Concepts2Code | Mark Reinhard discusses Online Consumer Portals | Receivables Roundtable Ep. 135

Adam:
Hello everybody, Adam Parks here with another episode of Receivables Roundtable. Today I'm here with my longtime friend and one of the most important guys that you never actually get to meet in our industry, Mr. Mark Reinhardt, who is the Solutions Architect for Concepts to Code, an organization focused on payment portals, which is why I wanted to have a discussion with him today. Actually payment portals would be an understatement for what you do. I would say more consumer interaction portals online. But today I wanted to talk a little bit about the evolution of the types of portals that collection agencies and debt buyers and creditors use to communicate and to work with consumers that are past due on their debt. So Mark, thank you so much for coming on and having a chat with me today.

Mark Reinhard:
Thanks for having me. Good to

Adam:
Absolutely.

Mark Reinhard:
be here.

Adam:
You know, for anybody who hasn't been as lucky as me to become your friend over the past couple of years, could you tell everybody a little bit about yourself and how you got to the seat that you're in today?

Mark Reinhard:
Yeah, absolutely. I am by far, no doubt a computer nerd at heart. And I've always been in computer and software business, doing all sorts of consulting. I worked for big companies, small companies, whatever. But over time, I just realized that I loved going into companies and solving problems. I became a software consultant and the company that I, that I formed at the time, it was just a name was Concepts to Code. And for 10 years I did. consulting everywhere from nuclear power plants to places roasting coffee to, you know, fire departments. And then one day somehow I ended up in a collection agency and started doing software there. And one of the things I realized in collections, which is still sort of the case is the industry is way behind from a technology perspective. Now over the past probably five, 10 years, we've... come much, much closer to catching up with the rest of the world. But due to regulations and just legacy systems and all sorts of stuff, I realized there was a lot to be done, or that they were missing out of. And so I saw that as a challenge. And just like everyone else who ends up in collections, you're not quite sure how you got here. It's not what you set out to do. But it really is a specialized industry. And I sort of became specialized in it, buckle down and focus and start building a company. And I don't know how many years ago that was, but it went from me being a software consultant all over the place to dropping all our external customers and just any customers that over time that were not in the software or in the collection space and specialize in and built a product. And we've been selling that product and that product's been expanding ever since.

Adam:
Well, I think you're, you definitely fall onto the path of those of us who did not set out to be in the collection industry and found our way here. And to be honest, that's my favorite part of this entire podcast series is getting to hear everybody's kind of backstory. But it also sets the stage for our conversation today. So as we talk about payment portals and we talk about interacting with consumers online and how that's evolved over time. Can you tell everybody a little bit about concepts to code and specifically what it is that you guys are providing to the collections industry?

Mark Reinhard:
Sure, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it all started out sort of, one of the first things we built was, what it used to be back then, electronic documents, where it was a big cost savings, like mailing. There's a lot less mailing going on these days, we all know

Adam:
sure.

Mark Reinhard:
it, but many, many years ago, that was just the way it went, you mailed stuff out. And we were sort of one of the first, at least in our area, to start offering consumers the ability to get those post-dated check reminders, things like that, and save companies money. And that's sort of where it started. Obviously it evolved into a payment portal and now every company out there has some sort of payment portal. But we've been merging those things and then working on emails and textings and things like that and really creating like the customer experience and with obviously the main objective in debt collection which is to collect more payments. And we focus strictly on collecting more payments online. driving more people online and all that comes from making the consumer experience easier to use online and then also with the electronic delivery of, which has now turned less from documents and more into just emails. But that evolution took time. It used to be everyone was sending PDFs as an attachment and now we're much more comfortable. And I like seeing that evolution. It's like

Adam:
Yeah.

Mark Reinhard:
everyone else has been sending emails for so long and sending But this industry, while most of us are there, there's still some people who aren't doing one or the other. And it's nice to be kind of pushing and helping different agencies get to that point.

Adam:
Well, it sounds like you have been along on the ride for the evolution of online consumer interactions. And so I know you and I have always kind of come at this from two different angles and mostly because we were providing two different solutions where, you know, my team at branding arc has been focused on kind of the website experience and driving people to the portals. And then you're actually doing that consumer level interaction between the agency law firm or creditor. and the consumer themselves, which I find to be interesting. So, let's talk a little bit about what that evolution has looked like. I know back in 2011, I believe, when I started building websites, all we would see from a payments perspective was a single static page that would accept payments that was being hosted by whoever their payment provider was. And that was... pretty much the extent of how they were interacting with the consumers through their website. Well, now it's coming to something very, very different. Let's talk to me a little bit about what your experience has been like as that evolution from the static page to these more dynamic experiences that we see today between consumers and agencies.

Mark Reinhard:
It's funny that you say that sort of static page because we still see that when we're onboarding new customers

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
all the

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
time. Customers are coming to us because they're still there. And you said,

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Mark Reinhard:
you know, 2011 or whatever it is, that evolution from a static page to an actual portal is essentially what we take a customer through in a matter of weeks because they go from one to the other. And oftentimes, you know, it's just a completely different experience.

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Mark Reinhard:
But. The thing is the experience is nothing new. We did not invent portals. We did not invent payments. We do it for every other industry in the world. You pay your cell phone bill, you go into your portal, you see your account, if you have a family plan, you see multiple accounts. You go to pay your credit card maybe, your

Adam:
And

Mark Reinhard:
bank

Adam:
I

Mark Reinhard:
account.

Adam:
think that's

Mark Reinhard:
It's

Adam:
a great

Mark Reinhard:
like you go into

Adam:
way

Mark Reinhard:
a consumer

Adam:
to

Mark Reinhard:
portal.

Adam:
start a business. And I think that's

Mark Reinhard:
And that's

Adam:
a

Mark Reinhard:
just

Adam:
great way

Mark Reinhard:
totally

Adam:
to

Mark Reinhard:
normal, which

Adam:
start

Mark Reinhard:
is a

Adam:
a business.

Mark Reinhard:
benefit

Adam:
And

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
I think

Mark Reinhard:
us.

Adam:
that's

Mark Reinhard:
We don't have to

Adam:
a great

Mark Reinhard:
train people

Adam:
way

Mark Reinhard:
what a

Adam:
to

Mark Reinhard:
portal

Adam:
start

Mark Reinhard:
is.

Adam:
a business.

Mark Reinhard:
We just say, this is, you know,

Adam:
And

Mark Reinhard:
the

Adam:
I

Mark Reinhard:
consumers

Adam:
think

Mark Reinhard:
are

Adam:
that's

Mark Reinhard:
used to having

Adam:
a

Mark Reinhard:
a

Adam:
great

Mark Reinhard:
portal. They

Adam:
way

Mark Reinhard:
should

Adam:
to

Mark Reinhard:
be

Adam:
start

Mark Reinhard:
able to

Adam:
a

Mark Reinhard:
see

Adam:
business.

Mark Reinhard:
their

Adam:
And

Mark Reinhard:
account

Adam:
I think

Mark Reinhard:
balance,

Adam:
that's

Mark Reinhard:
their

Adam:
a

Mark Reinhard:
previous

Adam:
great

Mark Reinhard:
payments,

Adam:
way to start a business.

Mark Reinhard:
especially in the, you know, debt collection world. There's a lot of people who are,

Adam:
I think

Mark Reinhard:
they're struggling

Adam:
that's a good

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
question.

Mark Reinhard:
get by,

Adam:
I think that's a good question. I think

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
that's

Mark Reinhard:
pay

Adam:
a good

Mark Reinhard:
all their

Adam:
question.

Mark Reinhard:
debts.

Adam:
I think that's

Mark Reinhard:
They're

Adam:
a good

Mark Reinhard:
worried

Adam:
question.

Mark Reinhard:
about

Adam:
I think

Mark Reinhard:
when

Adam:
that's

Mark Reinhard:
their

Adam:
a good

Mark Reinhard:
next

Adam:
question.

Mark Reinhard:
payment

Adam:
I think that's

Mark Reinhard:
is going

Adam:
a good question.

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
I think that's a good question.

Mark Reinhard:
clear.

Adam:
I think that's

Mark Reinhard:
Give them that information.

Adam:
a good question.

Mark Reinhard:
And that's what a portal does. They can see when they're, when they're, payment is ready to be posted. They can pick and choose and have some flexibility in the payments they make and more importantly than

Adam:
I

Mark Reinhard:
anything

Adam:
think

Mark Reinhard:
else

Adam:
that's

Mark Reinhard:
they

Adam:
a

Mark Reinhard:
don't

Adam:
good question.

Mark Reinhard:
need

Adam:
I think

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
that's a

Mark Reinhard:
speak

Adam:
good question.

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
I think

Mark Reinhard:
anyone.

Adam:
that's a good question. I think

Mark Reinhard:
You know

Adam:
that's a good question. I think

Mark Reinhard:
we're not

Adam:
that's

Mark Reinhard:
working

Adam:
a good question. I think

Mark Reinhard:
against

Adam:
that's a good

Mark Reinhard:
the collector we like to think we're working with the collector.

Adam:
question.

Mark Reinhard:
Give people that opportunity to to make their payment which is the end goal but also provide them all the information that gives them comfort in making that payment. If you have validation documents I'll put them on the portal. They can log in, they can see them, and you collect so much data when that happens. You know, the agency can see who's logging in, who's looking at documents, who's viewing their accounts, you can track how long they're online. And you can strategize around that. So the evolution of the portal is extreme. It's gone from just a simple payment where we often call it blind pay. where you get to a website and it just says, put in your credit card and make a payment. You're blindly making a payment. And

Adam:
Fair.

Mark Reinhard:
I don't feel like there's many other industries where that would be considered like acceptable, but it's still there because it kind of comes with your payment processor. The beauty is your payment processor is nothing that needs to be shifted when you add a payment portal. It's

Adam:
Hmm

Mark Reinhard:
just kind of a wrapper around it providing so much more information.

Adam:
Well, I think what we saw was consumers were looking for the extension of the relationship they had with the bank into the collection space. And so when they would go, like it's almost a trust factor, right? Like when the consumer has had all this online interaction with a particular bank, right? Even now that we have all of these Neo banks that don't have physical brick and mortar locations. And so that online interaction, I mean, I avoid walking into the bank like at all cost. If it's something that I can do online and not wait in a queue for an hour, like that's what I'm going to do.

Mark Reinhard:
Mm-hmm.

Adam:
And so I think that the consumers have always kind of been looking for that opportunity to interact with the agencies in that post charge off world through similar channels. And I think it makes an agency look more professional, more trusted when that kind of same experience can happen across both worlds.

Mark Reinhard:
I mean, no doubt. And again, it's the same for anything. You know, would you go to a cell phone provider that wouldn't supply you your balance online? You had to go in the store to see what your balance is, or you had to, you know, or see when your next payment was due. Like, you wouldn't interact with these companies. Now, what's

Adam:
Wait.

Mark Reinhard:
different in the world of collections is, it's very unique to collections, because

Adam:
Yeah.

Mark Reinhard:
no one signed up with your collection agency. They ended up there. What they've often ended up in... multiple collection agencies and having portals and an inner friendly interface and Not requiring people to talk to someone to get their information To make a payment whatever it is you're providing the best experience for that person You know If if you're if you

Adam:
It's

Mark Reinhard:
owe

Adam:
not a question

Mark Reinhard:
a balance

Adam:
of happiness

Mark Reinhard:
that

Adam:
or

Mark Reinhard:
you

Adam:
sadness.

Mark Reinhard:
haven't paid in

Adam:
It's

Mark Reinhard:
six months

Adam:
a question

Mark Reinhard:
or

Adam:
of happiness.

Mark Reinhard:
longer

Adam:
And

Mark Reinhard:
or

Adam:
it is

Mark Reinhard:
whatever

Adam:
a question

Mark Reinhard:
it is

Adam:
of happiness.

Mark Reinhard:
It's it's

Adam:
And

Mark Reinhard:
not

Adam:
it

Mark Reinhard:
something

Adam:
is not

Mark Reinhard:
that

Adam:
a

Mark Reinhard:
you're

Adam:
question

Mark Reinhard:
thrilled

Adam:
of

Mark Reinhard:
to talk

Adam:
happiness.

Mark Reinhard:
about.

Adam:
It's

Mark Reinhard:
You

Adam:
a

Mark Reinhard:
know,

Adam:
question

Mark Reinhard:
it's not

Adam:
of

Mark Reinhard:
a

Adam:
happiness.

Mark Reinhard:
comfortable

Adam:
And it

Mark Reinhard:
conversation

Adam:
is a question

Mark Reinhard:
by

Adam:
of happiness.

Mark Reinhard:
any means

Adam:
And it's not

Mark Reinhard:
um, but

Adam:
a

Mark Reinhard:
you

Adam:
question

Mark Reinhard:
do hope that there are people

Adam:
of

Mark Reinhard:
who

Adam:
happiness.

Mark Reinhard:
want to

Adam:
It's

Mark Reinhard:
resolve

Adam:
a question

Mark Reinhard:
it.

Adam:
of

Mark Reinhard:
You know,

Adam:
happiness.

Mark Reinhard:
if people have no intent of resolving it, which some consumers don't,

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Mark Reinhard:
you're not gonna get it anyway. But for those who have an intent to pay, make it as easy and friendly and non-confrontational as possible. And

Adam:
It's just awesome.

Mark Reinhard:
just awkward conversations

Adam:
I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.

Mark Reinhard:
on

Adam:
And I'm going to go ahead and turn it off. And I'm going to go ahead

Mark Reinhard:
a phone such as, you know, I can't tell you what this communication is about until you tell me your date of birth and your last name and your mother's last name. Like, We're all required to do it because it's the law to validate people, but it's extremely awkward and it wouldn't fly in any other industry. So those are the confines that have sort of kept collections and technology a little bit behind. It's because of these weird

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
regulations

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
that wouldn't really apply to any other industry. So

Adam:
So,

Mark Reinhard:
what

Adam:
we'll

Mark Reinhard:
we do,

Adam:
be doing it

Mark Reinhard:
and

Adam:
in the

Mark Reinhard:
not just

Adam:
next couple

Mark Reinhard:
we,

Adam:
of weeks.

Mark Reinhard:
but

Adam:
But,

Mark Reinhard:
sort

Adam:
it's

Mark Reinhard:
of

Adam:
for

Mark Reinhard:
all the

Adam:
all

Mark Reinhard:
technology

Adam:
of you guys

Mark Reinhard:
companies,

Adam:
to follow.

Mark Reinhard:
is

Adam:
So,

Mark Reinhard:
accept

Adam:
keep that

Mark Reinhard:
that that

Adam:
in mind.

Mark Reinhard:
is the

Adam:
And,

Mark Reinhard:
world

Adam:
I'll

Mark Reinhard:
we live

Adam:
see

Mark Reinhard:
in. There

Adam:
you

Mark Reinhard:
are

Adam:
soon.

Mark Reinhard:
constraints.

Adam:
Bye.

Mark Reinhard:
but it's much more comfortable to validate your identity on a website than it is just giving your information to someone who called you. So it's, I mean, just the consumer validation is a big part of it. People feel more comfortable. You don't have, I don't know any collection agency that has agents working at 2 a.m. But everyone that we work with can obviously take payments at 2 a.m. There's just literally no downside to it. And that is, you know, that's when some people want to make payments. Who cares?

Adam:
Well, it also goes back to the compliance. Like you had mentioned, when the consumer and the collector are interacting directly, one, the consumer probably doesn't want to be having that interaction if they can avoid it. But every one of those interactions is an opportunity for a payment, but it's also an opportunity for a compliance violation or a perceived compliance. Violation. Right. And I think the perception is more important than the reality in. courts. So you know when we look at it it's like if I can get the consumer to go online if I can get the consumer to interact through a way that provides me with additional protections and safety you know my portal is not going to make a mistake but my collector might and so if I have that opportunity and the consumer prefers it like why not enable them to interact that way. And that comes down to, I know it's been a challenge for debt buyers in the past when a passive debt buyer, for example, has accounts that are placed out with all these different agencies, a consumer reaches out to them or goes to their website and a lot of them are not pointing them directly to those agencies through that digital format and therefore someone has to manually answer these calls and kind of reroute these people out to those individual agencies. Is that a challenge or a problem that you've kind of experienced through your side of the world?

Mark Reinhard:
Yeah, I mean, there's no doubt. I imagine every collection agency experiences that, you know, we're on the technology side, so it's a little different from us. But

Adam:
Mm.

Mark Reinhard:
for sure, people are reaching out to you and they're asking, you know, why can't I make a payment on the account? It's because the account was recalled yesterday. You know, it's, it just happens, it happens, you know. And, but the good thing, again, about a portal is you can relay that information to them. You can still authenticate that person. You have a minimal amount of information you can disclose to that. and you can simply present that to them. Your account is no longer with us, it's been recalled by the client. Here are some things that you can do about it, whether it's contact us, request that we bring it back, contact the client, see where it's at, contact whatever, you can still capture that, you can still work with that.

Adam:
I'm not sure if

Mark Reinhard:
So

Adam:
you can

Mark Reinhard:
I think

Adam:
hear me. I'm

Mark Reinhard:
one

Adam:
not

Mark Reinhard:
thing that's

Adam:
sure if

Mark Reinhard:
often

Adam:
you can hear me. I'm

Mark Reinhard:
not

Adam:
not

Mark Reinhard:
always

Adam:
sure if you

Mark Reinhard:
thought

Adam:
can

Mark Reinhard:
about

Adam:
hear me.

Mark Reinhard:
as much from a payment

Adam:
I'm

Mark Reinhard:
portal

Adam:
not

Mark Reinhard:
is

Adam:
sure

Mark Reinhard:
it's

Adam:
if

Mark Reinhard:
also

Adam:
you

Mark Reinhard:
a

Adam:
can

Mark Reinhard:
communications portal.

Adam:
hear

Mark Reinhard:
People

Adam:
me. I'm

Mark Reinhard:
are reaching

Adam:
not sure

Mark Reinhard:
out

Adam:
if

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
you can

Mark Reinhard:
you.

Adam:
hear me. I'm not sure

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
if

Mark Reinhard:
your

Adam:
you

Mark Reinhard:
agency,

Adam:
can

Mark Reinhard:
you

Adam:
hear

Mark Reinhard:
know, they may

Adam:
me.

Mark Reinhard:
just

Adam:
I'm not

Mark Reinhard:
fill

Adam:
sure if

Mark Reinhard:
out

Adam:
you

Mark Reinhard:
a

Adam:
can

Mark Reinhard:
quick

Adam:
hear

Mark Reinhard:
form

Adam:
me. I'm not

Mark Reinhard:
like,

Adam:
sure

Mark Reinhard:
you know, what,

Adam:
if you

Mark Reinhard:
why

Adam:
can

Mark Reinhard:
do you

Adam:
hear

Mark Reinhard:
keep

Adam:
me.

Mark Reinhard:
calling

Adam:
I'm not sure

Mark Reinhard:
me? Like

Adam:
if you can

Mark Reinhard:
that's,

Adam:
hear me. I'm not sure

Mark Reinhard:
that's

Adam:
if

Mark Reinhard:
a

Adam:
you

Mark Reinhard:
lead

Adam:
can hear me.

Mark Reinhard:
in

Adam:
I'm

Mark Reinhard:
our

Adam:
not sure

Mark Reinhard:
world.

Adam:
if you can hear me.

Mark Reinhard:
That's

Adam:
I'm not

Mark Reinhard:
someone

Adam:
sure

Mark Reinhard:
who

Adam:
if

Mark Reinhard:
took

Adam:
you can

Mark Reinhard:
the time

Adam:
hear me.

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
I'm

Mark Reinhard:
call

Adam:
not sure

Mark Reinhard:
you

Adam:
if you

Mark Reinhard:
back

Adam:
can hear me. I'm not sure

Mark Reinhard:
or

Adam:
if you

Mark Reinhard:
go

Adam:
can

Mark Reinhard:
to

Adam:
hear

Mark Reinhard:
your website

Adam:
me.

Mark Reinhard:
or something like that. They, you may or may not establish communications with them, but that's something worth following

Adam:
I'm going

Mark Reinhard:
up on.

Adam:
to leave

Mark Reinhard:
And

Adam:
you

Mark Reinhard:
that

Adam:
with

Mark Reinhard:
person

Adam:
that. Thank you.

Mark Reinhard:
responded

Adam:
Thank you.

Mark Reinhard:
that they were getting

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
calls

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
and

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
they're

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
asking you.

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
They

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
went and then

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
went

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
to the

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
computer with

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
their phone

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
and

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
asked you.

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
online

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
electronically

Adam:
Thank you. Thank

Mark Reinhard:
while

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
you're calling

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
them.

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
That means

Adam:
Thank you.

Mark Reinhard:
that is their

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
preferred

Adam:
you. Thank

Mark Reinhard:
method

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
of communications.

Adam:
Thank you. Thank

Mark Reinhard:
That

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
is so, so

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
important.

Adam:
you. Thank you. Thank

Mark Reinhard:
It's not always

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
about payments. I

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
mean, that's

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
kind

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
of

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
the end goal, but

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
it's about

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
establishing

Adam:
Thank

Mark Reinhard:
more communications

Adam:
you. Thank

Mark Reinhard:
with

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
your consumers

Adam:
Thank you. Thank

Mark Reinhard:
through

Adam:
you.

Mark Reinhard:
emails, through literally just simple forms people can fill out. You know, one of the things we also have is bankruptcy forms, very specific to collection portals. Because what value is your collector gathering information from a consumer about bankruptcy? You know, that means you're not gonna get any money off of that consumer, but your agent needs to collect it so that you can submit it back to your client. A portal can do all of that, and it doesn't take up any collector time. So, sort of an extension back to the beginning of our conversations, what are portals for? And they're for communications, collecting payments, but also saving your agent's time. can be done by the consumer at 2 a.m. if they want, but more importantly, not taking up time from a collector who doesn't wanna work with them because they're not making any money off of it. And then back to what you said, it all comes back to compliance. That forum collecting data is not gonna make a mistake. It's gonna force them to fill in each field that needs to be filled in. It's not gonna say anything it wasn't scripted to say and it's simple. I mean, it's... It really is just a front end for your agency.

Adam:
which I am obviously a huge proponent of, but let me ask you this, right? As we kind of wrap up our time here, can you tell me a little bit about what you see the future looking like? Like what kind of features, functions should people be looking at over the next 12 to 18 months?

Mark Reinhard:
Well, I think the trend is clear. There's less people willing to do anything on the phone. Most people wanna do it from essentially their cell phone. We say the word computer, we should almost replace that exclusively with the cell phone. Like that's where the traffic is coming from. The great thing about that is we can track it all. We know what's happening. And then the buzzwords, I mean, the buzzwords in every industry right now is AI and the chat bots and things like that. So... That is one where if anyone can tell you where that's gonna be in a year, who knows? We all know massive change is coming. I personally will totally admit, I do not know how much we're going to change in the next 12 months. I am excited about it, a little fearful of it, but there's gonna be radical change. And there's no doubt that at bare minimum, the formation of new like just strategy models. what will be very valuable from UI. And you know, some of that's there now. Again, you gotta be careful what you do because there's sensitive data and things like that. So there's going to be a lot of thought as to how do we integrate the UI, but still be compliant and not expose any of our consumer data. And no doubt it's going to be there, but. By and large, there's gonna be less phone calls. That's been on the trend forever. Texting is a little bit all over the place and emailing is just going up and up and up as far as we can tell. But one way or another, people communicating through their phones to the agency is going to be happening more and more and more. And that trend, that trend is going up and up and up. And I don't have any reason to think that's gonna change.

Adam:
I can definitely see the same changes when it comes to mobile traffic. There was an increase of mobile traffic that was fairly significant, let's say between 2010 and 2020. There was a massive spike in 2020. That spike has continued. I've seen agencies that are upwards of 70% mobile traffic going to their website now. And I can only imagine that those... those figures are gonna ring true through the portal side as well, which I find to be very interesting, but curious to see where things continue to evolve from an AI perspective. Mark, I can't thank you enough for coming on and having this chat with me today. I know that you spend so much time living in that world of helping those agencies to communicate with consumers online and helping to develop and build out that experience solution. always greatly appreciated.

Mark Reinhard:
Yeah, I appreciate you having us on. It's a good topic. I could probably talk for hours, but I'm positive no one wants to listen for that long. But happy to have the next conversation with you over up here at one of the conferences where I see you.

Adam:
Very much looking forward to that. For those of you that are watching, if you have additional questions you'd like to ask on this topic, I'm sure that Mark and I would be happy to respond to those here on LinkedIn and YouTube. If you have additional questions that you'd like to ask, you can leave those in the comments below as well, or additional topics that you'd like to see us cover. Hopefully I can get Mark to come back on again in the future and help me continue to create great content for a great industry. But until the next time I get to see you at a conference, Mark, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate your time.

Mark Reinhard:
Thank you. All right. Thanks. Great time.

Adam:
Absolutely, and for those of you who are watching, we'll see you again soon. Thank you so much.

Mark Reinhard:
Thanks.