Rent-to-own News - 'Grab that New Customer' seminar charts RTO's future

Marketing expert Jill Adams McDonough.

National marketing expert, Jill Adams McDonough, presented her plan to “Grab That New Customer” during APRO’s annual convention in Little Rock Tuesday, in the form of a specially crafted, first-of-its-kind RTO Marketing Plan provided for free to attending APRO member dealers.

The marketing plan is the culmination of years of APRO focus groups and studies throughout the country that provided the raw data for McDonough’s analysis and carefully outlined strategies to tap the millions of potential RTO customers.

The recent marketing push is part of the larger campaign by APRO leaders to increase the industry's customer base and improve its image. 

 “We need to create a unified campaign,” states APRO President Robert Briley. “We need APRO and APRO companies, large and small, to pull together for a unified message. That’s what it’s going to take if we want our businesses to grow.”

APRO began building the data necessary to capture the new customer in 1997 and continued conducted focus group studies through this year. This year is the first year the data is being processed into a marketing proposal for both the industry and individual dealers.

McDonough is helping dealers face the new realities of the advertising and marketing profession “being turned upside down” with the dominance of the Internet, social media, blogging, Wikipidia, and other online sources of information about RTO.

"We're getting the message to our core group of customers, the trick is getting it to a wider band of potential customers," said Countryside Rent 2 Own Marketing Director David Moore. "The concept she spoke about of involving experts and consumer advocates, so that they are spokespersons for the industry, that is a novel idea that makes a lot of sense."

Countryside is already employing one of the McDonough's suggestions by producing customer testimonials on it's company and Facebook Web sites.

McDonough concluded that traditional advertising represents the most prominent form of information consumers receive regarding rent-to-own. But, according to the respondents, traditional advertising is no longer the primary source customers use when making their shopping choices.

The focus group participants also continue to show that they know very little about rent-to-own. RTO’s traditional advertising is not fully explaining how the RTO transaction works. Since APRO began these potential customer surveys, data continue to show that potential customers must be educated on the basics of RTO to consider it.

Another key point was identifying competition beyond “the person next to you in the audience”. She cited the consistent message from the focus groups that they look at such stores as Walmart, Big Lots, credit cards and craigslist but do not consider rent-to-own. But when respondents were presented the differences between RTO and the above, RTO became much more viable to the group.

"We too often make the assumption people understand our transaction," said Bolin Rental Purchase owner Chris Bolin, "when a lot of times that's not the case at all. We need to figure out ways to inform out customers about the value of the transaction and how it fits into their lives."

McDonough continued to use the “Incredible Egg” story where the egg industry turned the “heart attacking” egg into the healthy choice with their unified message about the incredible egg. The “Grab that Customer” seminar highlighted APRO’s day long seminars involving legal updates, store design and how to hire and develop the right employee.

See seminar photos here.

Later that evening convention goers attended a special reception and tour of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum. See photos.