Read about the changes he has seen in the industry, how he and DAKCS have adapted, and what Patterson is looking forward to in the future.

1. How long have you been at DAKCS? What led you to DAKCS?

January will mark 32 years. Prior to this, I'd been the corporate service manager for a multistate office equipment company who had shut their doors. While considering offers from several companies I came to DAKCS as a part-time revision installer in 1988. I was hired to help with installing Sting revision 1.2. One thing led to another and thankfully my career took a different path.

2.  What changes have you seen in the collection software industry in your career?

In 31 years a lot has changed. The industry is much different, more regulated and conducting business is much more difficult because of the litigious environment we find ourselves in.

Technology has also really changed. I watched Moore's law play out heavily through the 90s when computers were getting smaller and the capacity of the drives, memory, and processors were doubling every 1-2 years. It was amazing. It's crazy to think about it, but this was in the initial stages of the web, and we were connecting to our customers' machines using 9600 baud modems over phone lines. Things have really progressed since those days.

3. How has DAKCS adapted?

We've tried to stay ahead of the curve, offering new options to leverage the technology, adding capability, new revenue streams, and lower costs. But one thing hasn't changed and that is our human touch.

In a world of chatbots and support via email or text, we still have local people with solid domain knowledge picking up the phone. We've adapted by hiring the best people, cultivating a customer-centric culture, and investing in technology ourselves.

4. The DAKCS Summit is coming up in October, can you us tell what to expect and why DAKCS decided to host this type of event?

We expect 100 plus people from all over the country to attend. Our Summit is an interchange of information where we come together to discuss challenges, solve problems and build upon relationships, many of which are well over 20 years.

Oh, and we have a good time together too. The conference has also evolved. We've been hosting these events since the beginning, but we've landed on a 2-year rotation. This allows us the time to build and innovate while at the same time keeping close with our customer family.

5. DAKCS has been in business a long time – since 1985. How has the company evolved?

The company has seen leadership changes, and we've endured the loss of our founder Kent, but the principles he built the company on live on. It's evolved to a more reliable platform, and we're just getting started.

6. What is your proudest moment in business?

Actually there have been many. One that stands out is a call I received as Director of Technical Support some years ago. A longtime customer called in with a hardware issue that had corrupted her file system. In those days things were backed up to tape.

Once the hardware was fixed, we attempted to restore the files. Tragically every backup tape she tried failed. We continued to brainstorm. I remember calling her and saying I had a crazy idea and she said “What put a gun to my head?  My business is over.”

I had the idea to work with a mail vendor whom she had outsourced her letters with to reconstruct her data. Because of the requirement to send the first notice on every new account and the fact that our vendor partner had proper archiving going back over several years, we were able to work together to piece her data back together.

It was a painstaking process but we pulled it off. I’m very happy to say that her business is still running today.

7. In life?

My 39-year partnership with Deena my wife and watching our children grow and become parents and succeed on their own.