BID Group

Portrait

Comprehensive service from a single source

Modern debt collection services involve more than just sending reminders or initiating legal proceedings. The debt collection companies of the BID Group specialize in the determination of residency in Germany and abroad, as well as long-term monitoring of debtors; they are experts who successfully process debt cases or provide software solutions for large corporations to connect the debt collection management directly with the SAP system.

The BID Group provides its entire range of services from its Coburg location. All employees are based and all servers are connected there – the Group's promise to its customers is that all services will be provided by a single source. It is also part of the corporate group's philosophy that every customer is welcome and receives the same professional service, regardless of whether it is mass collection for a corporate group or collecting from a defaulting customer of a tradesman's small business. In both cases, the following applies: failure to pay for services rendered or deliveries made endangers the economic well-being or even the economic existence of the creditor.

Start as a one-man office with manual archive

The company was founded by Heinz Bittermann. In 1985, the then employee sought an entrepreneurial challenge and took over the franchise office of the long-established German company Bürgel - a provider of business information founded in 1885 - for the region of Upper Franconia and Northern Upper Palatinate. The one-man office has since grown into a company with more than 230 employees, including lawyers, bank specialists, programmers, administrators and IT experts, office assistants and paralegals.

Heinz Bittermann was considered a gifted salesman. His instinct for the markets and new business fields was legendary. He quickly expanded his customer base. At that time, business information was still meticulously collected in file folders and ring binders. Among other things, the reference base consisted of articles cut out of newspapers.

Only a few months after taking over the office, Heinz Bittermann utilized his expertise and numerous contacts to offer debt collection services. He had applied for the corresponding authorization early on. The debt ledger, which was also maintained manually and in which all the customers' receivables were meticulously listed, filled up rapidly.

Efficient structures, extensive expertise

From these beginnings, the firm developed into the present modern corporate group, bringing together six companies under the umbrella of a holding company. Since 1999, all in-house processes have been paperless, and the advantages of digitalisation and networking have been consistently exploited.

Debt collection services account for the largest share of the Group's earnings by far. The business is strictly regulated and subject to regulatory oversight. Only registered companies that employ people with special expertise, legal knowledge and an impeccable certificate of good conduct, among other things, are allowed to operate such businesses. This also means that the framework for the services is very narrowly defined, so that the options for developing unique selling propositions are correspondingly limited.

The BID Group underpins its competitive position with its efficient processes, which make it a leader in the industry, that make it an industry leader, its wide range of services from a single source and the outstanding expertise of its workforce, the foundation of which comprises the roughly 40 young professionals who are trained in the BID corporate group every year. The increasing use of advanced technologies in the debt collection market means that the company's highly-qualified employees, who also pursue advanced training on an ongoing basis, and who professionally process the debt collection cases via letter, telephone or e-mail, are responsible for ensuring quality, data security and the success of the BID Group.

Application

The debtor portal

A special service offered by the BID Group is the web-based debtor portal. It enables users to establish contact, edit data or file important information quickly and easily, regardless of office hours or days of the week.

On this platform, the debtor can communicate all the issues involved in a claim at any time. Various payment options are offered, such as instant online bank transfer or PayPal. Installment payments can also be agreed, contact details can be changed or a member of the BID Group can be contacted.

Markets

Die BID Unternehmensgruppe setzt auf kontinuierliches und organisches Wachstum. Der wichtigste Markt ist Deutschland. Der Markt wächst auch dadurch, dass ausländische Unternehmen verstärkt die Inkassodienstleistungen der BID Unternehmensgruppe für säumige Kunden in Deutschland in Anspruch nehmen.

Die Bedeutung des Auslandsgeschäfts nimmt ebenfalls zu. Die BID Unternehmensgruppe verfügt hier über eine jahrzehntelange Erfahrung. Das Wachstum in diesem Bereich wird aktuell vor allem dadurch erreicht, dass die Zahl der deutschen Kunden steigt, die im Ausland Forderungen durchsetzen wollen.

Für das Auslandsinkasso wurde das zur BID Unternehmensgruppe gehörende Unternehmen Profaktura Auslandsinkasso GmbH gegründet. Es basiert auf einem leistungsstarken Netzwerk ausländischer Partner, vor allem von Rechtsanwälten, Gerichtsvollziehern oder Inkassobüros, die es ermöglichen, auch jenseits der Landesgrenzen die Wohnsitze von Schuldnern zu ermitteln, um Forderungen weltweit – auf Wunsch auch in Landeswährung – einzuziehen.

Großes Potential für künftiges Wachstum besitzt der E-Commerce, der völlig neue Inkassoprozesse erfordert. Ein dritter Wachstumspfad ist das Partizipieren am Wachstum der Kunden, steigende Umsätze gehen für gewöhnlich mit eine Zunahme von Inkassofällen einher.