Can You Create a Successful Credit Repair Business Just by Building Relationships? - Alicia Ault

Our guest today was working for a mortgage company that was rejecting applicants who had credit issues. So she saw a huge need for credit repair, she developed a passion for it, and now she has hundreds of clients, she's got a quarter of a million dollar run rate, and she's going to share with us how she built all of this without advertising, just by building relationships. So stick around because this is gonna be a great one. So the big question is this. How can we take our passion for helping people with their credit and turn it into a successful business without taking loans, without spending a fortune by bootstrapping it from nothing so we can help the most people and still become highly profitable? That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answer. My name is Daniel Rosen, and welcome to Credit Repair Business Secrets. Hey, credit heroes. Our guest today is a certified credit counselor with 16 years of experience. She started out working for a mortgage company and watched as the loan officers would reject applicants who had credit issues. She saw a huge need for credit repair and she started to learn by trial and error on how to help them. And now she has an amazing business called Platinum Credit now, and she's going to share with us her amazing journey. Hey, Alicia, welcome to the podcast.

Hi, Daniel. How are you?

I'm doing great. How about you?

I'm great. Great. I'm so glad you're here.

Well, thanks for being here.

Excited.

Where are you?

I'm in Lebanon, Ohio.

Okay. Is that where you grew up?

No, I actually grew up in Baytown, Texas.

Oh, wow. Ok. Well, before we get into this, tell me about your life before credit repair. What were you doing?

I was a teacher.

Really?

Yeah. I was a teacher for many years, and I ended up getting divorced and finding myself with single mom with two kids. And I realized that teaching wasn't going to be conducive because I needed to be able to be more flexible. So I went into the mortgage industry. That's how I got into that, because I could be very flexible in that. And that's where I found that there was a great need for credit help. I mean, people were getting turned down and no one gave them an answer of why or what to do about it. So they not only got to know, but they also got, we can't help you. And, you know, then they're. They're crying, wondering what. What can they do? You know? And that, to me, wasn't okay. So that teacher came out of me and I wanted to figure out how to teach people how to do that.

Wow, that must have just felt Terrible. Seeing those people in tears that couldn't get approved.

It was very hard because people. And that was back in the day before credit repair was probably even popular, you know, and a lot of people didn't know about it and they had no direction on where to go.

Wow. And so that was the catalyst for you starting to learn about credit repair?

Yeah.

Amazing. Did you ever have credit issues yourself?

I did not necessarily have credit issues myself, but when I got through a divorce, my ex husband started to have credit problems. And even though we never shared anything, joint stuff of his started popping up on my credit report. So I ended up having to do the same kind of credit repair that I was already learning how to do for other people, for myself, to get my ex husband's stuff off my report.

Wow. Okay. So you really did have to be your own client as well.

Yeah.

So you start. How did you go about learning how credit repair worked?

Oh, lots of things. I, you know, we pay off a collection and find out that, you know, the reporting date hadn't updated, so we actually dropped the score. I mean, it didn't always work the right way, but, you know, we try to see, learning how that whole system works, you know, and so we learned things like looking at the last reported date, whether or not a collection should be paid or not, and, you know, learning how to dispute items. And so I read a bunch. Although I will tell you that the reading didn't really do it for me. It was really the trial and error, you know, of really finding out the nuts and bolts to it. But so. And then I did that for two and a half years for free, just. Just because I was trying to figure it out and just helping people.

Wow, that's a long time to do it for free.

Yes.

People are always in a big hurry to start making money. But what did you gain by doing it for free so long?

So one is the knowledge, right? I learned how to be. And now in my area, everyone knows my name, you know, I know who I am and where I'm at and that I'm what they call the real deal, you know, to get things done. Because I didn't just go at it and try to make money off of it without really caring for the person, you know, and that was a. That was the primary thing was I really saw a need. And the reason I did it for two years for free was that I saw this need that people didn't know and I felt bad for them, you know, and then someone came in my office and said, you, door never Closes and you're always in here working. What are you doing? And I said, I told him what I'm doing. They're like, well, how much you charge? I'm like, oh, I don't charge. He's like, what? So that was kind of the turning point, realizing, well, maybe I am good enough to charge, you know.

Wow. But initially were you doing that while still at the mortgage company?

I was, I was a loan officer, so I did it in conjunction with that.

Oh, so this also enabled you to put more loans through it?

Sort of. But most of the stuff that I was doing was actually for other loan officers.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, because people started hearing about me and they're like, oh, send her to, you know. So, yeah, it was pretty interesting how it all came about. I probably get a couple loans out of it, but primarily it was for other people. So. Wow.

Yeah. Amazing. And then what was the transition like? How did you go from that to having your own company? What did that look like?

I got business cards. That's really how I started. And people, I started saying, you know, I'm going to charge a fee for it. And I started charging fee and people started paying me for. I got licensed with the state of Ohio and things. And that's when it kind of took off from there.

Wow. And is that when you left the mortgage company?

It took me a while to leave the mortgage company. I was really scared to branch off on my own. So I did the credit stuff part time. And then one day someone came up to me and they're like, do you realize how much more money you can make if you do that full time? And I started to not like the mortgage world anymore. I was a first time homebuyer specialist, but it was getting harder, the rules were changing so it wasn't quite as fun. Really enjoyed the credit part. Although I felt like as a loan officer getting people in first time homes, I thought, this is great. I felt good about going home every day that I helped someone get in their first home. But being a credit repair expert is like a hundred times more rewarding. Like every day. You've helped so many people, you know, and it's not just their first home, it's their home, their car, their life. So just overall, I mean, it's just so rewarding. So I finally, I pulled the trigger. I think I cried and I stopped the mortgage and went full time and I touched you. It's the best decision I made.

Wow. Now how did you first start getting clients? Or did they come from referrals from all those years of doing it for.

Free, so referrals were big. But because I was in the mortgage industry, I knew a lot of realtors, I knew a lot of loan officers. I'd been in business for quite a while with the loans of eight years and doing loans. So I just started talking to them that I don't do loans anymore. And that was the funny thing is, I don't do loans anymore, but I do credit now. And so then everybody wanted to talk to me before was like, you know, realtors like, oh, so many people are coming to me to do loans. And then so those same connections I had built up became even stronger connections because I'm not a loan officer anymore, you know, And. And so I would go to every networking event, though, that was possibly out there, just every network event. And I think that was. And people will talk about that still today. I had someone call me yesterday and said, one thing I remember about you that I model off of your business is you went to every networking event. And so I did that for a couple years until people started knowing you, you know, and then you don't have to do it as quite as often.

Wow, that's so cool. So if you're at a networking event, how do you approach. How do you approach an affiliate? And what would you say to them?

So primarily, I always would go to people and just as a friend, you know, I didn't talk shop because I didn't think that that was the appropriate way to get business. I felt like that was. I don't like to be talked that way. So I just go up as a friend and then let them ask me what I do.

And.

And usually the conversation would then go, I think you can help me. And then, you know, we would go into this because everybody knows somebody who needs, you know, help with credit, and most business industries need someone to help with, regardless of what it is. So if I own a business and my employees need it, you know, so there's so many ways that a credit counselor can help. So just explain when they ask what you do, you know.

Cool. And then you really make it their idea.

Yeah, exactly.

And then it. Does most of your business come from these affiliates now?

Yes. And Google. From Google, yeah.

Okay.

I got a lot of reviews on Google. I started asking for reviews, and as I started doing that, I got a bunch of reviews. So the last two years, people call me, go. I picked you because I read all your reviews.

Wow, that's really, really great. So I want to know more about the affiliate stuff. Well, how much of your business do you think comes from the affiliates? How much do you think comes from Google?

I would say primarily it's affiliates. Yeah, yeah.

So when you start to build this relationship with them, like, how often are you in contact with them?

Before I was in contact with them all the time. But now, because of the system that we have with Credit Repair Cloud, they're in there and they just love it that their clients see a picture of them, have their contact information. So really now I don't have to talk to them as much because they can go in there and kind of see a screenshot of what their client's doing. Then also they know that their picture and their contact information, which makes them feel very happy because they feel safe. Like, they feel like I referred to you. And I'm going to get that back because that person can see me all the time. So since I've had Credit Repair Cloud, it's been significantly less conversations. Before, it was like I was constantly on the phone with them, like, you know, where's my client at? You know, what's the status? And it was just constant, constant, constant. Now I don't have to do that, so I get to do more work.

That's great. What were you doing before Credit Repair Cloud? Were you doing it all manually?

Yeah.

Oh, wow. What did that look like?

It's a lot of work. I had a lot of staff. And that's. That's a great question, because I had five people in my office to help assist with a lot less clients than I have now. So I'm paying them. And then. So my actual revenue that I, you know, or the actual income that I was receiving was significantly less before Credit Repair Cloud, because now I just have one other person in my office and I'm doing probably triple the work that I was doing before.

Wow.

Yeah.

I'm glad we were able to help.

Yeah. Software is amazing.

What were the softwares you were using? Like Excel and Word and all those things.

So I definitely use Word. I definitely use Excel. I did have a CRM system through infusionsoft, so I had that so I could. I could make, like, you know, task myself for different things, but it didn't automate and make the whole credit part of the process easy. That was all manual typing it in Word documents, templates.

That's a lot of typing.

It is.

Wow. Amazing. Well, I'm really glad you found us.

I am, too.

Now, what's your process when you first get a lead? Can you walk us through that?

So most my leads Come either through an email? Well, I would say most of my leads come through an email. So even though I've tried to get my affiliates to go right through the system, it's usually an email, which is fine because they'll usually send the credit report with that. But what I typically do is I email back because they'll CC the client on that and I email back with a link to my calendar and then they get on them a calendar. And, you know, it's easy. It's not really a sell because the person is already ready to go. They need it. So we just go over the credit report together over the phone, we read it, we talk about, you know, some pointer things that they can do on their own. If they choose not to work with me, and then they choose to work with me, we go through the portal and set it all up.

That's so cool. What's really cool is that you said they're all pre sold because they've either been referred by an affiliate who has talked you up or they've seen all those reviews.

Right.

And so many people there, so many people don't understand how important those reviews are. I mean, they, they really, the reviews and the testimonials, they really are proof. And it really does pre sell your services for you.

Yeah. I was just listening to one of your podcasts earlier today and you were talking about testimonials and I was like, well, I think I did a pretty good job of that. And I do, I think it's super important, especially as a credit repair expert, because there are so many places that are quote unquote scams that people are scared of. You know, I get calls every once in a while that, you know, I want help, but I got burned by this company or that company. So showing that you are, you know, sincere, genuine, you're there to help them, that you're not just there to make money off of them, I think is important. And those reviews and testimonials are huge for that because you have to set yourself apart from the others. Right. And I think that's so important.

Absolutely. How and when do you ask a client for a testimonial?

Usually after they got to their goal. So we do goal setting, counseling. So if they say, you know, I want to buy a house, then we take them through a process to buy the house or the car or whatever. So once we reach that point where I say, okay, it's time to call the loan officer, now it's time for testimonial, you know what I Mean. And so they're happy, they're ready, they're excited. So it's a really good opportunity to grab that.

So it's all built into your whole process. It is really, really.

Systems are important. Systems are important.

Wow. Can you tell us about one of your success stories, one of your clients?

So I. One of my favorite ones, it's kind of. It's a small story, but one of my favorite ones is a client who went through the credit repair process and initially came to us because he wanted to buy a house, but he ended up having to buy a car for his daughter at some point through the process. And he went in and he got the zero percent interest because his credit was so good. And he literally called me crying. And it was, you know, I mean, those kind of things, those moments are just. They're unbeatable, right? They're. They're amazing to have. And so just having those kind of moments where a person gets something that they had, no, they couldn't have fathom being able to do prior, you know, to working with us. And sometimes that happens within three months and six months, you know, I mean, it's not. It's not always a long process to get there, which is exciting too. And they don't think that. They're thinking. A lot of people call me. It's like, it's going to take two years, isn't it? You know, or something. And we get it done much faster.

Wow. I love it. I love it. I love that you focus on the result and you focus on the changing lives. And the focus isn't on the money.

Right.

But the money comes.

It does. When you treat people right, when you do people right, I think that's key, you know, and I generally care about those people. That's why I got into it, you know, probably why I got into teaching. Same thing is that, you know, to take care of people. And if you do that, it comes back to you.

Super cool. How many clients do you have right now?

Right now I think I have 300.

Wow.

Yeah.

And are you running this on subscription or pay per delete? How does it work?

So I do subscription and I have some a la carte services, if you will. So if it's like one or two things that they need, but most of it's subscription.

So what's your revenue at like now monthly or annually?

It looks like I'm projected to make 20,000 each month.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

So around 240,000 annual recurring. Good for you.

Yeah. Thank you.

That's Fantastic.

Yeah. Very excited.

Now, what do you do differently for a client that wants a home versus one that wants a car?

So I, because of my trial and error in my mortgage industry, I know that the mortgage industry's credit report calculates the score differently. So there's different algorithms. So that one that they use for mortgages is called FICO 5. So I know how that one works versus, like, if someone said, I want to buy a car, that's FICO 9. And so we decide what we're going to do based, with their credit report, based on what they want to do. Just a general example is that. So with FICO 9, if, for an example, if you have a medical collection and you pay it off, whether it's an old one or a new one and it's not reported very long ago or not, if you pay it off, your score jumps. But with FICO 5, if you pay off medical collection that hasn't updated in the last two years, you drop the score. So just those little tips to make sure that we're raising the score and not doing stuff to drop it.

Wow, that's really, really fascinating. I didn't even know those intricacies about fico.

This is where that trial and error comes in handy.

I'll bet.

Yeah.

No, everything I've learned about business has been from trial and error. I think it's the best teacher, especially the errors.

Yes, it is.

Yeah.

And when I first started, it was trial and error on other people. So it was a little intimidating, too, because I knew that I could. I could help you or I could hurt you, but I would have that disclaimer out there, and people were like, I don't care, because right now we're not doing anything. So, you know, do whatever we can and we'll see what happens. So I dropped quite a few scores by paying something off, you know, but then learning that and then finding out that I can do the same thing with buying a car and actually improve this score. So it is interesting and it's fun to know those little things because people don't know. The general public doesn't know it. So then I sound more of an expert, because I do know that stuff.

Absolutely.

And then they're like, oh, she is the real deal.

I know you are. In fact, I know you're a whiz with collections. So I have a question for you. What do you do if a collection account or a judgment has been verified?

So I'm not big on continuously disputing something that's been verified and. And the reason for that is because I've had clients actually send me the letters that they received from their creditors when they worked with Lexington Law. And the creditors would literally say, we know you're working with Lexington Law. And it would say, save your money, because it's not going to work. They would actually send letters. And I have those my office. And so what I was finding is that when people would go through Lexington Law, they were getting these disputes continuously, and then finally a judgment would be filed against them. So when we get to a point where a debt is validated, then that's when I have a discussion with the client and I say, okay, do you truly believe this debt is yours or not? And if it is, then we need to do a chain of title and find out if this entity really has the documentation to collect on you. And then if it does, then we look at seeing about negotiating a settlement.

Wow.

Make sure we do our homework first.

Wow.

And.

When it gets to that point and you're offering a settlement, what does that process look like?

So generally, I'm calling on behalf of the client as their power of attorney to negotiate the debt, primarily because I'm good at it. I'm a certified debt negotiator, so I contact the entities, and a lot of them I already have business relationships with that worked on throughout the year. So I usually have a point of contact that I contact and then negotiate the debt based on the client's availability to pay it.

That's really, really cool. Yeah. I noticed on your site it says you're a certified credit counselor, a certified debt settlement expert, certified financial management home loan preparation specialist, foreclosure prevention specialist. This is really impressive, all this stuff.

It just started with disputes, by the way, so it's not. It didn't happen like, overnight where I got all these. It just as I learned different things that people needed, I started learning that trade. So same thing, that trial error thing. I kept learning different trades and. Till I got things down pat. And I didn't offer services until I knew that I was the expert there. You know, I think that's important. But. But yeah. Yeah. So it's been fun. It's been a fun journey.

Yeah. That's really important. What would you say is the difference between a credit repair person and a certified credit counselor?

I think the difference might be that from what I see with some of the credit repair companies that I've heard of from my clients is they generally just dispute items on the credit report and they really don't do anything else. They don't talk about, you know, you need to get a credit card, you need to have, you know, your balances at 20% of the credit limit, things like that. They don't say those things. So it's just the dispute process. And I think a certified credit counselor looks at the full picture and says, okay, you know, we don't have the credit cards we need. We don't have, you know, we're out, we're in debt. We need to find out a way to reduce debt. So things like that.

And you're actually giving them the tools to maintain their good credit after your work is done.

That's right.

That's really, really cool.

We do what we call reactive counseling and then proactive counseling. So the. Well, portion.

Yeah, Fascinating. Now, there's something on your site. I got to know what it is. It says, the Money Game Expert.

Oh, okay. They coined me the Money Game expert many years ago because I can, and a lot of business owners will come to me for this, but I will take your, your credit report and your finances and I'll find a different way and a better way for you to manage your money. And it could be just. I'm trying to think of an example to give you, but there's just so many things that people do that they just do it wrong. And if you just tweak things just a little bit, you know, I got a client, he had a bunch of credit cards, a bunch of credit card debt. I went and had him get a loan to pay off all his credit card debt. So what did that do? Skyrocketed score to 7 hundreds. The loan wasn't a good loan because we had to get a bad one to get, you know, get it all in there. But then once our scores in the 700s, we refinance that. Now we're in a good loan at 6% interest rate where we were paying 29, you know, so just little things like that that I don't think people realize that they can do. So that that term came. She's the money gamer.

Wow, I love that. That's so cool. What's the platinum credit now? University.

So I'm just starting to put that together. My goal for that is that there will be resources for the person to go into there and they can watch videos about, you know, where to keep your credit card balances at, just the very basic stuff. How to settle your own debt, what to say, what not to say, what to get before you pay it. So things like that and have videos and little ebooks Available.

Wow. I love that. That's really, really great idea. That's really, really cool. Okay, we're going to go now into what we call the rapid fire round of questions, where you answer in, like a couple words or a sentence or two, the first thing that pops into your head. Okay.

Okay. Sounds like fun.

If you could go back in time, what do you know now that you wish you had known when you first started software?

The software. Definitely going to save my life.

What's the most important lesson that you've learned as a business owner?

Having systems.

Hmm. Is there a book that's changed your life?

The Richest man in Babylon.

Ah. What does business ownership mean to you?

Freedom. Flexibility.

Awesome. Do you have a morning routine?

I do, I do. I do prayer time and then I do my goal setting.

Awesome. What's your definition of success?

Having freedom and flexibility. Being able to do things that you want to do.

Cool. And what's your advice to anyone just starting out with a credit repair business?

Do it and, you know, become an expert. Don't just try to get out there and make money for sure. Just really get your trade down. Know your trade.

So.

And there's a lot of resources. So. Daniel, you got a book.

Lots and lots of resources. Wow. Well, I want to thank you so much for your time today, Alicia. You're really awesome and inspiring and you guys out there watching. I hope this was inspiring to you. If you're out there trying to launch or grow your credit repair business, be sure to click below to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes and I will see you on the next episode. And until then, keep changing lives. Want more credit repair business secrets? Then get a copy of my book, the Ultimate Guide to starting a credit repair Business. Get it free@creditrepaircloud.com freebook Inside this book, you'll find my top 35 secrets to removing items from credit report and turning that into an amazing business that helps people, changes lives, and makes you a great living in the process. Get it free@creditrepaircloud.com freebook. Sam.