RTOHQ: The Magazine, Summer 2018

is coming to an end We also dont do ourselves any favors when we run out of our core items when we dont move used stuff fast enough and when there are no true specials in the store Sales processes in my stores needed to visit the emergency room There are many questions to ask in collections to get to the core of why customers are not paying or not paying how we would like In collections we are not firm early enough We have this good customer on the brain that is our excuse to every question How many good customers really go 21 days past due We have used technology to be a very easy collector to avoid Do you know how easy it is to avoid one call and a couple text messages Heck they have probably blocked our number When you dig into running accounts the actual field work we realize quickly that it has changed and people dont have money and when I say money I mean cash Our collectors have to be better on the phone now more than ever but the real issue in collection that will be identified when questioning is how much harder we make it by so many short cuts We dont get customers set up to pay online or via reccurring payments Wow What if we did We get products back because they were not delivered perfectly and maybe as impactful as anything we learn that we have bad payment takers That my RTO friends is death to collections Evaluating marketing is similar to sales in many ways but it is like farming to us When we are not doing the things in stores to get in front of them every week it takes weeks to recover There are many new ways to market and we are working to re invent all of those but the glaring wound in our marketing was traditional sales calls and personalized solicitation That still works if done as a rifle approach and not a shotgun The batch and blast is fine but not in store 42 RTOHQ The Magazine Employees need targets and when we did just that more customers grew in 2017 than any other year of our companys history We were randomly picking people to call or mail with really weak offers and its the offer that has to make customers want to get off the couch There are lost customers that can be persuaded The question is is the right person trying to persuade customers and are they persuasive enough Do you have an intern doing heart surgery Lastly we did triage on our business model Questions asked included are we still the best deal in town Why would customers pick us Do we know what makes our customers mad Do we know what they want We knew it I think but what we re enforced in all of our stores were the things we stand for We are nice so we have to let our people be nice That included letting employees wear jeans on Saturday a huge deal for a Darrell Tissot shirt and tie company We have to be agile We must have the best selection Some stores were not offering that up and that was a real issue Lastly service is not just a word We know that we use these products as vehicles to generate our revenue and they have to keep working or get them switched out During triage we learned we could do better It has to be a candid process to make an impact You have to be willing to see your warts They are there Even in your best stores RTO is not dead RTO is just rising I am bullish and in times like these when we really work at it we can find ways to create a company that is amazing for customers and our teams I would encourage everyone to do a little triage now and again Mike Tissot is an APRO member and president of Countryside Rentals dba Rent 2 Own located in Ohio and Kentucky RTO is not dead RTO is just rising I am bullish and in times like these when we really work at it we can find ways to create a company that is amazing for customers and our teams Mike Tissot