Author: louis

Today is the Chinese New Year. Here are some fun facts on the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar.

– The Chinese year 4712 (2014) is the Year of the Horse

– People born in horse years are cheerful, skillful with money, perceptive, witty, talented and good with their hands

– At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children “lucky money” in red envelopes

– Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck

– Fireworks are a huge part of the celebrations. They believe the crackling sound drives away evil spirits

– The Lantern Festival is a huge part of the new year celebration.

Chinese Proverbs

– A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.

– A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.

– Dig the well before you are thirsty.

– If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it.

– He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

Have a great day.

Meredith

At Montgomery Enterprises, we continually stress that our goal is to provide better customer service than any of our competitors…championship customer service.  I recently read an article that stresses the importance of first impressions that I wanted to share with all of you.  The moment a potential customer sees you, his or her brain makes a thousand computations: Are you someone to approach or to avoid? Are you friend or foe? Do you have status and authority? Are you trustworthy, competent, likeable, confident?

And these computations are made at lightning speed. Researchers from NYU found that we make eleven major decisions about one another in the first seven seconds of meeting.

In business interactions, first impressions are crucial. While you can’t stop people from making snap decisions – the human brain is hardwired in this way as a prehistoric survival mechanism – you can understand how to make those decisions work in your favor.

First impressions are more heavily influenced by nonverbal cues than verbal cues. In fact, studies have found that nonverbal cues have over four times the impact on the impression you make than anything you say.  The way you listen, look, move, and react tells the other person whether or not you care, if you’re being truthful, and how well you’re listening. When your nonverbal signals match up with the words you’re saying, they increase trust, clarity, and rapport. When they don’t, they generate tension, mistrust, and confusion.

So, the next time a new customer walks in the door, remember that a good first impression will allow you to exceed that customer’s expectations and allow you to provide championship customer service to that individual for years to come.

Rachel

By now everyone should have their new daily boards posted in their stores with their numbers reported on them.  These daily boards are designed to mirror your monthly budget.  The boards will not only communicate where  you need to be by months end on important line items, but also keep you updated on the progress you are making on reaching your monthly budget.  I encourage you to spend some time reviewing your boards and comparing them to your budgets.  Your district manager will be happy to answer any questions you have!

If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there.- Yogi Berra

Have a Great Day-Louis

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite motivational articles on Attitude.

The author gives six ways on how to have a positive attitude and explains how to take control of your attitude. This article helps me to remember to always have a grateful attitude and not let others play a role in what kind of attitude I will have. It is truly a choice every morning to have a good attitude and we all should strive for that everyday.

1. Take responsibility for your attitude.

2. Evaluate your present attitude.

3. Develop the desire to change.

4. Change your attitude by changing your thoughts.

5. Develop good habits.

6. Manage your attitude daily.

I have attached the link for this article.  http://bmw4us.org/Journal/motivation/#.Ut6FENLnaUk

Have a great Friday!

Meredith

One of the most important metrics we use at Simple Pawn & Jewelry to gage success is our employee productivity numbers.  Each employee is tracked on our five income sources: Sales, Pawns, Interest Collected, Buys, and Layaways.  These numbers are tracked daily on a board in the back room and reviewed at our weekly meeting. Congrats to Justin who has had the highest productivity numbers for two of the first three weeks of January.  Great job Justin!

You can’t expect to win unless you know why you lose- Benjamin Lipson

Have a great day-Louis

We just recently wrapped up production on our latest Approved Auto Sales television commercial.  The commercial will begin running this month as we ramp up for tax season. – Luke

Click on link below to view Super Sammy.

http://vimeo.com/84645351

“We say YES” – Sammy Stephens

I read an article last week in the paper that was spotlighting the manager of a local drugstore. In the article, he talked about how his goal was for every customer to ask for him when they came into the store.  I immediately thought of several times that I happened to wait on a customer while in one of our stores and the customer asked me where the store manager or assistant manager was, if anything was wrong, how they were doing, etc.  This is, of course, just one of the many ways our company exhibits championship customer service. If you are a new employee, challenge yourself to make every customer ask for you when he or she comes in the door.  Build those relationships because it will most likely pay great dividends in the future.

Happy Monday Everyone!
Rachel

One newsletter I read on a weekly basis is “Work Is Not For Sissies” by Glenn Shepard, whom many of you have heard speak on collections and management.  Glenn’s newsletter this week addressed self-esteem and more importantly the significance of surrounding yourself with High Quality People (HQP).  Glenn explains we all go through periods in our lives when we get “knocked down” and our self confidence gets rattled.  These are the moments we rely on the HQP we have surrounded ourselves with to help pick us up.

One way to attract more HQP into your life is to lead by example and become the kind of HQP that constantly encourages and lifts other up.  Glenn’s newsletter lead me to some self assessing this week- When was the last time I let someone who was “knocked down” know that I believe in them?  Are my daily actions helping lift people up or helping knock people down?

I believe by focusing on becoming a HQP and surrounding ourselves with HQP we will see great improvement in our personal and professional lives.

No one can be great at everything, but everyone can be great at something- Glenn Shepard

Have a great day….Louis

This year, my hope is that we all strive to embody the five values in our company vision and value statement.  To me each value whether its superior in the industry, prosperous team members, effective productivity, shining examples of cleanliness or champions of customer service, these values can only be accomplished by moving from being an ordinary employee to an extraordinary employee.  I recently read a n online blog written by the John Maxwell Company that talked about how the distance between ordinary and extraordinary is shorter than you think.  I found it to be very inspiring and wanted to share with all of you.

Here are some “extras” that can help you close the gap between ordinary and extraordinary:

A little extra effort. There is a price to be paid for achievement. Sometimes it’s a large price. But sometimes just a little extra effort can yield significant results. What price are you willing to pay for success?

A little extra time. To give something time, we need something other than perseverance. We need patience with the process of growth.  Leaders develop daily, not in a day.

A little extra help. Many types of success can only be achieved with help. If you refuse to ask for – or accept – it, you limit yourself and your work to a lower level of achievement.

Remember that ordinary and extraordinary are not far apart. If you accomplish just one of the above “extras,” your work will begin to be above average in that area.

If Ordinary People …

Gave a Little Extra Effort,

Spent a Little Extra Time,

Sought a Little Extra Help …

They Would Become Extraordinary!