Last month, APRO Vice President of Membership Jen Troke had the chance to go behind the scenes at APRO member Texas RTO Investments Inc. dba Premier Rental-Purchase. Here’s her story.
I recently had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few days working at several Premier stores in the San Antonio, Texas, area. My only other retail experience had been selling housewares in a department store, and I loved it! I enjoyed visiting with customers to find out more about their needs and then fulfilling those needs – well, maybe wants, in the case of Kitchen-Aid stand mixers! But I’d never worked in a rent-to-own store before, and had been champing at the bit to get some real hands-on experience since I started with APRO.
The award-winning Texas RTO team welcomed me warmly as I arrived at their San Antonio-based Fair Avenue store. I was immediately struck by the exuberant energy coming from the team. The very first thing they proudly showed me was their Core Values poster, which uses the acronym DIPIT: Drive, Integrity, Passion, Intensity, and Teamwork. This team loves working together because of these core values – they won’t work with anyone who doesn’t share them.
The DIPIT values are so important that they’ve become integrated into interview questions; one manager noted, “If [interviewees] have these values, we can train them on the RTO business.” The Core Values have also become a measure for team members to “check themselves” and make sure they’ve had a successful day. The benefits? Minimized staff turnover and a wildly motivated team!
And the benefits of the DIPIT strategy aren’t confined to the team; they’re applied to customer interactions, too. Premier’s philosophy for keeping customers is simple: If we treat them well and take good care of them, then why wouldn’t they come back? The approach is grounded in serving their community; customers come back because they love the products and are treated with respect.
My greatest impression upon entering the stores was how beautiful they were, and I loved how the customers were treated with so much care across the board. There was beautiful furniture and smiling faces all around!
This is only the first of many lessons I learned during my time at Premier, and I can’t wait to share all the skills and reflections I gained from my time working in San Antonio rent-to-own. Stay tuned for the Summer 2024 issue of RTOHQ: The Magazine for much, much more on this winning team’s secrets to success!
