Blog

All Americans across the country will be gathering in honor of Independence Day tomorrow, July 4th,  to celebrate in some way their political freedom.  I hope each of you enjoy your time off with friends and family whether you are grilling out, competing in potato sack races or shooting fireworks.  Happy Indenpence Day!  – Luke

“Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation and freedom in all just pursuits.” – Thomas Jefferson

Congrats to Julie and Mattie at Starkville Money Matters for finishing June with the highest percent over budget in key revenues, which is reported on the daily spreadsheet.  I feel certain this will translate into beating budget later in the month.  Julie and Mattie have made great strides in their office in the first 6 months of the year.  Good luck finishing the year strong.

Zeal without knowledge is fire without light- Thomas Fuller

Have a great day……Louis

On Friday the 27^th we had our Customer appreciation day in Greensboro, Alabama. Like all of our CAD’s days it started with a lot of work and preparation. The hot dogs were cooking and customers began to come by and visit, getting a bite to eat and signing up for the TV give away. This CAD started out just like all the ones before. We all enjoyed seeing our customers and even some potential new customers. One customer, Eva Laffiete, her husband and her 86 year old mother stopped by, they stayed and visited with all of us until Mrs. Eva had to take her mother to the bank. They were so nice to all of us.

As the day began to end we drew for the TV. When we pulled out the name it could not have been better, it was Mrs. Eva that had won the TV. We called Mrs. Eva and asked her to come down to the store. We were hoping for a surprise so we did not tell Mrs. Eva she had won, just that we needed to see her. We were all standing in the lobby when Mrs. Eva her Husband and her mother walked in to the store. We surprised her with the news she had won. The look on her face was priceless, tears began rolling down her face and the joy was overwhelming. She could not believe she had won. Tears were flowing and she began to make it around the room to each of us with a hug and a kiss. Mrs. Eva had made the day memorable just as we had done for her.  In all my years of serving customers this was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had. This just reinforces how we can touch lives every day.

Tommy

On Wednesday we wrapped up our second Montgomery Enterprises Management Camp of the year.  I had a great time and enjoyed the opportunity to visit with all of the team members in attendance.  I am looking forward to the next session set for September.  — Luke

We finished up our second management camp of 2014 yesterday.  We had two fun and very informative days.  I’m looking forward to receiving feedback today from everyone who attended so we can make the next camp even better.  Most of all, I can’t wait to see the results from the implementation of the practices we discussed at the camp.

Good luck to everyone as you “Sprint to the Finish” in June……Louis

Today I will be presenting an overview of the budget process and explaining “what matters most” when it comes to beating budget at our quarterly management camp. A lot of you are having an awesome month and I can’t wait to see how we end the month. Only a few more days left so make them count!

Rachel

Looking into a dictionary, one can find that the word“compliance” means that an individual or a group conforms with or obeys a set of rules or regulations determined by the law or any governing body.

When it comes to a business and corporate management, compliance refers to the company obeying all of the legal laws and regulations in regards to how they manage the business, their staff, and their treatment towards their consumers. The concept of compliance is to make sure that corporations act responsibly. So why is this important in a business?

Listed below are the benefits the concept of compliance brings into any business.

Avoidance of Criminal Charges

This is, perhaps, the most beneficial importance of compliance in a business. No business wants to face criminal charges for not adhering to the law. There are so many different regulations and laws in regards to how a business should manage its staff, how stock is handled, how advertising is handled, the rules of engagement when buying and selling, rules on negotiating with customers, on employee salary, safety rules, and so many others..

Building Positive Reputation

The success of your business pretty much depends on its public image. When a company starts facing several court cases, the general public will lose their trust in the company and sales in products and services will eventually drop. Compliance will ensure that a company can uphold a positive image and build consumer trust. This also helps build consumer loyalty, since customers are more likely going to return to a service or product from a company they identify as trustworthy.

Compliance is so important, and I want to personally thank everyone at our Money Matters location for working so diligently on the compliance training that has been assigned so far.  You truly are making strides to ensure that we are a world class corporation.  Keep up the good work!

LaTessa

Good listeners generally make more sales than good talkers. – B.C. Holwick

Minds are like parachutes– they only function when open. – Lord Thomas Dewar

A great man is made up of qualities that meet or make great occasions. –James Russell Lowell

Better to slip with the foot than with the tongue. – English Proverb

The price of wisdom is eternal thought. – Frank Birch

Have a great Weekend—Louis

Perseverance is a key to success. We all have tough days that we have to push through. I have witnessed a lot of you push through stressful days and wanted to share a few quotes on perseverance.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.

 ~Walter Elliott

Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.

~Dale Carnegie

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.

~Newt Gingrich

Have a great day!

Will

As all of you know each time of the year presents different challenges in our stores.

January – March – it’s all about pay outs

April – June – it’s all about growth and control

July – August – it is all about collections

September – December – it’s all about growth

With collections becoming the focal point in the next few months, I thought I would share some points on collections.

1 What determines the success of Collections is our relationship with the customer.

2. When do collections begin? It begins the second the customer walks in our door.

3. What are the two most important up-front tools we have to help us collect?  a) A complete application.  b) A strong loan closing.

4. Courtesy calls – It reminds the customer of their obligation, it increases the number of customers paying on time, it identifies disconnected phone numbers.

5. Payment in full – Always start with payment in full. Set the expectation and hold customers accountable.

6. Who is in control of the conversation when making a collections call? The person asking the questions.

7. Positives on a collection call. When a customer is called about a debt, they are automatically defensive. The best approach is to defuse the situation and turn it into a positive.

• Let the customer know we are here to help them.
• Find out what happened that caused them not to pay.
•  Let them know we want to help them find a solution.
• In most cases we want to be able to keep them as a customer, remind them that if they pay their debt we will be glad to re-loan them. We want our customer to know, we want them to always have a place to turn when they need extra cash.
• Let the customer know as long as they are in debt they can’t be our customer, and we want them as our customer.

Each day have a plan, have a focus and have a goal. What you do each day will determine your success. Make each day count. Happy collecting!

Tommy