APRO 2012 Speakers Prepare Dealers for Marketing Shift

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Preston Swincher from the Center for Generational Kinetics, is one of several expert marketing speakers slated for APRO’s 2012 Convention this year in Memphis.

In his session, "Crossing the Generational Divide", you will learn how to reach out to your potential customers based on APRO’s latest market research. But in order to reach new customers, you must first understand who they are. For the first time in world history, four distinctly different generations are working and shopping side by side. Each of these four generations (Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Gen Y) is guided by a different set of values, beliefs, and expectations. In "Crossing the Generational Divide", each generation’s preferences and priorities will be revealed.

Join your colleagues at the APRO 2012 Convention and Trade Show in Memphis July 24-26 to get the tools and know how to implement a multi-generational strategy for landing your share of that RTO potential customer base!

APRO 2012 Speaker Lineup:

Bill Keese, APRO Executive Director

APRO has been investing in the rental industry through customer and potential customer studies and focus groups as well as industry surveys.

Our goal as your national trade association is to help you reach more of the reported 45 million potential RTO customers out there that have yet to discover the benefits of renting home furnishings.

In addition to hard-hitting seminar sessions, APRO’s 2012 education day offers four featured speakers sharing insight into helping you achieve greater success in your business today and into the future.

Dan Heimbrock, CEO, HyperDrive Interactive

The Great Marketing Shift 

20th Century Marketing was all about interrupting consumers and outspending your competition in traditional media like TV, Radio, Print Inserts and Direct Mailers.

Modern consumers are overwhelmed with commercial messages, so they tune them out, and your brand fails to engage.

Today consumers rely much more heavily on the Internet, social media and friend recommendations rather than what the TV tells them to do. Learn how to deliver an exceptional experience at the “moments of truth” and your brand will gain not only new customers but unpaid advocates recommending your brand to family, friends and their social network.

Now, more than ever, it’s imperative that you understand the changing demographics of the communities and groups you serve. How can you best serve a local community or organization if you don’t know what your community looks like today?

And the changes in demographics take many forms: racial, ethnic, gender, generational, sexual preference, linguistic, even lifestage and level of affluence, to name a few.

Diversity of thought helps companies stay leading-edge and proactive as well. And learning about differences in values among different groups is the key to maximizing relationships, marketing efforts and business opportunities. This presentation will focus on why changing demographics and diversity are business opportunities and how these changes affect your business today and tomorrow.

Martin Roberts, Martin Roberts Design

The conversation on store-design continues this year with real world examples of improved and dynamic looks for the rent-to-own industry. Be ready for your increased customer base with a look that will appeal to them and keep customers coming to your stores.

Martin has been instrumental in designing the prototype store that will be on display in our exhibit hall during APRO’s 2012 Convention & Trade Show.

Martin Roberts is a design industry veteran with design credits recognized across the globe. His most respected work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

He has a BA in Industrial Design Engineering and MA in Design Systems; and is a member of The Royal Society of Arts (London), the Society of Industrial Designers, and the Institute of Store Planners.

We all know that the effects of our customers’ comments, negative or positive, can make or break our business.

Vivian Saunders has proven to be quite an evangelist not only for the store she shops at, Best-Way Rent To Own in Ahoskie North Carolina, but for the rent-to-own industry itself providing valuable testimony before a Congressional subcommittee on behalf of the industry.

APRO’s latest marketing report recommends that every company develop a “Vivian Saunders style” evangelist in their markets. Her enthusiasm and understanding of the rent-to-own industry will help you gain insight on how to create your own customer evangelists.

Denise Turner, ColorTurners

Color is the primary reason for purchases more than 85% of the time. Color and design trends are rapidly changing.

Color has cultural and demographic preferences. Color can also improve image, reputation and credibility.

Attend and gain insider’s color marketing secrets, to unleash your RTO sales and marketing potential.

Denise is the Color & Design Trend Columnist for Home Portfolio Magazine, an ASID professional member, former ASID chapter president, Certified Interior Designer, CMG Chair Holder and UCLA graduate. Also during Denise’s career, she was a show room build-up designer for Ikea stores. 

Larry Carrico and Keith Carrico, Rent One

Feeling like your company’s health insurance costs are getting out of control?  According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, health expenditures in the United States neared $2.6 trillion in 2010 which is over ten times what it was in 1980.

This informative session will focus on how Rent One implemented a wellness program to gain some control over its healthcare costs.

Attend this seminar if you want to understand the lessons learned by Rent One and gain helpful advice for implementing a wellness program of your own to positively affect your company’s bottom-line.

Libby Spears, McDonald Marketing

5 Keys to Branding Your Business  

Does your business stand out from the crowd?

The way we do business and gain the attention of prospective clients in a media saturated, 24 hour news cycle, and short attention span culture is more challenging than ever.

In this game changing session on how to refine, re-define and reinvent your brand from Libby Spears, you will leave with five questions in hand to measure the caliber of your brand.

You don’t have to have a million dollar budget or an army of people to execute your ideas to grow a brand that resonates in the marketplace. Don’t miss this opportunity to bridge the gap between knowing what a great brand looks like and actually doing it. Libby Spears brings the perfect mix of storytelling, evidence, humor and activity to every experience and you will be energized and ready to hit the ground running.

Ed Winn III, APRO Legal Counsel

2012 Legal Update: Current Legal Issues affecting RTO  

In this popular and essential session, Ed Winn will cover some of the most important legal issues affecting the industry over the past year.

As APRO’s general counsel, Winn is well-known in the industry as being an expert in all things pertaining to rent-to-own.

Come for his brash sense of humor and daring no-nonsense presentation. Stay for his up-to-the-minute rundown of the industry legalities that could make or break your business.

David Keen, Rent One

Delivery Tech Rodeo! Creating Programs to help your Employees Reach Their Highest Potential 

Companies often spend much of their training time focusing on the front-end of the customer satisfaction process: the sale.

However, how often do you think about the last person to see your customer? You know they will leave a lasting impression. Why not make sure it’s a a great one that rounds out a memorable experience.

Rent One’s fun and competitive ‘Delivery Tech Rodeo’ has been a wildly successful means to ensure the company’s delivery techs are well-trained, know company policies and procedures and understand the important role they play in the overall success of the organization. Learn how one company is reaping the benefits of putting their delivery techs first.

 REGISTER TODAY!

 IRDA Team meets with Illinois Governor Quinn

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (center) with members of the IRDA during their legislative day Wednesday.

The Illinois Rental Dealers team hit Springfield running Wednesday, meeting with 32 Illinois Senators and Representatives, including the Governor Pat Quinn and Senate President John Cullerton, during the annual IRDA Legislative Day.

Association members were able to educate and share the importance of the RTO Industry within the State of Illinois and it’s economic impact which includes over 240 stores, the employment of 1,428, $50,000,000 in annual wages and $7.6 million in annual payroll taxes and annual revenue of over $176 million.
 
It was a jam packed day as the legislature was in session and members were  extremely busy.

Ohio Dealers wrap spring meeting, new Expo location chosen

Re-elected Ohio Rental Dealers Association Secretary Keith Ferriman, President Mike Tissot, Treasurer Joel Ehrlich and Secretary Doug Higgins at the association’s spring meeting.

Some 20 rental dealers representing a dozen companies convened in Columbus, Ohio Wednesday, for the Ohio Rental Dealers Association spring meeting where members re-elected a popular slate of officers and rotated the association’s annual Midwest Expo to a different state for the first time.

"This has kind of always been the vision to rotate the Expo around to surrounding states for a couple of years to really give it a true regional feeling," said re-elected ORDA President Mike Tissot. "We’re very excited about this and feel it will be a central location for most of the dealers in this region."

The site  of the this year’s Midwest Expo will be the Belterra Casino Resort in Florence, Indiana, approximately halfway between Cincinnati and Louisville. Dates have not yet been set.

Re-elected officers include Tissot, vice president Keith Ferriman, treasurer Joel Ehrlich and secretary Doug Higgins.

Dealers enjoyed a jam packed agenda including presentations from Coaster Furniture on their RTO specific platforms, One Source Employment Group on dealing with unemployment claims and North Coast Research on the company’s RTO research.

"It was a really good meeting," Tissot said. "We had some very lively discussions at our roundtable on very important and relevant issues, shared some great ideas and heard some good presentations. Now it’s time to get to work on the Expo."

By Jay Roberts, www.rtotrainer.com

This is a question I’ve thought about many times over the years when analyzing the concept of customer growth in a rental store.

So I decided to find out. I focused on a very specific question:

“Where do the customers go that did business with us last year that are not doing business with us this year?”

 The following are the results of that research:

1% Pass away

3% Move away

5% have established a relationship with a competitor based on the recommendation of a friend

9% prefer the competition

14% had one negative interaction with a representative of our store

68% of the people that were doing business with us last year that are not doing business with us this year leave because of indifference, rudeness or lack of service.

Simply put, someone sent them a message that we do not care.

I was astonished at the results.

82% of the people that are not doing business with us today is a direct result of what we said or did or their perception of what we said or did. It means that 4 out of 5 previous customers would still be with us had we taken care of them when we had them. Isn’t that amazing?

Here are some other things I’ve learned along the way.

• It takes months to get a new customer and seconds to lose one.
• People do business with us because they like us, they trust us and they respect to us.” Price come somewhere after that.
• Our most effective method of advertisement is a satisfied customer that has a lot of friends and talks a lot.
• Our most ineffective method of advertisement is a dis-satisfied customer that has a lot of friends and talks a lot.
• Whenever we have one customer that formally complains, we have 26 that do not. All 27 of these customers will tell between 11 and 16 people about their experience.
• 91% of dis-satisfied customers will never do business with you again.
• The cost is seven times higher to get a new customer than to satisfy an old one.
• Our actions speak louder than words
   

 Each customer that we do business with today has a circle of influence of 250 people.

 RTO customers run in economic circles with RTO customers.

The two most important questions we must ask ourselves are;

1) Are we providing excellence in customer service?

2) How can we improve it?

The first thing we must do to improve our customer service is to shed old habits that do not help us satisfy our customers.

Secondly, we must develop a “Customer Service Mission Statement.”

All employees must understand that our objective as it relates to our customer is to have them for a very long time. This will be accomplished when we provide excellent care to our customers. This objective is the “what” and the Customer Service Mission Statement is the “how.” It should contain between 5 and 7 specific things we can do to fulfill our objective.

The new competitive battleground in the RTO industry has to do with the value and quality of the service we provide our customers. The company that serves the largest number of customers in a specific area wins the game.

In closing, one of the most valuable concepts I have ever studied is the concept of simplification. Therefore, when the problem is clear the solution is obvious.

Jay B. Roberts
Trainer/Coach
www.rtotrainer.com
Office: 417/942-4263

pro.cras.ti.nate:  to postpone doing something

Didn’t get pre-registered for the APRO Convention & Trade Show in Little Rock?  That’s okay, you can register on-site beginning Monday July 11!

Want to get text updates on your cell phone while at the convention?  Email your cell phone number to lhill@rtohq.org/ and we’ll add you to the list so you won’t miss a thing.
 
The Peabody Little Rock will honor APRO discounted room rate as long as possible, so call 501/906-4000 for availability.
 
For full details on the APRO Convention, click here
 
 

Want your badge waiting for you when you arrive in Little Rock?

You can pre-register through Friday for the APRO 2011 Convention & Trade Show in Little Rock. For registration forms and schedule, click here.

Although the deadline for hotel reservations at the Peabody Little Rock has passed, you still may be able to get a room at the APRO discounted rate of $129. Call the hotel at 800/732-2639 for availability.

Note: Registrations will be taken on-site beginning Monday, July 11 at 2 p.m. at the APRO Registration Desk, Statehouse Convention Center, lower level of the Peabody Hotel.

No longer can a company just fill an open position in a store and expect it to thrive.

Wayne Outlaw’s sessions, Tips for Hiring Top Performers in RTO and Everyone Wins: Training RTO Employees for Success, address the “Best Practices” of top companies.
 

This is a member benefit available ONLY at the APRO 2011 Convention in Little Rock!
 

We would like you to help us identify the staffing and development challenges rent-to-own dealers face and the Best Practices used to address these issues.
 

Please complete Outlaw’s confidential online survey at: www.outlawgroup.com/APROSurvey.htm.

Results will be shared only at Outlaw’s APRO 2011 Convention seminars. The FIRST FIVE organizations to complete the survey will receive a free copy of Outlaw’s book, Smart Staffing: How to Hire, Reward and Keep Employees to Grow Your Business. All others will receive a White Page report which will be a compilation of results.
 

Complete information regarding the APRO 2011 Convention & Trade Show can be found here.

APRO Room Deadline Extended to Friday

Got rooms?

The APRO room block filling up fast!

If you have not yet made your hotel reservations with the Peabody Little Rock, you still have a few days. The hotel has given APRO Convention attendees until this Friday, June 17 to make reservations.

Call the Peabody reservations line at 800/732-2639 or go to http://www.peabodylittlerock.com/ and enter APRO’s group code 271302 for discounted rates at the 2011 APRO Convention & Trade Show in Little Rock, July 11-14

Everything you need to know about APRO’s 2011 Convention.

APRO Convention hotel deadline Monday

In order to take advantage of the discounted hotel rate for the APRO Convention in Little Rock, you must make your hotel reservations at the Peabody by Monday June 13! 

Book your room online at The Peabody Little Rock Hotel (APRO reservation in the block must use group code 271302) or call 800/732-2639.

Find full detail on the convention here.
 

WE WANT YOUth!

To encourage future leaders of the RTO industry, APRO is inviting students currently enrolled in high school or college and who are employed in the rent-to-own industry to apply for a COMPLIMENTARY FULL REGISTRATION to APRO’s 2011 Convention and Trade Show in Little Rock.

Just tell us in a one-page essay what you’ve learned about the industry and/or how you feel RTO might fit into your plans for the future.  Owners, this is an opportunity to send your most promising young employee to the APRO Convention to help them learn more about the RTO industry and advance in their career with your company.

Go here for full details.

Entries must be received by June 13.