The Masters Method Blog

-

themastersmethod — Fri, 07 May 2010 22:11:30 +0000

The Intern's Blog

Here at Zisser, we continually welcome Interns who wish to learn more about International Trade. We are fortunate to have a number of aspiring students from various universities and community colleges interested in working with our company. Read what our interns have to say about their days working here at our company and their experiences in the over all compliance industry.

Greg Meyer

   To say the least, I am not your typical intern at a customs law firm. I had a fair amount of exposure to international commerce prior to commencing my B.A. in International Business at San Diego State University. However, as a veteran of U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement, my international trade experience was limited to charging onto suspected narcotics smuggling vessels armed to the tooth and yelling "manos en el aire." As it turns out, this sort conduct is generally frowned upon in job interviews and in today's professional office culture.
    Luckily for me, during my interview with the office manager Chinh Do and the Tradiance developer Steve Ungar, they were able to look past this aspect of my background and were able to see that I would be a great fit for this dynamic workplace. Aside from my law enforcement training, I had considerable leadership and managerial experience, and a technical background. Also, through almost four years of course work for my degree in international business, I had acquired a cursory knowledge of the import/export business, trade with Mexico, the Spanish language, marketing practices and managerial principals. The only thing that I was lacking was a venue in which I could gain experience that would bring all these concepts together in a real world environment.
    On the first day of my internship, Chinh filled me in on the diverse nature of Zisser Group. She explained to me that aside from simply providing a vast array customs law services and solutions, this firm provided a multitude of other services which uniquely placed Zisser Group as a one-stop-shop for customs compliance. I then learned that this firm also provided Import Compliance services, C-TPAT supply chain certification assistance, training on customs classification both online and in person, and were developing an advanced automated customs classification system. I quickly became excited about the great learning experience I had before me.
    Over the course of a few months here I had the opportunity to work with the very lovely and always chipper Customs Compliance Specialist Carime and C-TPAT Specialist Yennise. By working with Carime I was able to learn the ins and outs of the very complicated apparel classification process. For instance I am able to recite the difference between a plunging neck line and a boat shaped neck line as well as the subsequent effects on its HTS classification. I was also fortunate enough to have Carime delegate to me the opportunity to correlate and organize the 2010 multiple thousand page 2010 Harmonized Tariff Schedule for her office. By working with Yennise, not only was I informed about the complexities of international supply chain and the various steps taken for an import company to be C-TPAT certified the Department of Homeland Security, I was also first on her list of people that had the honor of putting together her brand new office chair.
    Perhaps the most stimulating and rewarding aspect of my job was working side by side with the charismatic Steve Ungar, the Tradiance software developer. With him, I was able to experience the fast paced and exhilarating world of software and database development. I was given the role of testing the Tradiance automated classification system and insuring that it was parallel to manual apparel classification methods in terms of complexity. However, I quickly was able to see that this software also gives the advantage of vastly faster classification times and increased reliability, with the added benefit of being legally defensible. I also came to find out that there is no other automated customs related software with this capability in the market place. After seeing the potential of this product I am proud to say that I had my hands in on the creation process, at least in a very limited way. However, throughout the process I had the sneaking suspicion that my true role was that of a guinea pig. Down the road I would not be surprised to hear Tradiance marketed as, "so easy an intern from SDSU can use it!"
   Another added benefit of doing my internship here at Zisser Group was that I had the opportunity to sit in on several Masters Method "webinars" given by Steve Zisser and Juan Moreno. With over 30 years of customs law and customs broker experience combined, they are able to share this knowledge with students to create a straight forward customs classification process that makes it vastly more efficient and precise. After having been exposed to this course for the cost of months of wage free labor, I am sure that this training will be a nice addition to my resume.
    So after a few months of working here I was able to take my military training and experience, and the theoretical knowledge acquired from University class rooms and I was able to combine it all in a real world business environment to create a well rounded educational opportunity. I now am able to see that my time here will be a great source of experience for the future. In the end it worked out quite well that I wasn't your typical intern at a customs law firm, because as it turns out, Zisser Group is not your typical customs law firm.
    Now I just have to go find a job!

-

themastersmethod — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:00:05 +0000

Ann Lister: Compliance Professional

of the Month

Trade Compliance Professionals have a challenging position. They must meet government and corporate standards and regulations with little budget, increasing demand and the lack of standardized educational resources. At ZISSER we understand this challenge and have worked hard to provide some of the missing resources to standardize and simplify compliance processes, through training and automation. Celebrating and sharing our compliance experiences along the way is an excellent way to motivate, inspire and have some fun. Each month we will highlight a special compliance person, sharing their stories, including their background, successes, challenges, “best practices” and how they view the future of Trade Compliance.

This month ZISSER highlights Ann Lister, Global Compliance Manager at Texas Instruments and the co-founder of the International Compliance Professionals Association (ICPA).

Ann Lister is an inspirational figure for many of us. She is an inspiration not only for her love of international trade but also for her unwavering human spirit. Many of you know her as the co-founder of ICPA but there is more to Ann.

She has been in the international trade field for 20 years, although this wasn’t her original life mission. Her first goal was to become a physician, where should could help and nurture others. However, a series of very unfortunate events, including surviving a plane crash, lead her to this industry. She began her new career in freight forwarding and then achieved her Broker’s license. While working at developing her skills and networking, she saw a real need for information sharing in the compliance field. This became a new and important mission.

Ann has developed a real passion for International Trade. She sees it as vital to the entire financial world. When asked what she likes most about her job at Texas Instruments she says, “International Trade is constantly in motion, I find that fascinating.” She has been a very active part of this company from setting up better in-house communications to discovering and correcting hidden issues that were costing her company more than $mil of lost revenue, which was then recovered. She knows that other people in compliance have similar stories and she encourages them to discreetly, share with the other members in the ICPA network, so that they can resolve their issues too.

When asked her top 5 requirements for an effective Compliance Department, Ann replied:

Be Process focused
Document processes
Collaborate with logistics, finance, legal dept, as much as possible
Continuously evaluate department (and all relationships)
Keep fun in your job and department, “I used hand puppets and sometimes dressed-up as compliance cops, to keep the fun in my job”

If you are just starting out in Compliance, Ann makes these suggestions: “keep your compass pointed North”, meaning don’t compromise your principles, Find a mentor, If you don’t love Compliance then find something else, Continue your self-education and finally make “fun” a part of your job.

As co-founder of the ICPA, the largest Trade Compliance organization in the country, Ann is passionate about her mission. She believes that the ICPA is successful because it is people focused and is provided as a “gift” to the community. The goal of the ICPA is to not only provide members with educational resources but an entire community of shared resources. But this takes effort. As an organization run exclusively by volunteers, Ann feels that it is extremely important to find dedicated and passionate leaders in the community to help run the ICPA, Leaders that will take action and drive the organization. “In five years, I see the ICPA as the leading worldwide Compliance group… We have more seminars planned… We are also piloting a program to provide more localized support within designated areas.” To fulfill these dreams, the ICPA will need members and officers with the same commitment and dedication as Ann Lister.

For more information on the International Compliance Professionals Association (ICPA) visit their website at http://icpainc.org/

It is clear that Ann Lister is an especially enthusiastic VIP in the Trade Compliance community. She has many of the key values that all Import Compliance professionals need: she has passion, she has processes and she is pro-active.

WebTV Recap

themastersmethod — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:29:29 +0000

We had a great turnout for our very first WebTV session yesterday. Nearly 100 people attended and we had extraordinary participation all around. As a result, we would like to share the most popular questions of the session with you here. If you have any additional questiions please email us at training@zissergroup.com or call 619.671.2036

Questions:

What is "C-Level"?

For purposes of value based compliance, the C-Level represents upper management. Also referred to as “C-Suite” and “Board Room”

Are cheat sheets considered simplified?

Yes, provided they are simple to use, easy to apply and designed to deliver accurate results on a consistent basis. By definition, simplified processes are specially designed on a company by company basis and do not have any generic application.

Do you cover automotive tracing in your FTA classes?

Not within our FTA eligibility training class.

Is this a web TV class or just at ICPA?

How Smart Companies Manage Their Import / Export Compliance Department will be offered at the ICPA Conference (March 16, 2010 at 3:30 p.m.) and on WebTV (March 25, 2010)

Can we just obtain this list of classes on your site?

For our 2010 WebTV training schedules go to: www.MastersMethodTraining.com/upcoming-web-training-tv-event/

For our 2010 Live HTS Classification Training schedules go to: www.MastersMethodTraining.com/2010-event-calendar/

Will your value training cover strategies for capture and declaration for global R&D?

Our training on assists and other additions to value will cover the identification, allocation and management of all dutiable costs.

How long are "on demand" sessions available?

Once we complete a live web TV training session we will post the training to our web site, where it will be available on demand for new students. The training will remain available until we update the training, no less than once a year.

On average what does it cost per session?

It is $69 for each WebTV Training

It is $950 ($850 for ICPA members) for each Live HTS Classification Training

Is there any discount for taking all sessions?

We will offer discounts for taking all sessions. For further information on discounts please contact us.

Are CLE credits provided for any of these classes?

We currently offer CLE (20 hours) for our 2-day HTS live training class, which includes one full year of ongoing training.

We are planning to offer CLE on the WebTV Training classes based on demand

How many compliance methods were reviewed?

We reviewed 12 methods

Are WebTV classes limited in participation?

No. Each class can accommodate an unlimited number students.

How long is each training session?

The WebTV trainings are from 75-90 minutes.

The Live HTS Classification trainings is a 2 day training

Are they saying the Compliance Suite are actually compliance methods?

The compliance suite presently covers 12 different areas of compliance responsibility. Each training is built around a unique step by step methodology which is easy to learn and simple to apply.

One Final Holiday Comic (Video!)

themastersmethod — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:14:27 +0000

Holiday Special/Early Bird Discount

themastersmethod — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:23:44 +0000

Here is just a short comic and special offer for you as we get closer to the new year. The Discount applies to any LIVE training event. Contact us or sign up online today to take advantage of this exclusisive early bird discount. Space is limited. This offer is valid through December 31, 2009.

Click here for more information and to see our complete 2010 Live Training Schedule.

Introducing: Masters Method Blog

themastersmethod — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:53:06 +0000

Hello fellow Compliance Professionals, the group here at Masters Method has been working hard to make sure 2010 is the best year of HTS Classification your company has ever had.

We have reserved the following section of this site to bring you original, engaging and unique content. Check back here every couple of days for the latest information in the Import Compliance industry.

We will be featuring:

Tips on how to show value to your organization

Information about HTS Classification

Current Promotions

Spotlight on Shining Compliance Professionals

Even fun tid-bits like the comic below

Our content will also update on facebook and twitter. Have a facebook account? Click here to see our fan page (and become one too!) Or if you would rather catch up via 140 character "tweets" you can see us on twitter by clicking here. Don't have a clue what we are talking about? That's ok too! We are rolling out a FREE course in just a few short weeks to show you how to get up and running with social media!