Author: Luke Montgomery

I am a firm believer that anytime you find a reason to celebrate then it is important to celebrate as soon as possible.  During the month of February the team members of Approved Auto Sales had four goals that they were striving to reach.  Due to their hard work and the attitude that they all bring to work everyday the team members at Approved Auto were successful in reaching ALL FOUR goals that were set for February.  Let’s celebrate!

As soon as the final figures were tallied for February and we saw that we had hit all four goals the team members at Approved were asked how they wanted to celebrate.  Their quick reply was that they wanted to have dinner at the Outback in Tupelo.  Last night the Approved team, Louis and myself capped off a successful month with blooming onions and juicy steaks.  Keep up the great work at Approved Auto everybody and be thinking about where we can eat next month! — Luke

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from reaching his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” 

February is shaping up to be the best sales month at Simple Pawn in the shop’s history.  Coming in to this last week of the month we have set the Simple Pawn team a stretch goal to end the month this Friday with a total of $50,000 in sales.  We feel great about their chances of hitting this goal as their sales have been trending upwards significantly over the last few weeks. On top of that, yesterday we received a huge load of electronics to sell that included fifty flat screen TV’s, I-pods, Go Pro cameras and several other hot items that should be a hit with customers.

I want to wish Alex, Melissa, Justin and Josh good luck in hitting their stretch goal this week!  We can do this! — Luke

“In order to succeed your desire for success should be stronger than your fear of failure.”  Bill Cosby

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”  Vince Lombardi

Today I would like to brag on the employees of Approved Auto in Fulton.

February and March are the two biggest months for buy here pay here car dealerships because many Americans use a portion of their tax refunds as a down payment for a new means of transportation.  Also, many customers use their tax money to get caught up on their current car payments that they have fallen behind on over the course of the previous year.  So, the staff at Approved have been anxiously awaiting the day when the tax money would start showing up.

Yesterday afternoon while in my office in a meeting my phone kept vibrating and beeping.  Not wanting to be rude to the person I was meeting with I tried my best to not be distracted by the text message the noise represented.  However, after about three alerts I grabbed my phone to see who kept messaging me.  It was Laken at the car lot.  “The tax money is here.  We just had an H&R Block check come in.”

Not long after that I had to run over to Simple Pawn which is located within the same building as Approved Auto Sales.  Seeing me pull up, our collector at Approved, Amy came straight from her office at a brisk pace to excitedly let me know that they were seeing tax money.  You could tell she was excited about what that meant for her job.  She had been working with customers for weeks now trying to get them current on their accounts and many had plans of using their tax money to become current.

The excitement that the ladies at Approved have for their work is a huge part of what makes them successful.  This excitement is contagious and spreads not only to co-workers but to customers as well.

Hope everyone has an exciting Friday….Luke

This past Monday I sat in and participated on the morning conference call with the managers in district 3 and thought I would share my message from that call with the rest of the team via the blog today.

On the call I explained to everyone that it is understandable if our company’s move to working off of budgets was an unsettling transition for them.  It has actually been fairly stressful for all those involved and I described three phases that many of us who developed the budgets went through over the past few months.

The first phase, which is when we made the commitment to develop budgets, could be described as stressful and uncomfortable.  For a somewhat small company this seemed like a daunting task that, if not done properly, could be painful.  These feelings lasted only until we actually quit worrying and got to work on preparing the budgets.

The second phase saw us grow more comfortable with the budgeting process yet we were still somewhat uneasy.  However, as we dug deeper into the process we felt a small sense of relief and the more we worked on them the more our anxiety began to fade.  We knew that with the amount of effort the accounting department and management team had dedicated to getting the budgets right that we were going to be successful.

The final phase occurred after the budgets were completed and ready to roll out.  As we were reviewing every office’s budget multiple times while finalizing the budgets we started to become excited about how effective the budgets would be for the company.  I have no doubt that as many of you grow more familiar with the budgeting process you too will become excited about working off budgets.  I am sure many of you are not quite to that “excited” phase yet but I feel sure you will be in time.

As I mentioned, once we got to work in developing the budgets we found ourselves less stressed.  That’s really the way it goes. . . the harder you work the less you worry! —Luke

“All things are difficult before they are easy.”  Thomas Fuller

As you know, one of the components of our Montgomery Enterprises Vision and Values Statement is Cleanliness.

“Out of respect for our customers and ourselves, our locations will be a shining example of cleanliness and attention to detail.”

I want to strongly encourage everyone in the company to take a fresh look around their office or place of business to make sure we are carrying out this key component of our value system.  Is the parking lot clean and weed free?  Are the front doors cleaned at least daily?  Are the counters clean and in order?  Is your office’s signage up to date and fresh looking?  How does your back room look?  What about the bathroom?

As we have said before, we treat our customers like guests in our homes.  Don’t you always try to clean up “extra good” when important company is visiting?  Well, our customers are the most important part of our success so let’s clean up “extra good” everyday!  — Luke

“High expectations are the key to everything.”  Sam Walton

Headed your way is a framed poster size version of our Montgomery Enterprises Vision and Values Statement.  Jonjon had them all framed last week and we hung the first one at the home office here in Fulton.

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”  Helen Keller

To all of our team members and their families I want to wish you a Happy New Year!  Thanks for everything you do! — Luke

“Write it in your heart that everyday is the best day in the year.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lose weight, quit smoking, become debt free, be a better person. These activities must be lots of fun because I know people who work hard to do them every single year!

According to figures I found online roughly half of American’s will make some form of New Year’s resolution this January and, of those, approximately 88% will fail.  I kept looking online and found some tips to help us all make better resolutions for 2014.

1. Attitude:  Start the process of change with a positive and healthy attitude.  Make as many of the resolutions “I will” commitments, as opposed to “I will not. . .”
2. Be Specific:  When thinking about your goal, be exact as possible.  People who set specific goals are more likely to succeed.  For example, “I will attend yoga twice per week” instead of “I will exercise.”  Or, “I will save 20 dollars each paycheck,” rather than “I will save money.”
3. Put it in writing.  Write down exactly what you want to achieve and post it in a place where you will see it every day.  This will help remind you what you are working toward.
4. Set realistic goals.  When you think about setting goals, make sure they are within your reach.  Be mindful of your finances, schedule, and other personal affairs.  Many people forget to think about these facts and, as a result, set unrealistic goals for themselves.
5. Develop an action plan.  Create a timeline with steps toward your goal.  Set deadlines for each step and cross them off as you go.  Sometimes, just crossing things off and watching your list get smaller can give you a sense of accomplishment and help you keep going.
6. Believe in yourself.  Stay positive about your progress.  Share your goal with a friend or family member and ask them to keep your spirits up.
7. Be flexible.  Keep in mind that setbacks can happen.  Don’t become discouraged and give up.  Your hard work will pay off!
8. Reward yourself.  Acknowledge your achievements, even the small ones.  Reaching a goal takes hard work and you should be proud of your efforts.

My challenge to you today is to pick that one personal goal you have been wanting to accomplish for some time now and use this helpful list to make you successful towards that goal.  Good luck!

This will be my last post until after Christmas so I would like to wish all of our team members a very Merry Christmas. — Luke

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”  Norman Vincent Peale

At Simple Pawn and Jewelry we are having weekly contests for the month of December where one team member has the opportunity to win an extra $20.00 bill.  The competition takes under consideration all of the most important aspects of the pawn business- lending, collecting, sales and purchases to name a few.  By adding these figures along with a couple of others we come up with our “productivity”.  For our first week of the competition Justin came out on top and was presented his $20.00 by Louis.  Congratulations Justin and good luck to the entire Simple Pawn team with the rest of the Christmas Season! — Luke

“Productivity is never an accident.  It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused effort.”  Paul Meyer

It seems hard to believe that 2013 is now less than one month away from being in the history books.  My how time flies!

I wanted to remind everyone via the blog today that, given the fact that December is our busiest month of the year, we need to make sure we are bringing our “A” Game to work each and every day in terms of customer service.  Over the next month we should see some extremely busy days within all of our respective businesses and at times it might seem stressful.  However, we must be vigilant in that during these bustling high traffic days we don’t let our guard slip in offering every single customer championship caliber service.

Over the next month all of you will see many brand new customers and also several customers who are returning after months or years once again in need of our services.  We must make sure that we treat these customers to the level of service that will cause them to be ambassadors for our given businesses.  We should strive to provide service that makes our customers want to tell co-workers, family and friends about their experience with Montgomery Enterprises.  Are you providing your customers with this experience?

Good luck to everyone this December! — Luke

“Customer satisfaction is worthless.  Customer loyalty is priceless.”  Jeffrey Gitomer