Association of Progressive Rental Organizations

RNR Managers Play Hard and Work Harder at Annual Meeting

APRO Executive Director Jill McClure with RNR’s Matthew Warren, Adam Sutton and Larry Sutton

RNR managers from across the country gathered October 16-17 in Memphis, Tennessee for the RNR Tire Express Manager’s Meeting co-sponsored by Yokohama Tire. The event featured a day of highly informative educational sessions followed by a day of tearing up the track at Yokohama’s Ride and Drive event. At the manager’s meeting, RNR Tire Express Founder and President Larry Sutton announced some exciting news about the franchise: the opening of its 100^th store, plans to push 20 more openings by the end of the year, and an increase of 24.5 percent in total revenue this year. “The success of this business is all about you and I am humbled to be with this group,” says Sutton. “I am a dreamer and I dream huge. We might not hit 120 stores by the end of the year, but we’re going to push the heck out of it.” Longtime APRO member Shannon Strunk of Baber’s, also spoke to attendees about the importance of learning from your mistakes, resisting the impulse to respond with “no” but instead asking “how,” and discovering the limitations that keep you from growth. “Do you know your limitations?” asks Strunk. “Break through your chains. What is the reason why you can’t do what you already do, better?”

Sutton introduced RNR’s new slogan—Serve Not Service—that encapsulates a fully engaged customer experience.

Additional speakers included RNR’s Director of Hiring and Training Matthew Warren, RNR’s Executive Vice President Adam Sutton, and APRO’s First Vice President and RNR franchisee David Harrison. Warren introduced attendees to RNR University, the company’s robust new training model that features Whiteboard animation training videos, interactive quizzes and detailed reporting. “Training is not a checklist,” says Warren. “Together we can uncover true potential for employees to be store managers, regional managers and store owners.” Adam Sutton—Larry Sutton’s son—shared his background and experience growing up in the rent-to-own industry. He touched on some of the initiatives the company is working on that encompass customer experience, recruiting and technology. Sutton introduced RNR’s new slogan—Serve Not Service—that encapsulates a fully engaged customer experience. “If we treat our customers like kings and queens and their children like princes and princesses they will be lifelong advocates of our company,” says Sutton.

Harrison closed the meeting by sharing his personal story about overcoming adversity and the power of believing. “Someone has been selling you all your life—your parents, teachers, spouse—and at some point, you bought that idea,” says Harrison. “You decided that you would be whatever that was. My challenge to you is do you want to accept what others have sold you or do you want to challenge that and see how far you can go? You can make the decisions that define who are.” Yokohama hosted the Ride and Drive event that allowed attendees an opportunity to test four different sets of Yokohama tires on various BMW’s while also participating in some friendly competition on the track. Click here to view more photos of RNR’s 2017 Yokohama Manager’s Meeting.