DebtLink | Chris Murphy aka Santa: Managing the Busy Season with AI & Outsourcing | Ep 201

Adam Parks (00:00.989)

Hello, everybody. Adam Parks here with a very special episode of the Receivables podcast. Today, I am here with Santa, who is joining us from the North Pole. I think a lot of you know that I love to do international content and I wanted to find the most unique place that I could interview somebody from as we went into the holiday season this year. How are you doing today, Santa?

Santa (00:26.05)

Great, Merry Christmas, Adam. It's so good to see you. my goodness. Merry Christmas.

Adam Parks (00:34.237)

Merry Christmas to you as well. Very much looking forward to the Christmas season. You know how in this particular podcast I always like to start with the same question. So could you tell everyone a little bit about yourself and how you got to the seat that you're in today?

Santa (00:49.102)

Well, it's a family thing. A little magic involved, so I really can't go that deep. But let's just say I have a unique set of skills that were passed down from generation to generation. How's that?

Adam Parks (01:01.555)

I like that. Well, you also comes with some very unique challenges, right? Just like us in the receivables management industry constantly faced with this increase of accounts going into the new year, you're dealing with an increased population that you need to manage. So if you started leveraging any artificial intelligence or other tools to help you manage this rising population.

Santa (01:23.182)

That's a great question, Adam. As a matter of fact, have. know, AI is an amazing thing. And although I have huge teams of elves helping me out, things change. So we've taken advantage of AI on all kinds of stuff. One thing is how do we identify supply chain management? Because we get a lot of requests. I don't know how many Sephora gift cards I got requested for this year. And so we get a lot of requests. So AI has really helped us categorize that.

focus on, in your world, we try to do as much as we can with the numbers that we have. And so that's really an important thing. that's AI has been very effective to us. Guys like Excel, for example, and Mike Walsh, those guys really have some pretty cool tools that they're working on. And we like to take advantage of some of that stuff.

Adam Parks (02:05.875)

like Excel for example, and Mike Walsh. guys really have some.

Adam Parks (02:14.944)

I think it makes a lot of sense, right? You got a large amount of data, you got some technology, you get an opportunity to apply it. But one of the other things that we've really seen in the industry is this rise of BPO services and the use of BPO services to increase our capabilities and our manpower on a global scale. I know you got a whole army of elves helping, but how are you managing this increase in volume?

Santa (02:37.678)

Wow. Let's just say the word business process or outsourcing, right? Well, do have the outsourcing the elves. Can you imagine that? I don't think so. However, so the concept of total outsourcing, not really modular outsourcing components very much has helped us out. For example, we have families that move all the time. So skip tracing is a real thing. Used to be very labor intensive for my team. I'd take, well, first of all, I went on to DebtLink.

Adam Parks (02:42.568)

Yeah.

Santa (03:06.862)

and find who the best Kip Treaser's out there and found Lexus Nexus and RNN, help us out. So we now have a much quicker process of finding out where everybody is to make sure we get the right toy to the right house. So that's an example of how the outsourcing has really helped us quite a bit. The other area that we've had to really take a look at and think about are systems. So I've been working on my paper list for a long time, naughty and nice.

Santa (03:36.61)

And that's the way I like to operate, the elves, they go crazy. So we talked to some of the folks. got Mark over at Concepts to Codes, and Harry had applied innovations and asked them, hey, can you help us a little bit with coming up with some programs or systems to help streamline what we're doing? my gosh, in terms of our inventory management, they've done a phenomenal job. So we're really thankful to them. So outsourcing, a combination of finding the right partner with my team,

Adam Parks (03:36.819)

That's the way I like to operate, but the elves, they go crazy. We talked to some of the folks like Markover Concepts to Codes and Harry at Applied Innovations and asked them, can you help us a little bit with coming up with some...

my

So we're really thankful of them. So outsourcing, a combination of finding the right partner with my team.

Santa (04:06.722)

has really been the name of the game. And I know it's a shameless plug, but there are certain folks out there that just do a great job. You, for example, if you didn't work with the guys at Concept to Code and help them with their branding at all, and they didn't go on debt link, I may not have found them. So that's just a great tool for me to be able to find service providers for all these little, we call it back office help. Elves hate that, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Adam Parks (04:08.691)

know it's a shameless plug, there are certain folks out there that just do a great job. For example, if you can work with the guys at Concept Cloud and help them.

Go on that link, I may not have found it. But that's just a great tool for me to be able to find service providers for all the...

Adam Parks (04:34.397)

Well, look, you're managing such a large set of data, automating those workflows. There's got to be some reporting behind all of this. Are you getting a better handle on the volume of work that you're moving on an annual basis? Are you building out some reporting to sit on the back end of these systems?

Santa (04:49.858)

Yes, absolutely. I got to talk about Beam software. Big fan. Big fan. They really helped us with our data management. so again, think about that as our population in the world continues to grow and grow and grow, the challenges to our limited resources continues to, again, it may be a sound like a familiar problem people are having. But we found great partners to help us with. So Beam has really helped us out with a

management program with all of our data. So that's been really great.

Adam Parks (05:22.735)

As you're exploring the worlds of artificial intelligence and you're continuing to explore the world of reporting, you got to take a look at Cody Owens from Equibli and how he has crossed those two worlds to try and use the AI to actually drive some of those analytics and reporting and help us get a better understanding of what's actually inside some of these portfolios. Yeah, I can't forget Anna. I do not want to be in trouble. I do not want to forget.

Santa (05:40.046)

Don't forget, you said Cody, don't forget Anna either.

Santa (05:48.078)

Another team that my god, let's talk about well, I don't know Has anybody checked Cody's ears the top of his ears just a little bit see if there's a little point there. I'm just curious

Adam Parks (05:59.635)

I don't know how he produces what he does. The man is a machine, honestly.

Santa (06:05.166)

You're a little mad you've been involved here too, I think.

Adam Parks (06:08.531)

little bit of magic. I think he's got some magic in there. So there's something going on over there. There's magic in the technology from what I've seen. But now that we're coming into the RMAI time of the year, right? Like we're going into our Super Bowl in the industry happening in early February. And well, yours is just happening here in a couple of days. So what's that like? Are you able to get around without being recognized? You know, what? What are you doing to prep?

Santa (06:31.214)

It's amazing. So yes, I'm all over the place like crazy. So when I'm suited up like this, I'm kind of easy to spot. But most of the time when I'm out and about, I've got my shades on and a Hawaiian shirt. And thank goodness for Mark Naiman, he gets called Santa all the time, lets me off the hook. So I'm not saying anything about the belly part. But beard is right, Santa.

Adam Parks (06:57.419)

I can tell you that beard has gotten into him in a lot of trouble. We were in India recently where he kept being recognized as potentially my father, which I thought was absolutely hysterical. He did not think it was quite as funny as I did.

Santa (07:10.435)

much worse I could say that.

Adam Parks (07:12.477)

Fair, fair statement. Well, Santa, I know that you are an ultra busy man, especially this time of year. And I appreciate you stopping in to spend a few minutes with us and our audience, just talking about all the great things that you've got cooking on your side of the world and big prep for the next couple of days, looking forward to seeing you giving you a high five, leaving some cookies and seeing the reindeer just kind of work their way across the sky. It's a very magical time of year and can't thank you enough for

all you do across the world.

Santa (07:44.302)

I want to say thank you for having me I'm I say my thankful prayers every day that I have the gifts I have to bring this type of joy across the world, but you know it's true Everybody has the same ability when you think about it I know how good how good I feel and I deliver presents to people and you can feel that same way So I want to challenge everybody look for a way to help somebody else over the next two weeks This is my busy season help me out with it, and then I'll come see you and your busy season

Adam Parks (08:09.181)

Why does he see it?

I'll see you in your business, Caesar. I'll see you.

Santa (08:14.464)

I'll see you. You just might not know me.

Adam Parks (08:18.067)

Well, Santa, we really do appreciate. Please.

Santa (08:21.518)

I want to say I got so many people on the good list even Melissa Raymond Not kidding not putting aside what happened to that women of finance in Texas. We'll put all that stuff aside You're still on the good list and about it very special Merry Christmas to my friend in your right hand Katalina She's awesome. And I just want to say thanks to her for everything. She does for people so Merry Christmas

Adam Parks (08:48.093)

Thank you so much, Sampa. We really, really appreciate you coming on and having a chat with us today. We know how valuable your time is, and hopefully I'll get to see you again next year.

Santa (08:58.282)

Absolutely. Merry Christmas. In the meantime, be good.

Adam Parks (09:02.897)

Thanks, Sam, and we'll see you all again soon.

Santa (09:04.952)

Merry Christmas.