heart rate and cadence.

Swimming in the Deep Waters.

1709 — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:54:10 -0500

I competed in the Kansas City Corporate Challenge this year alongside 24,306 fellow business professionals / wannabe athletes. I had decided to take my two children with me to the swim meet one night as moral support. As I prepared to complete in the 200 yd freestyle, my son turned to me, pointed at the competitive pool full of swimmers and then the diving pool and said, “Dad, I think I’d rather swim in that pool; not the other one.”

Got Advocates?

2002 — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 08:17:15 -0500

The opportunity to positively affect a business relationship exists every time we engage a customer. I am reminded of these opportunities even when I am out with my family. The grocery store, a restaurant or my favorite – the local lumber yard – are all classrooms for me.

It’s Not Just Semantics

1708 — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:02:30 -0500

It’s been interesting to read Tyler’s, Ralph’s and Luis’ blogs over the past several weeks about the way people communicate. While there seems to be some wiggle room in the style or tone of communication depending upon who’s having the conversation, their actual words must be more precise.

Harmony and Urgency don’t mean as much without Accuracy

618 — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:24:30 -0500

I’m sure you’ve read Tyler’s post on Harmony and Ralph’s post on Urgency, so here I am to talk about Accuracy. I am a system manager and I am a 100% accurate personality. In my department we must communicate the status of enhancements, issues, etc in an accurate and detailed manner. We must be detailed enough that all involved parties -- from business analysts, to the quality assurance team, to the end users internally and externally -- are aware of the changes requested, potential impacts, risks, etc. I am always working with my team to ensure that their communications are complete and cover all of the details, that testing notes are accurate and give enough information to the quality assurance team.

Communication Styles: Dependent on the Person or the Message?

441 — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:45:46 -0500

After reading Tyler’s post last week, I have to say that his perception of communication styles is a pretty true to his “harmonic” nature. And, I can see that from an operations perspective, the ability to adapt your method of communication to the person you’re speaking with makes a lot of sense. The responsibilities of this group are so diverse, adaptability is key. But, I’m still not sure that the communication style should be dictated by the person rather than the message that needs to be communicated.

Creative Leadership: Communication is Key

1709 — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:48:19 -0500

“It doesn’t matter what you say; it only matters what they hear.” An instructor spouted these words of wisdom during one of our Creative Leadership seminars recently, and I have to tell you that this was the Aha! moment for me.

Best in Show Financial Innovators Announced.

438 — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:48:23 -0500

Finovate, a conference celebrating innovation in the financial sector, hosted its Spring event in San Francisco this month. Check out the best in show innovators here.

Woof-Wallet: The solution to all my handbag problems…

437 — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:03:53 -0500

I have been traveling a lot with Jenny lately, and she mentioned casually on one of these trips that I am always trying to find my boarding pass the minute before we are about to board. I laughed but then realized that she was completely right.

Agility: The Catalyst of Innovation

1708 — Mon, 09 May 2011 09:36:07 -0500

Agility in the business world is usually associated with small- to mid-sized enterprises. But no matter the size of the organization, when your business model is built on service and customization – agility should be more than a skill set. Agility better be engrained in the nature of your business.

Half of the Journey is the Return Home

433 — Tue, 03 May 2011 08:11:35 -0500

In 1981, we launched the Multi Service Aviation program, a fuel card program built specifically for the commercial aviation industry. That program became a rich aspect of our corporate heritage – so much so, that even after selling the business to U.S. Bank in 2005, we had a hard time letting go: We have proudly managed the AIR Card® program for the U.S. Government Defense Logistics Agency for seven years.

Gentlemen, Synchronize Your Watches

1709 — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:39:39 -0500

I enjoy action movies; and one of the things I appreciate is that you can always tell right before all of the good stuff happens when the leader says that famous line, “Gentlemen, synchronize your watches.” Is it just for dramatic effect (like the slow cello notes before the shark attack) or is there a legitimate reason?