 APRO: The Official Voice of the Rent to Own Industry
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 Rent-to-own News
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Rent-to-own News - TRIB Group 'Meeting of the Minds' breaks attendance records in Vegas
Close to 200 rent to own operators are in Las Vegas this week for TRIB Group’s annual 'Meeting of the Minds' -- a one of a kind RTO brainstorming and educational event -- that kicked off today at Bally's Las Vegas with a day long series of dealer-led information and training sessions that have become staples for today's independent RTO operator.
TRIB Group Executive Director Dennis Shields reported attendance at the 'Meeting of the Minds' is up significantly over last year with close to 200 registered attendees representing 73 member companies. That represents a 60 percent member company increase and a 90 percent attendee increase.
The second roundtable focused on generating new business including online sales, fee collection, new products and pakaging led by Seth Weisblatt of Sam's Appliace and Furniture.
Other topics included "cutting costs and improving gross margins" led by Terry Beville of Buddy's Home Furnishings and "human resources" led by Trent Agin of Rent One.
The day rounded out with the TRIB Group Hotshow which generated just over $4 million in sales of specially priced items offered by participating TRIB Group member vendors.
Al Benson of Central File Marketing -- a first year participant in the Hotshow -- said the fast paced rent to own micro-show was a great opportunity to build name recognition among rental dealers. Benson and Central File sold 100,000 direct mail promo packages in under a minute at the show.
"It's fun to be able to sell our services here, but its really more important to show our support for the show and for TRIB," Benson said. "We generated a lot of interest here and hope that spills over onto the show floor tomorrow." The TRIB Buy show opens Tuesday at 12:30 at Bally's and runs through Wednesday.
Brownie Calvin, who operates three Option Rentals stores, said the excitement was especially evident at the Hotshow.
"People get really worked up and you can feel the excitement," Calvin said. "It's fun to get caught up in it and the vendors who really brought out there best deals you can tell because they sold out. Those who didn't didn't. But it's all part of the show and part of building vendor dealer relationships and that's something TRIB is really good at."
APRO Executive Director Bill Keese leads an RTO industry update Tuesday Aug. 31.
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2012 APRO Dave Egan
Legislative Conference
April 17-19, Washington, D.C.
Mark your calendars!
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RTOHQ: The Magazine
RTOHQ: The Magazine is the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations' award-winning rent-to-own industry magazine, and it's available here. | |||
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CLICK HERE FOR OUR DIGITAL RTOHQ: THE MAGAZINE
RTOHQ: The Magazine’s upgraded digital format APRO's new, mobile-ready magazine is now available in addition to our print edition. The digital format provides the same informative content as our printed magazine, but also offers tools to make the reading experience more enriching. Access the table of contents page with one click or tap. Get additional information from advertisers by clicking on the links in their ads. The interface is easy to navigate and requires no special app—read our magazine on your computer, digital table or smartphone. Click here to access the digital version of RTOHQ: The Magazine November-December 2011.
Marketing Matters This year marks the launch of a marketing campaign initiated by APRO to build the rent-to-own customer base. It will be a multi-year endeavor employing multiple strategies. In this and upcoming issues of our magazine, we will address the many facets of marketing that affect our industry.
Striving for an A with the BBB by William E. Freeland Consumers often refer to the Better Business Bureau's ratings to help them make rental and purchasing decisions. National Rent-to-Own's human resource manager outlines the steps every RTO company should pursue to help earn an A+ from the BBB.
Creating an Extraordinary Customer Experience by Bill Keese Apple does it. Southwest Airlines does it. Can the rent-to-own industry also garner a national reputation for exceptional service and, in the process, attract new customers?
BB and BBQ on Beale Street Memphis' reputation for tremendous food, groundbreaking music and Southern charm is well deserved. It's not too early to start planning your trip there next July for APRO's 2012 Rent-to-Own Convention and Trade Show.
Card Talk by Ed Winn III Credit and debit card payments are on the rise in rent-to-own. So are the risks in keeping such transactions secure.
Rent-to-Own Families, Part VI by Kristen Card No, you're not seeing double, or are you? Our latest profiles of kindred colleagues include two sets of twins-the Botkins and the Kimbles. And in Kansas, a son and daughter help their dad keep business running Strong.
Future issues of APRO's magazine will be available in this same new format. Click here to access past issues that are not yet archived in the new interface.
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Association of Progressive Rental Organizations 1504 Robin Hood Trail Austin, Texas 78703 800/204-2776, ext. 103 Fax 512/794-0097 |