Uncategorized

This past Friday afternoon I noticed Amanda and Alise standing over their desk writing something down. When I walked past them I noticed they were writing Tiffany, the new employee at Fulton, a welcome note. I thought to myself, what a great way to be welcomed on your first day at work. Not only did they write her a note, Amanda and Alise stocked Tiffany’s desk with supplies and had a little happy waiting for her. They were making sure Tiffany’s first day would be great and she would feel welcomed! Awesome job on going above and beyond!

Welcome aboard Tiffany. We hope your first day is great!

“Doing what’s expected of you can make you good, but it’s the time you spend going above and beyond what’s required that makes you great!” — Josh S. Hinds

Have a great Monday!

Meredith

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

We all remember the stress we deal with when we begin a new job. Onboarding, also known as organizational socialization, refers to how a company brings along new employees. From the moment our new employees walk through our doors they will be evaluating our company and formulating their opinions.  Research has demonstrated that positive onboarding leads to positive outcomes for new employees such as higher job satisfaction, better job performance, greater organizational commitment, reduction in stress and intent to quit. Let’s all work hard to make a good first impression with our new employees by welcoming them to the team. – Will

 “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford

One of the most common blog topics centers around the importance of having goals.  Today I want to recognize a group of guys who accomplished their goals for the month of January.  Randy, Joe, Andrew, and Zack at M&M Garage are responsible for processing new inventory and taking care of the warranty work for Approved Auto.  They were able to accomplished their goal last month of the number of cars processed through the shop.  As with any worthy goal, the guys were not able to achieve it without a little adversity.  We experienced abnormally cold weather in the month of January which led to an increase in the number of warranty issues they were having to turn their attention to.  By being able to take care of these issues as well as keep the inventory full on our lots we are able to use our capital to replace inventory instead of paying outside mechanics to work on our warranty issues.  Congrats on a very successful month!

Aim high!  It is no harder on your gun to shoot the feathers off an eagle than to shoot the fur off a skunk.  -Troy Moore

Have a Great Day….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

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

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