Gordon Beck is going to need to grow another arm or sprout new fingers if his collection agency keeps growing. Beck likes to try and “touch” every department daily to help him keep his finger on the pulse of his company. But as Diversified Consultants continues to grow, that routine is going to become harder to manage, a fact that has not escaped the industry veteran. Read on to learn more about Beck and why having his phone number is likely to be useful someday in the future.
Name: Gordon C. Beck III
Company: Diversified Consultants Inc.
Length of time at current company: 19 years
Length of time in industry: 20 years
How did you get your start in the industry? As a collector for ABC in Jacksonville, Florida
What are your career highlights so far?
- Winning National Agency of the Year in 2009
- Winning 32 Agency of the Years
- Being named Best Place to Work in Collections for three straight years
- Opening a new location of our company in my hometown of Louisville, Kent.
Which industry professional do you admire most?
I admire Phil Thomas, the vice president of Sales for the Convergent Corporation. However, I equally admire Howard George who is the owner of RPM, and Joe Vassar who is the senior vice president of Sunrise Credit.
What is one thing you do better than everyone else?
Motivate
When or how are you most productive?
I am most productive on the call center floors of my organization, motivating the employees to accept nothing less than greatness in everything they do. I am equally productive on the stage in front of our industry passionately speaking about how to remove the negative stereotype our industry is burdened with.
What do you like most about this industry?
The people. They are war-torn from the industry we love, but they are misunderstood and stereotyped as a result of a few bad players, but they are the best people in the world and I care about them very much.
What is one thing you wish you could change about this industry?
The image. Our industry does so much more good than bad, but the outside world only hears the bad. If everyone could hear how much good we do, things may one day be different.
If you weren’t in this industry, what would you be doing?
Motivational Speaking
Describe a typical work day.
For me it is going from home to home. My company is my home as much as my home is my home. I get my coffee, am briefed on the day’s strategy and then I get to work on speaking with my people throughout the organization that I need to focus on certain areas, may need a positive meeting, a pat on the back, discuss issues with my department heads on problems or areas of need, handle client conference calls, work with sales to set up meetings, meet with finance to discuss our potential opportunities for improvement or offer a helping hand if there are issues with client remits. I make sure to touch every department and keep my finger on the pulse. With seven offices worldwide and more than 1,000 employees, it gets tougher by the day and every single day is different, which is another thing I love about this business, but in the end I have the responsibility of making sure that our culture is strong, our clients are happy, our finances are healthy and our people are proud to be DCI employees. All day, every day.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Watches, shoes, and Carribbean vacations.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
It’s not whether you can or you can’t, it’s whether you will or you won’t. To accomplish being a champion, you must remove all doubt.
What are you currently reading?
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever
What is one fact you’d like everyone in the industry to know about you?
I am transparent to all of them. This is a fraternity to me and I will help anyone because I would be no one if people didn’t help me.
Who else would you like to see answer these questions?
Phil Thomas, Convergent. Joe Vassar, Sunrise. Kirk Moquin, ERC. Howard George, RPM.