The Debt Collection Company that Helps You Get a Job

Bill Bartmann, CEO of debt collection company CFS2, does things a little differently. Instead of just calling, hounding, and suing debtors to pay what they owe, he calls them "customers" and provides them with free job-search services, such as resume help and interview prep.

Perhaps the reason Bartmann runs his company differently is because he himself has never shied away from living life differently. A high school dropout who later put himself through college working at a hog slaughterhouse, he found himself $1 million in debt himself after his first business collapsed. He clawed his way back up by building CFS, the subject of this HBS case study — but then, that too, imploded. Now he's back (again), and doing things differently (again). What follows are edited excerpts of our conversation.

What's it like running a debt collection company that's so different from the rest of the industry?
It's a little bit like telling everyone that the world is round, when they're still in that flat-earth society. The debt collection industry believes that you have to beat people up to get money out of them — that's in their DNA. 

We all know pleasure and pain are what motivate people, but the debt collection industry has only ever focused on pain. In our company, we've reversed that, and quite frankly it works wonderfully.

Maybe some of the people we work with made bad decisions, and maybe some you wouldn't want to hang out with, but most of them are people like you and me, and they just got swept up in an economic tsunami that literally knocked the blocks out from under them.

You've said the idea came from your employees. How did that happen?

Well, there was this emphasis on litigation by the debt collection industry. We saw that as a train wreck. The banks that sell these loans have so much reputational skin in the game, when the banks become aware of how exposed they are by the tactics of these agencies, we believe the banks will want to change course. So we had decided that we really needed to focus on the pleasure principle.

We knew we needed to be more than just nice, but we didn't know exactly what to do. I went to my employees. I said, "How do we create pleasure for the customer?" This was my plea to 120 employees at a company-wide meeting. What can we do to have them respect us, like us, to "friend them," for lack of a better term, to want to work with us? So ideas started coming from the audience. Some people suggested raise their FICO score, or help them get their credit back, get a credit card. So then we went to test these ideas with our customers: did they want these things? The customers did not. The customers said, excuse the French, "We want the damn phone to quit ringing." It was an epiphany. They didn't want the things we thought they wanted. Maslow's hierarchy? These people were not even on the bottom rung.

So we huddled everybody together again. They said, "The number one problem we hear from customers is that they don't have enough money to pay their bills." We realized if we help them get a better job, they'll have more money. It's one of those really simple things where you wonder, "Why didn't I think of that earlier?"

So how did you take that idea and actually put it into practice?We tried a number of different approaches which didn't work early on. It was mostly advice and suggestions, things of that nature. So we huddled again. And then an employee said, "We're going to have to do it for them. They can't do the heavy lifting themselves — they're so beat down they have no get-up-and-go left." So now we get the customer on the phone, get their info, write a resume for them. We realized we were on to something, and we said, "OK, let's do more of that." We start with a petri dish and if something doesn't work, we don't do it anymore. If something does work, we replicate it.

So tell me about that. How did you take what you'd learned about the resumes and replicate it?

We started doing job interview prep. We put customers on Skype before their interviews, show them what to wear, do mock interviews.

Then we said, "We've got to do more than hope they hear about a job, let's help them find one." So we created a job network. We take their resume and look for openings that fit their skill set. We'd find one, call up the customer, and ask them if it's of interest. Then we'd fill out the application. We'd schedule an interview. And then we would do the mock interview. And then at 8:00 am on the morning of the interview, we call our customer to get them out of bed.

Our success rate has been phenomenal.

How do other companies that are hiring your customers see this? Do they know they're being helped by a debt collection company?

It never comes up. The companies do not know that's how that person ended up there, and nobody really cares where the application comes from.

Were there any surprises you ran into, in implementing some of these ideas?

Not all our customers have the same buttons to hit. We're all different. So one of my employees said, "Why are we trying to figure out what they want; why don't we just ask them what they need?"

Early on, requests came in for food stamps, child care, a new hot water heater, fixing a leaky roof, a new wheelchair. Someone wanted a tree in his backyard cut down. Someone needed a casket for their father's funeral. And we said, "OK, we'll do that."

We've now delivered 203 services that are just as eclectic as you could imagine. In the case of the leaky roof, we called up Habitat for Humanity. The guy who needed a water heater, we called up Salvation Army. Cutting a tree down in the backyard, that was even more simple. We now keep a database of 6,000 agencies around the United States so that whenever we have a customer that wants or needs anything we can find someone who cares about that customer. There are organizations that care about every race, religion, gender, military service, and so on. We care about one person, the customer. So find out everything about who our customer really is so that we can target the organizations that care about some aspect of who they are.

I know you said the point wasn't to have it make money, but I read that you actually do make good money with this model.

This company is only 3 years old, so we're still growing, but our results today are two times that of any peer in the industry. That is shocking. Note to industry: There is a better model.

So what if other debt collection agencies start copying your model? Would that be a good thing? How will you adapt?

First, I hope they do copy my way. I'm not afraid of competition. We really think the world is a better place if we could get every debt collector to follow this model.

Secondly, we think there's enough debt out there that we don't' have to worry about competition.
If somebody catches up to us, that's not their fault — that's our fault. We're first movers, and it's our job to stay ahead.

You know a few things about losing money, as well as making money. Advice for those out there who may be facing down failures, business or otherwise?

Somebody once told me that failure is not final. I thought that was just another cute little cliché thing. I didn't give it much shrift. But then I had the good fortune of failing a couple of times. And here's what I found out: he was right. Failure is not final. It is an awkward, uncomfortable, anxiety-filled portion of your life; it is not your whole life. It isn't who you are, it's what happened to you, and once you get that distinction, then you realize, "I can change that. I can come back. I can do again." Isn't that was capitalism is all about? We have the freedom in America to try anything we want to, and most of them do not work. But entrepreneurs say, "I just want some of them to work."

I really hope I end up being a role model for businesses and businesspeople who failed. Then I would look back at all of my failures and scuffed knees and bruised elbows and know it was worth it.

The Debt Collection Company that Helps You Get a Job
Sarah Green

12 Not-to-Miss Quotes That Help You Go Through a Bad Day

Did you have a bad day? We do understand that going through a bad day is a really normal thing, but we still need a bit of encouragement from day to day to keep us moving. These famous quotes can light up your day, and hopefully your life because they remind you that the best is just yet to come and the worst things you have come across make you a better man.

1. If you want to change, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable.

2. Enjoy life now. This is not a rehearsal.

3. You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

4. Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them. 

5. Life is never easy for those who dream.

6. If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.

7. Failure is simply an opportunity to begin again.

8. Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you turn your attention to other things

9. The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday. 

10. Worry is a total waste of time. It doesn’t change anything. All it does is steal your joy and keep you very busy doing nothing.

11. Walk away from anything or anyone who takes away from your joy. Life is too short to put up with fools.

12. Because if you keep hope alive, it will keep you alive.

The simplest sentences could have huge meaning; a little sparkle from these quotes could brighten your day. If you would like to see the quotes when you open your eyes every morning, I’d recommend you have the quotes stuck on your bedroom wall. Cheers!

12 Not-to-Miss Quotes That Help You Go Through a Bad Day
Anna Chui

Good Leaders Get Emotional

Much of what comes out of people's mouths in business these days is sugar-coated, couched, and polished. The messages are manufactured, trying to strike just the right tone. Genuine emotion stands in stark contrast. It's a real person sharing a real feeling. When we hear it, we're riveted — for one because it's rare, but also because it's real. Sometimes it's uncomfortable and a little messy. But that's what makes it powerful. No one is trying to hide anything.

We hide emotions in an attempt to stay in control, look strong, and keep things at arm's length. But in reality, doing so diminishes our control and weakens our capacity to lead — because it hamstrings us. We end up not saying what we mean or meaning what we say. We beat around the bush. And that never connects, compels, or communicates powerfully.

Yes, being too emotional in business can create problems. It clouds objective analysis, screws up negotiations, and leads to rash decisions. But in nearly two decades of working with leaders, I've found that showing too much emotion is far less of a problem than the opposite — showing too little.

Emotions are critical to everything a leader must do: build trust, strengthen relationships, set a vision, focus energy, get people moving, make tradeoffs, make tough decisions, and learn from failure. Without genuine emotion these things always fall flat and stall. You need emotion on the front end to inform prioritization. You need it on the back end to motivate and inspire.

Over the last 17 years working with senior teams I've collected a lot of examples of leaders getting emotional — to good end. Here are a few:

"I'm angry that I had to spend 3 hours dealing with a problem that you created — a problem that you should have handled. Don't put me in that position again." Joan, a partner in a consulting firm hated conflict and rarely said things like this. She normally just rolled up her sleeves and took care of problems herself, even if she hadn't created them. Then she got promoted to the head of the Southeast Region. There were too many problems to take care of by herself. Her outburst above and the ensuing conversation was a survival tactic, but it sent a clear message to the partner in charge of the Atlanta office. Don't let this employee staffing issue happen again, and if it does, fix it yourself — before it lands on my plate. It was uncharacteristically aggressive for Joan, but exactly what the situation needed. That was two years ago and the problem hasn't happened since.

"I think most of the ideas on this list are sh**ty...but that one's great. Let's do it." Jamie, the CEO at a biotech company had a reputation for walking the fine line between galvanizing a team and offending them. He shot straight and went with his gut. While he had to clean up messes from time to time, it was never anything egregious. And his approach had a profoundly positive impact on the organization. Everyone knew where they stood with him. And everyone knew that he meant what he said. When he got excited about something, no matter what, he was going to make it happen. His energy and emotion accelerated innovation and execution across the company.

"I'm upset. I'm responsible. I apologize." It was the type of mea culpa no one expected from Jeremy. The COO of a software firm, he had had a horrible relationship for years with Ron, a key product development VP. Finally, frustrated and tired, Ron quit. Within months it became clear that Jeremy had underestimated Ron's impact on his team. It started to fall apart. With Ron gone, Jeremy was able to step back and see that he'd let a small issue create a huge problem. And that his stubbornness was at the root of it. He apologized to the executive team with a tear in his eye. I was there. It was shocking. That's not the kind of guy Jeremy was. In an instant I understood how much he cared about the company and how ashamed he felt. Everyone saw it. Amazingly, he ended up apologizing to Ron and hiring him back.

Often, one of the reasons we don't show emotion is because we're not even aware we're feeling it. We're angry, frustrated, or upset and we suppress it. We're excited, motivated, or inspired and we temper it. We do it without even realizing it. Emotional data seems less relevant in the business world where logical data reigns supreme. But it's not only relevant, It's usually the lynchpin to change and growth.

One further point. It's important to note there's a gender bias around showing emotion at work. I've seen that in the same places where men get labeled tough, passionate, or open, women get labeled bitchy, hysterical, or weak. I find this double standard particularly destructive and insidious because it leads to women's emotions getting dismissed more readily than men's, often at exactly the times where that emotion is most needed — times when no one else in the room is raising the most important points. We all need to stay aware of this double standard and not enable it.

My advice to all leaders is to pay attention to your emotions. At least a couple times a week, stop for 10 minutes and ask yourself, "What am I feeling right now?" Write it down if you can. Keeping a regular journal is a helpful way to understand how you're feeling.

Then pick your spots to let loose a little. Let your emotions out. Let people in. Both are critical to effective leadership.

Good Leaders Get Emotional
Doug Sundheim

How to Reward Your Stellar Team

You've been told that getting the most from your team depends on rewarding and recognizing them collectively. But it's tough to do that, especially when most management systems are so focused on individual performance, undermining the very teamwork you're hoping to encourage. Luckily, you don't have to overhaul your company's evaluation process or pay structure. As a team manager, you can support the right behaviors with things that are in your control.

What Experts Say
A few decades ago, companies were struggling with how to measure and reward individual performance. But in their quest do so, many overreached, says Michael Mankins, a partner at Bain & Company and coauthor of Decide and Deliver: Five Steps to Breakthrough Performance in Your Organization. "The pendulum has swung too far, and now those measures are getting in the way of forming good teams," he explains. At the same time, compensating people for collaboration can be tricky, says Deborah Ancona, a professor at MIT Sloan School of Management and coauthor of X-Teams: How to Build Teams That Lead, Innovate, and Succeed. "The boundaries are often blurry and people work on multiple teams at the same time, making it hard for the manager." Still, both she and Mankins agree, it's worth the effort to get it right. "Rewarding a team dramatically improves not only the team performance but also the individual's experience," says Mankins. Here's how to do it effectively.

Set clear objectives
Team members have to understand and agree on what success looks like. "You need to have some way of assessing the group's performance — a common set of objectives or aspirations," says Mankins. He advises bringing everyone together to discuss goals and metrics. Have them answer the question: What would it take for us to give ourselves an A? "Having this sort of dialogue can be motivational and lays the groundwork for collaboration in an objective way," he says.

Check in on progress
Once the team knows what it's supposed to do and how the work will be evaluated, check in regularly. Pose questions that help the group assess its progress: How are we performing as a team? What obstacles can we remove? You can have this conversation in a meeting or do it anonymously. "Use a service like SurveyMonkey and ask team members to give themselves a collective grade. If everybody agrees that it has been a C week for the team, then you can discuss how to improve," Mankins says. "If you give yourselves an A, it's something worth celebrating."

Use the full arsenal of rewards
Most managers don't have the power to change how salaries or bonuses are handled at their organizations. If you do, be sure to tie a portion of the discretionary compensation to team or unit performance — the bigger the percentage the better. But if you don't control the purse strings, don't fret. There are lots of non-monetary rewards at your disposal. "Think beyond team dinners and social events. Those are just table stakes," says Mankins. Ancona has studied hospitals where administrators put pictures of groups that have drastically lowered infection rates on prominent display to recognize them for a job well done. You can also give your team exposure to senior leaders. "Teams like to be seen as part of a project that contributes at a high level," Ancona says.

Get to know your team
Of course rewards are only motivating if you give the team something it wants. This can be challenging because what makes one person feel appreciated may have no effect on another. Spend the time to get to know your team members and look for things they all value. If you're at a loss, ask them for input.

Focus discussions on collective efforts
Ancona says that many companies include teamwork as a core competency in their leadership development models. As a manager, you can further encourage your people to collaborate by talking about them as a team, not as a set of individuals. Be sure to celebrate successes and discuss setbacks collectively. "The less you talk about individual contribution the better," says Mankins. Instead, praise the behaviors that contribute to the team's overall success such as chipping in on others' projects and giving candid peer feedback.

Evaluate team performance
In addition to completing individual performance reviews, consider conducting a team review as well. Mankins says that companies like Apple and Google have made this part of their formal processes, but you can do it on your own too. Every six months or so, take a close look at the group's progress, noting its accomplishments, where it has succeeded, and how it can further develop. Don't mention individuals in this appraisal but focus on what the team has done — and can do — together.

Principles to Remember

Do:

• Agree on what success looks like
• Bring the group together to discuss progress against goals and how to improve
• Consider doing a formal evaluation of the team

Don't:

• Only think of rewards as money — there are lots of non-monetary perks that people appreciate
• Focus on individual performance — emphasize the team's accomplishments
• Reward your team with something they don't collectively value

Case study#1: Set a team purpose and measure against it
To help launch PfizerWorks, a productivity initiative that allows employees to outsource boring parts of their jobs, Jordan Cohen put together a small team including his two direct reports, Tanya and Seth, and started by devising a collective purpose. Following the advice of David Collis and Michael Rukstad in "Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?" the group worked together to come up with a strategy statement of no more than 35 words. "These were the words we were going to live by and we struggled over every clause," he says. Next, they developed metrics tied directly to their strategy. "We had measures for inputs, outputs, and customer satisfaction, all of which we agreed to," he says. Meeting those goals was a reward in itself because team members could see how their actions contributed. "It was a source of great pride. It made them feel like they could win everyday," he says.

Jordan also found ways to make sure his team members were publicly recognized for their work. When PfizerWorks launched, he stopped going to meetings with senior leaders and let Tanya and Seth handle them instead. They became the face of the program. At a meeting with Gary Hamel, just before the famed management thinker was about to give a speech referencing PfizerWorks at the World Business Forum, Jordan asked if he'd be willing to mention the team by name. He did, leaving Tanya and Seth "somewhere between paralyzed and over the moon."

Case study #2: Let them improve their skills
When Christopher Lind worked at a software company, he led a team of eight people who were responsible for training the company's sales force. Most of them had been with the company for a while, but many didn't have formal skills in instructional technology and design. Still, "I was fortunate that everyone on the team had a strong desire to learn," Christopher says. "They wanted to grow their skillset and familiarize themselves with new technology."

The team made great progress, exceeding every goal Christopher set and then asking for new ones, so when it came time to reward them as a group, more advanced training seemed to be an obvious choice. He purchased a multi-license agreement to instructional design software. "I had spent enough time with my team to know they were eager to expand their experience and technical abilities," he explains. "I knew it could lead to them moving on to more senior jobs," he says. But "I ultimately decided that providing them with a valuable development opportunity outweighed that risk." In fact, he hoped it would give them a reason to stay. And he was right. Several team members told him that his investment, of both money and time, made them feel valued. It also gave the team something extra to work on together.

How to Reward Your Stellar Team
Amy Gallo

Want to Know What Really Makes You Happy? Try Tracking It

Throughout our careers and lives, the big decisions we have to make usually lead back to a single, overriding concern: What really makes me happy? Too often we try to answer these questions without knowing or understanding the real data from our lives. Our self-analysis devolves into speculation or wishful thinking.

Over the past month or so, I've been collaborating with Harvard Business Review to develop a quick self-test to determine individual readiness for understanding your own data through the world of auto-analytics. Auto-analytics is a method of using new self-tracking tools to help answer key professional (and personal) questions: How do I boost my productivity? Am I in the right career? How can I improve my work routines by altering my health habits, like sleep and exercise?

To get a sense of how auto-analytics can be used enrich our decision making, I recommend three distinct approaches:

1. Quantifying reflection is the practice of spending a few moments each evening to rate (or rank) that day on a numerical scale, and also to provide qualitative information on daily activities. This method not only begins to habituate reflection but also creates a repository of personal data to inform decisions on which sorts of behaviors to embrace or avoid.

Author Ashish Mukharji's use of this method shows that we don't have to be a professional philosophers or positive psychologists to think systematically about happiness. For the past three years he's been rating his days on a scale of 1-10, also jotting down some associated thoughts, "a restaurant, movie ... whatever made that day special."

Through this exercise he has learned that his average happiness is a seven and he has uncovered some unexpected sources of happiness. For example, in the experience of accomplishment, "actually getting to a goal" is less apt to make him happy than the process of working toward that goal.

With his personal data in hand, he now resolves his existential puzzles with small, practical interventions — idiosyncratic methods to lift his daily happiness. For instance, no matter how much fun he might be having at night, he retires early to avoid missing sleep, since feeling tired invariably makes him unhappy, according to the data.

2. Theory testing uses auto-analytics tools as a way to quantify happiness in terms of an established model. Take the well-known study on happiness by academic Carol Ryff, which includes a theory of psychological well-being. Ryff posited that well-being could be measured on a model with six factors: self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose, mastery, autonomy, and positive relations with others. Researcher and statistician Konstanin Augemberg decided to test Ryff's theory in this short case study. Using the programmable rTracker app on his mobile phone, Augemberg sampled himself three times a day on sliding scale with a simple question: How happy do you feel right now? He also rated himself at that moment on the six factors in Ryff's model.

After a month, he ran the analysis of his data. "Out of 6 [variables] only 4 turned out to be predictive of happiness; the most influential of those were mastery and autonomy — being in control of the situation and being independent," he found.

A good model like Ryff's may have broad appeal, but as Augemberg's experiment demonstrates, all of its six factors may not be relevant to each individual — an overly complicated model may be likened to a universal remote control with superfluous buttons. Through this experiment, Augemberg was able to remove the extra two components, allowing him to better focus on those factors that, according to his data, directly influenced his happiness. He observes, "n=me, so the model may work differently for others."

3. Experience sampling gently nudges users at random intervals throughout the day to log how they're feeling. Over time, the method creates a detailed happiness dashboard so participants can make fact-based decisions or change their habits based on their numbers.

Auto-analytics tools in this area, like trackyourhappiness, represent a new type of research approach, one that advances both scientific learning and individual progress toward happiness.

An interesting dimension of trackyourhappiness is its measurement of mind-wandering. The tool helps people work out tough questions like this one: As I'm performing a task I consider unpleasant, say collating monthly business travel expenses, is it better to focus on the task at hand or to imagine something more pleasant while mindlessly grinding through it?

To resolve this type of conundrum, users are asked three questions at various points throughout the day: (1) How do you feel now? which they answer on a sliding scale from "very bad" to "very good"; (2) What are you doing?; and (3) Are you thinking about something other than what you're currently doing?, to which they can answer "no," "yes — something unpleasant," "yes — something neutral" or "yes — something pleasant."

After using the tool for a while, most begin to discover through data that they are much more happy when they are focused on the present than when not. As lead researcher Matt Killingsworth's analysis of more than 15,000 users shows, people are measurably less happy when they are mind-wandering, no matter what they are doing. "For example, people don't really like commuting to work very much, it's one of their least enjoyable activities. And yet they are substantially happier when they are only focused on their commute than when their mind is going off to something else," he says in his research presentation.

A possible cause for the negative effects of mind-wandering may be that our minds most often wander to worrisome topics like job stability or declining sales this month. Yet on the flip side, the data also show that even when we are imagining something neutral or pleasant, we are slightly less happy when our mind is diverted from its main task than we are when it is attentive.

Killingsworth sums up: "If mind-wandering were a slot machine it would be like having a chance to lose $50, $20, or $1. You'd never want to play."

Each of the three approaches is really about adding a dose of science, gathering, and acting on data to inform personal change. Whether you're interested in addressing your happiness, your work productivity, or something else important, you can begin this data-gathering process by taking this short assessment.

Want to Know What Really Makes You Happy? Try Tracking It
H. James Wilson

Three Simple Steps: Saving for a Rainy Day

Are you paying your bills as they come in, and not charging more than you can afford? Excellent. Are you socking away money regularly for retirement, perhaps via a 401(k) plan at work? Good. Have you put a hefty sum of money away as an emergency fund? No? Well, that is a problem -- but it's not an insurmountable one. Take a deep breath and keep reading. Here are a three steps you can take right away to turn that situation around.

1. Understand the concept.

First off, let's define our terms. Unless you're independently wealthy, it's smart to have a dedicated emergency fund ready in case disaster strikes. You might lose your job, for example, or experience a costly health crisis. It's easy not to think about these kinds of events, assuming they won't happen to you, but they do happen to some people, and they can wreak financial havoc. (Even a big car repair can throw your finances out of whack if you're not prepared.)

How much money are we talking about? Well, a common recommendation is to have three to six months' worth of living expenses socked away. Notice that there's no one-size-fits-all sum, and even the three-to-six-months rule is rough. If it's easy for you to land a new job whenever you need one, then you might not need to save as much -- particularly if you're in a two-income household. (But imagine a scenario in which one of you is stricken, and the other has to become a caretaker -- both income streams could suffer.) If it takes you a long time to find work, though, or you're just very risk-averse, consider saving even more, such as a year's worth of necessary expenses -- including food, housing, utilities, insurance, and all your other nonnegotiable costs of living.

2. Start saving, and invest sensibly.

Once you start accumulating funds for your emergency account, be sure to keep those dollars in the right place. The stock market, for example, is not appropriate, as it could drop sharply just before you need to withdraw money, leaving you with shrunken assets.

Meanwhile, a 3-year or 5-year CD isn't ideal, either, as it locks up your money and charges a penalty for early withdrawals. Bank accounts or money-market funds are generally good options, though they offer paltry interest rates these days.

One possibility is to keep part of your emergency fund in low-growth safe spots, while investing another portion elsewhere. The safer portion can buy you time while your CD matures, or in a worst-case scenario, you'll pay a penalty but will be able to tap a sizable sum. (Some CDs have no early-out penalty.) You might also opt for some relatively stable dividend-heavy stocks for a portion of your fund.

3. Be creative.

Finally, consider "outside the box" methods to help you fund your emergency savings. Sure, you might take on a second job in order to generate more cash quickly. But you could also hold a garage sale, tighten your budget by cutting out discretionary items, or cancel your gym membership and take up walking or running instead. Spend a little time shopping around for the best deal on your home insurance and car insurance, and you might surprise yourself by saving several hundred dollars. You might immediately park your tax refunds in your emergency fund, too.

If you're without an emergency fund but you're healthy and employed, you're still in a great position to build a fund and be prepared for whatever twists and turns life sends your way.

Selena Maranjian, whom you can follow on Twitter, is a longtime contributor to The Motley Fool.