Rent-to-Own

Consumer sentiment about the economy, as well as technology spending, are both down in April, according to the latest CEA Index, released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).
 
Consumer sentiment about the economy dropped for the third straight month in April. The CEA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE) , which measures consumer expectations about the broader economy, fell to 170.9 this month, down 2.7 points from March but nearly five points higher than this time last year.
 
“Sentiment slipped again in April as continued uncertainty in Europe and depressed equity market returns likely contributed to lower confidence,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and senior director of research. “Gas prices also played a major role in sentiment as more than half of respondents said high prices at the pump lowered their confidence in the U.S. economy this month.”
 
In April, the CEA Indexes included a series of special questions regarding gas prices. Respondents were asked what impact, if any, higher gas prices were having on their expectations about the broader economy and tech spending over the next 12 months.

Roughly 53 percent said gas prices were having no impact on their decision to purchase consumer electronics, while one in three (34 percent) said gas prices were lowering their expectations to make consumer tech purchases over the next 12 months. More than half (51 percent) of respondents said gas prices are lowering their expectations for the U.S. economy over the next 12 months as well.
 
Consumer sentiment about technology spending also dropped this month, after reaching a high for the year in March. The CEA Index of Consumer Technology Expectations (ICTE) fell to 84.4, down 4.5 points from March. The ICTE, which measures consumer expectations about technology spending, is two points higher than this time last year.
 
“The slight slip in tech sentiment is not too surprising given the number of new products and devices launched last month as compared to this month,” said DuBravac.
 
The CEA Indexes comprise the ICE and ICTE, both of which are updated on a monthly basis through consumer surveys. New data is released on the fourth Tuesday of each month. CEA has been tracking index data since January 2007. To find current and past indexes, charts, methodology and future release dates, log on to CEAindexes.org.
 
 

Taking control of his own destiny was the motivation for Rick Vadnais to become a Premier Rental-Purchase franchisee. Rick is a rent-to-own industry veteran having been in the industry for 28 years. He began his RTO career as an account manager and held several different positions throughout the years within multiple companies. 

“The empowerment of controlling your own destiny is my main reason for becoming a business owner,” Vadnais said.

Once he was ready to run his own business, Vadnais reached out to Trooper Earle, President & CEO of The Premier Companies, to learn about the benefits of becoming a Premier franchisee. 

“The personal service that I received from Trooper played a role in my decision to become a Premier franchisee," Vadnais said. "I didn’t feel like a number. Trooper personally interacted with me and was involved in making sure I had everything that I needed when going for funding.” 

Shortly after he opened his first Premier Rental-Purchase store in Syracuse, New York (2005), he teamed up with Dean Carusone, another industry veteran. They were able to open their second location in Central Square, New York, three years later. They are now celebrating the fourth anniversary of that store.

“The support from The Premier Companies is a great help.  We take advantage of the human resources and accounting services, and participate in the buying group which is very rewarding for all of us,” said Rick. 

Rick and Dean do not plan on stopping at two stores. Rick’s goal is to be a multi-store owner with three or four locations.

The national office of The Premier Companies is located in Williamsburg, Virginia. Premier Brands consist of Premier Rental-Purchase, Premier Home Furnishings, Premier Wheel Workz, Premier Auto by Rent. All Premier stores are independently owned and operated. Visit Premier’s website at www.premierrents.net or call 800/2-Premier and ask for Trooper Earle.
 

L to R: Bill Keese, Larry Carrico, Jamie Slatton at APRO’s 2012 Legislative Conference dinner Wednesday.

APRO Legislative Conference attendees topped the first full day of meetings on The Hill Wednesday with a dinner at the historic Capitol Hill Club that included what has come to be an annual fundraiser for the APRO Scholarship Foundation.

Between individual $2,500 donations, table contests, a painting raffle and a $7,500 donation from TRIB Group, emcees Jamie Slatton and Larry Carrico raised more than $60,000 for the foundation which offers multiple scholarships to rent to own professionals and their children each year.

Last year the foundation awarded 17 individual scholarships worth $30,000.

Greg Tanner, Vietnam Vet and Aaron’s national director of franchising thanked attendees for APRO’s agreement to explore options to support an industry-wide program to hire returning veterans into the rent to own industry.

Tanner spearheaded a White House visit this week, by several rent to own representatives including Rent-A-Center CEO Mark Speese, APRO President Robert Briley and Aaron’s Franchisee Bruce Kemp to show support for administration efforts to promote the hiring of veterans.

"Congress doesn’t want to fool with Medicare benefits and unemployment insurance," Tanner said. "They want to figure out how to get these unemployed vets back to work. We can help with that. What a tremendous opportunity for our industry."

See photo gallery of the weeks events here.

Congressional meetings continue through Thursday.

Buddy’s Home Furnishings is proud to announce continued growth in Arizona with a new store opening in Winslow, Arizona under the supervision of Ron Taylor, a 25-year RTO veteran, who started with Buddy’s in 2009 after a successful career at Rentway.
 
“Working for Buddy’s has been the best choice I ever made,” said Taylor, President/Partner of both Phoenix RTO Ventures and RKR Ventures.  “I am blessed to be surrounded by such a talented group of people who make it fun to come to work every day.” 

The store will be managed by Jon Miller, a RTO veteran, who has also worked and resided in Winslow for most of his life.
 
“I was standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and saw a beautiful location”, says Ron Taylor.

Jamie Slatton, CEO/Owner of Buddy’s Home Furnishings added, “We realized that Buddy’s is not going to ‘Take It Easy’ in 2012 and are excited about our projected Southwest expansion plans.”
 
The Buddy’s Winslow team is excited to be part of the Buddy’s family and provide outstanding customer service, quality name brand products and most importantly a big dose of "Buddy’s Love" to the Winslow community.
 
Buddy’s currently operates (6) stores in the Phoenix area including locations in Phoenix, Chandler, Mesa and now Winslow.
 
Buddy’s Home Furnishing’s corporate and franchisee stores currently operate 120 store fronts in multiple states, including Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, North Carolina, Tennessee, Nebraska, and Virginia.

Buddy’s plans to continue its growth trajectory, through a combination of corporate expansion, franchising, and acquisitions.  Future stores and areas are being developed, with new scheduled openings by the end of Q2 2012, including planned expansion outside the United States.
 
 

RTO Reps. meet with Vets in the White House Tuesday.

A contingent of rent to own industry representatives Tuesday, headed to the White House to pledge  support for veterans-for-hire initiatives that would encourage the hiring of military veterans returning from active duty.

Aaron’s National Director of Franchising Greg Tanner, a Vietnam-era Veteran who has 36 years of experience in the franchise industry spearheaded the visit which included Tanner and wife, Fran,  Rent-A-Center Chairman and CEO Mark Speese, APRO President Robert Briley and wife, Lou, APRO Executive Director Bill Keese, and Aaron’s franchisee Bruce Kemp.

The team met with Capt. Brad Cooper, executive director of Joining Forces and Lt. Col. Rodney Lewis.

Both men are decorated Veterans with Cooper serving in 13 named missions including Desert Storm/Desert Shield.

Cooper is the executive director of Joining Forces — a comprehensive national initiative to generate support for service members and their families. Tanner is an International Franchise Association (IFA) member, and on the Board of the IFA’s Vet-Fran program which helps returning service members access franchise opportunities through training, financial assistance, and industry support.

Aaron’s joined the program in 2011.

Rent to own operators interviewed regarding a veterans for hire program for the RTO industry said the leadership and work ethic of veterans make them highly desirable employee candidates and many expressed an interest in a program that could direct job-seeking-vets to rent to own companies.

Later that afternoon APRO’s 2012 Legislative Conference kicked off with close to 150 attending rent to own professionals preparing to ascend Capitol Hill to tell their personal small business stories.

The event was also a nexus for a number of ancillary meetings including, for the first time, ColorTyme’s Franchise Advisory Council.

APRO Executive Director Bill Keese welcomed attendees at the general session and introduced a number of new tools for dealers to quickly communicate the aims of rent to own industry supported legislation, economic impacts and bill status to legislative offices.

Attendees this year for the first time will offer aides and staffers a QR code linking them to the most up-to-date information regarding regarding the industry and its economic impact on specific districts as well as more general bill and industry information.

"We want to put you ahead of the curve and offer this information in a format that is most convenient for the legislative offices," Keese said. "Increasingly that is in a digital format. We want our message to be clear, succinct and easy to grasp. We think this QR Code will help facilitate this."

Attendees also, for the first time, had access to a mobile-ready master meeting schedule.

Meetings with Congress-members and Senators begin Wednesday and continue through Thursday.

See photo gallery.

Close to 150 rental dealers from across the country head to Washington, D.C. this week for APRO’s 2012 Dave Egan Legislative Conference where rent to own business owners, managers, vendors and their families will share their personal experiences and educate legislators on the merits of the rent to own transaction and its impact on the economy, small business, and the American consumer.

Industry professionals will visit Capitol Hill April 17-19, to meet with congressional members and continue building support for industry supported legislation, The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act. The House version of the bill currently enjoys the support of 104 co-sponsors while S. 881 has six.

Face-to-face meetings between rent to own operators and Congressional members and staff have been key to generating support and movement of the legislation.

You know that “post-PC world” that Apple CEO Tim Cook has been talking about last month? It may be arriving sooner than expected, according to Forbes.

Market research firm Gartner Inc. said today it expects worldwide tablet sales to surge 98 percent in 2012 to 118.9 million units, up from 60 million last year. Apple’s expected cut: about 61 percent of the market. That takes into account the international rollout of Amazon’s Kindle and new tablets built on Microsoft’s Windows 8 later this year.

By the numbers, Gartner says that Apple last year sold about 40 million iPads, which are built on its iOS operating system. Sales of tablets built using Google’s Android OS (including the Kindle) totaled 17.3 million units.

The gap is projected to keep growing, even with Microsoft entering the fray. Apple’s tablet sales, led by demand for the new third-generation iPad released in March, are expected to climb to about 73 million units this year and about 100 million units in 2013. In comparison, consumers are expected to take home 37.8 million Android tablets this year (giving them a 32 percent marketshare) and 61.7 million next year.

The main issue for Android ” has been the lack of applications that are dedicated to tablets and therefore take advantage of their capabilities.”

As for Microsoft, Gartner says there will be 2.6 million Windows 8 tablets sold in 2012, and a mere 6.03 million in 2013 — though it predicts those tablets will end up in the hands of consumers who will be using them at work. It estimates that enterprise purchases will account for about a third of tablet sales in 2015.

National TV Sales and Rental "Rising Star" with company owner Mark Windsor Wednesday night.

National TV Sales and Rental put a twist in it’s annual company awards banquet this year with a friendly gambling, team-building and fundraising event that drew 114 employees and their guests to the Diamond Room in Springfield, Missouri.
 
The evening started more than two hours of real style gambling, hors d’ oeuvres, and catching up.

Upon arrival, each guest received $1,000 in play money with which to gamble to increase their "stash" (or to hold on to if they didn’t want to gamble). They could purchase more play money with all the proceeds going to charity.

Blackjack, Hold ‘Em, and Craps tables were set up staffed with professional dealers. Later on in the evening, attendees participated in an auction where guests used their play money to bid on prizes.

All proceeds went to National TV Sales & Rental "Families Helping Families" fund — the employees new charity to give back to all of the communities they serve. The event raised $1,275 with which employees can used to apply for matching grants.
 
The annual awards banquet closed out the evening.

See photo gallery.

Honorees include:

5 Year Award:
Ed Ulshafer

10 Year Award:
David Jackson
Dan Kopsas

25 Year Award:
Al Beals
Rick Windsor

Retirement Honoree:
Bob Fisher

Account Manager:
Albert Sutton, Versailles

Assistant Manager of the Year:
Kenny Kamrowski Aurora

Soaring Eagle:
Darwin Westhusing Clinton

The Soaring Eagle Award is voted on by the Corporate employees to the store employee who is Johnny on the spot and always handles thing the first time.  Paperwork perfect.  The one we wish we could duplicate.

Rookie of the Year:
Jason Shultz  Versaille

Rookie of the Year is awarded to an employee in any position that has been with National TV Sales and Rental less than a year and is really turning out to be a rock star.

Rising Star:
Fidel Delagarza  Carthage

Rising Star is the employee to watch as they are really turning it on and one to watch in the future. They have come a long way and are a very important team member.

Corporate Employee of the Year:
Aaron Windsor, District Manager

Store of the Year:
Lamar

Manager of the Year:
Tracy Morris Ava

Employee of the Year:
Dan Kopsas HR Corporate

Re-elected ORDA Secretary Keith Ferriman, President Mike Tissot, Treasurer Joel Ehrlich and Secretary Doug Higgins.

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 DO speak louder than our 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