Chris Curtin

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Tools to build culture and manage the business in the “Cloud”

January 4, 2012

Since Bankers Advocate has Virtual Offices with teams members in Orlando, South Florida and the Philippines (Jessie and Rachael, our wonderful Virtual Assistance), we thought you would be interested in the tools we use to be in the “Cloud” and communicate with each other effectively:

  • Google Hosted Email- At $50 per user/year, we switched to a hosted cloud email via Google Apps. It is very smart phone friendly, spam has been reduced and it syncs well with our CRM (see the next product).
  • Capsule CRM- Our Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) is Capsule CRM. We picked Capsule for it’s low cost ($12/month per user), ability to link with individual twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, Email centric, and it’s seamless integration with Google Hosted email. For instance, every email we receive will show at the bottom whether that individual is already in our CRM and if not a new record can be created with a button click.
  • Virtual Assistance from 123Employee- We have used Virtual Assistance from 123Employee for almost a year now and it has allowed our business to become much more efficient by adding or enhancing telemarketing, database entree, basic research, seminar follow-up, etc.
  • Websites based on WordPress- We have switched all our web sites to WordPress. The pluses of a site based on WordPress include the ease of which non programmers (most Business Owners) can upload/change everything from blogs,events,videos and link their site to Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook.
  • Dropbox- Dropbox is a wonderful tool to share files and folders to individuals and team members. You are notified immediately on your desktop when a new file or folder is added. Also 3gb is free and you get more space as your clients or friends share the tool.

This has been a brief introduction to some of the tools we use to keep in touch and freely communicate with our far flung team members. Please contact Chris Curtin at 561-882-1331 or chris@bankersadvocate.com for more information.

· Enhancing

It is hard to get unseated

October 3, 2011

“This is a great article from sales consultant, Dave Rothfeld”

Why do political incumbents get re-elected over 90% of the time? Because once you have the position, it is hard to get unseated. The same thing is true about the relationship between your prospect and their current vendors/providers. It is hard to unseat them. Too often we get used in a selling process by providing free consulting to these already spoken-for prospects (think price comparison offers and market scan reports). Avoid this by identifying earlier on if a prospect is the real deal.

What to do?

Ask these questions to a prospect when you know that the current provider has survived at least one challenge or more to unseat them in the past:

1) What has changed since the last time you considered replacing your current provider that makes it more likely you will change now?

2) What performance threshold would need to be met for you to realistically trade out your current provider?

If there isn’t a clear reason for change or an established threshold, they are not likely to be a prospect from which you can profit. Avoid this by identifying if a prospect is the real deal early on.

“Reprinted with permission from “Creative Sales + Management, Inc.”

· Enhancing

The times they are a changin’

June 7, 2011

Something has turned. Private Equity and strategic buyers are looking for deals with plenty of “fresh powder”. Business owners are itching to begin their Exit Strategy anew after the last 2 years of malaise. I am seeing more interest by both potential exiting clients and their advisors to start the process as quickly as possible.

If you or your group would like to enjoy factual and timely information on readying your business to Exit Now or in the future, I look forward to speaking to you soon.

· Exit Strategy

Hello from Chris!

May 13, 2011

Welcome to the new website dedicated to Chris Curtin’s speaking engagements. To visit Chris’ other companies go to

  • bankersadvocate.com
  • businesscash.com
  • businessappraisalflorida.com

· Misc

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He was a board member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), a former board member of the Angel Investment Forum, and was the founding President of the Turnaround Management Association’s (TMA) Florida Chapter and served on the TMA’s Executive Board of Directors. He also served on the Micro Loan Committee for The Minority & Women Business Enterprise Alliance in Orlando and served the Board of the Palm Beach County Resource Center. He is also the long-time treasurer of the GA Tech Alumni Club of the Palm Beaches and recently joined the board of Child and Family Connections, the lead agency for community-based care in Palm Beach County charged with management of the organization, enhancement, coordination, and oversight of foster care and related services.

The Florida Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association received the 2001 Most Improved Chapter award under Chris’ leadership. In 2002, Chris received the Outstanding Individual Contribution Award from the International TMA for his successful “turnaround” of the Florida TMA chapter and his contributions to the turnaround industry in general. Florida TMA was also honored with the Best Chapter Award in 2007. Read More…

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Recent Posts

  • Business Valuations for Estate Planning, Wealth Transfer, and IRS Gifting
  • What is a Factoring Company Reserve?
  • What is a Notice of Assignment in Factoring?
  • Chris Networking Rules
  • Sales Tip: When a customer does layoffs
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