MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
FOCUS The Monthly Newsletter of Simple Management Group
We had a great month in February, beating I N T H I S I S S U E budget and exceeding prior year results by more than 20%. Our Valentine’s Day sales were a huge success, and we had very high CEO CORNER - 2 firearm sales, which resulted in our strongest February yet for retail sales. A special mention THE ART OF UPSELLING - 3 Alison Verni-Cowen to the Simple Pawn region for exceeding their combined net revenue budget substantially! STORE RANKINGS - 4 Controller Our loan book remains strong, well ahead of budget, and is up more than 13% over prior TEAM HIGHLIGHTS year. With new inventory added, our stores FEBRUARY TOP 10 - 5 were able to deliver strong February results. Great job team! WELCOME ABOARD - 6-7
HR UPDATES - 7 CELEBRATIONS - 8 EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT - 9 PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS-10 CUSTOMER LEAD LOG 11 WEBINAR SCHEDULE - 11 LOSS PREVENTION - 12
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- 13
LAYAWAY PROGRAM UPDATE PROTECTION PLAN SUCCESS TESTIMONIALS
OCTOBER 2020 | VOL. X
MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
CEO CORNER
Leaders can create long term benefits by focusing on short term wins. Two ways to accomplish this are to implement visible organizational improvements in a shorter window of time and ensure that the improvements are clearly tied to the change effort. The years 2020 and 2021 brought change to our lives in various aspects, no matter what country you live in. Our business changed, the way we interact with others changed, the cost of living has changed, and the list goes on. As we navigate all the changes we have encountered, I want to challenge you to embrace change.
“Every success story is a tale of constant adaptation, revision and change.” —Richard Branson
As we start 2022, there have been changes to our company; we are adding new talent to our team, all with a plenitude of experience in our industry, and with these additions, you will see changes in our business. There will be growth in different markets as we acquire and build new stores, changes in business practices, the way our stores look, communication, support from your home office staff, and more. One of the things we discussed in January at our Annual Manager’s Meeting was our Communication Model and the importance of communicating with your team; this is exactly what your management team and I plan to do. The Communication Model taught us that poor communication or lack of can lead to fear and loss of trust, but talking to our team members, identifying concerns, and communicating valuable information can ease these fears and create a productive work environment. In the upcoming months, my challenge to you is to embrace all the changes we are making as a company and manage your team by communicating with them through Monday Morning Meetings, Huddle Ups, and One On Ones. These activities help to build trust and generate short-term Wins. Let's utilize the tools that are available to us and all team members. Win the month!
John Thedford
CEO
MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
The Art of Upselling Greg Weiss, AJP, GG (GIA) Director of Jewelry Operations
Want a raise right now? Want happy customers and
2. Do not ask how much they want to spend
more repeat business? Then learn how to Upsell!
This can make people feel small and pre-
Upselling is a sales strategy that involves inspiring
judged.
customers to buy a better version of a product than
It is easy to come down in price, but customers
what they originally intended to purchase. The idea is
feel pressured when going up.
to show the customer how this more expensive item
The customer will tell you their budget after
will be better for them than the lower-priced item.
you show some items. Customers often spend more than they
To know what is best for your customer, you need to
originally planned.
ask questions to understand what Features & Benefits are important and how the higher-end item will be better for the customer. Keep in mind that you should
3. Loan/Option Guarantee Card
Reinforces value
only upsell the customer to a product that truly is better for them so they will be happy in the long run and will be a repeat customer.
4. Suggest Layaway
Gives time to get the nicer item
Upselling does not mean getting customers to spend
Do not let your customers get stuck with something
more on items they don’t want or need.
cheap that will not meet their needs or make them happy in the long run.
Some strategies to get the customer to see the value in INSIDE THIS QUARTER'S
ISSUE: the nicer item are…
Upsell your customers so they will be happy, and
1. Start at the top, show the nice stuff!
you will make more money. Everyone is a winner!
New Employees - 2 Aim high, and you may hit it. 😊 Aim low and hit it Reminders - 3 every time. ☹
Set expectations for what something nice will cost. People feel good when you assume they can afford something nicer.
Famous Sales Quote: “Good things are not cheap. Cheap things are seldom good.” Zig Ziglar
MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
STORE RANKINGS FEBRUARY 2022
1
Cayman, George Town
$101,332
TOP 3 STORES IN NET REVENUE
2
Florida, St Cloud
$62,306
3
Jamaica, Montego Bay
$53,080
LAYAWAY BALANCE TOP 10 - FEB 2022
GOOGLE REVIEWS TOP 10
1
Cayman, George Town
$375,486
1
Florida, Kissimmee
610
2
Florida, Kissimmee
$263,848
2
Florida, St. Cloud
599
3
Florida, St. Cloud
$175,217
3
Florida, Poinciana
351
4
Bahamas, Freeport
$161,323
4
Jamaica, Kingston
350
5
Florida, Poinciana
$157,317
5
Barbados, Bridgetown
315
6
Barbados, Bridgetown
$110,890
6
Jamaica, Montego Bay
307
$106,129
7
Barbados, Oistins
233
7
Bahamas, Nassau
8
Barbados, Oistins
$105,940
8
Jamaica, May Pen
227
9
Dominica, Roseau
$84,560
9
Grenada, St George's
171
10
Antigua, St Johns
$75,943
10
Bahamas, Freeport
155
FEBRUARY TOP 10
Ricardo Maldonado
Ruben Parra
Kissimmee, FL $49,637
Kissimmee, FL $25,639
Austin Reyes
Deandrea Rahming
St. Cloud, FL $45,210
Nassau, Bahamas $22,671
Jessenia Rasado Kissimmee, FL $39,976
Wilmar Mazo St Cloud, FL $38,779
Yanique Spence Montego Bay, Jamaica $20,130
Lianabell Vargas Poinciana, FL $19,571
Brian Nepa
Martita Rodriquez
Grand Cayman $29,153
Poinciana, FL $19,073
MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
WELCOME ABOARD Say Hello to the Newest Members of the Team!
Paula Valdez-Lightbourne
Brittania Jackson
Sales Associate
Sales Associate
Turks and Caicos Uptown
Kingston Jamaica
Ashere Foster Sales Associate
Bridgetown Barbados
Aldronie Desdunes Sales Associate
Kingston Jamaica
Kevin Ramos Olmeda Sales Associate Kissimmee Florida
Saskia Wiltshire Sales Associate
Bridgetown Barbados
Jonathan Joseph
Shameka Allen
Sales Associate
Sales Associate
Oistins Barbados
Antigua
Laquanda Grant Sales Associate
Kingston Jamaica
Brittney Joseph-Strachan Sales Associate
Bridgetown Barbados
MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
WELCOME ABOARD
Say Hello to the Newest Members of the Coporate Team! Keith Sexton Director of Business Development
Keith is an industry veteran with a wealth of experience in developing and implementing sustainable plans for management and development of brands. He has taken multiple single store operations to multi store success stories. The range of his skills includes everything from demographics and site consideration to strong business development and operations management.
HR UPDATE OUR ELECTRONIC TIMECARD SYSTEM ANNOUCEMENT I am excited to announce effective March 1, the company will begin utilizing its electronic timekeeping system in PeopleHR to process payroll. This system will replace the weekly manual spreadsheets previously submitted by managers. The change is intended to ensure we are operating effectively at scale and make the payroll process easier for all those who have oversight of this function. PeopleHR is a user-friendly system and provides real-time information about hours worked and available leave balances. New team members will receive a notification via company email to create their profile to access the portal via a web interface or the App. The HR team has developed several resources to assist you in learning how to use the system and will be communicating via the news section of the application. Team members who need a refresher are encouraged to reach out to their managers or the HR department for assistance. IMPORTANT: Manual time reports will no longer be accepted by Human Resources. Erroneous entries and omissions must be reported immediately to a manager for correction to avoid payroll processing errors. All team members, including managers, are required to use this system to track time and attendance.
Thank you very much in advance for your cooperation as we transition to this exciting new process.
Rebecca Vieira Cox
Director, Human Resources
The PeopleHR app allows team members to clock in and out on their phones. Mobile is a great feature. The geolocation ensures that you are clocking in at the correct location.
MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
CELEBRATIONS SERVICE ANNIVERSARIES Yanique Spence Montego Bay March 3 - 10 Years
David Skibinski USA March 1 - 1 Year
Georgia Graham May Pen March 10 - 7 Years
Bernard Cooper Freeport March 1 - 1 Year
Keisha Dricketts Kingston March 1 - 4 Years
Emilio Diaz Kissimmee March 15 - 1 Year
Kadian Hutchinson Debra Allen Kingston New Smyrna March 12 - 4 Years March 15- 1 Year Lanajia Burrows Freeport March 19 - 4 Years
Kirt Greenidge Bridgetown March 22 - 1 Year
Yves "Andy" Florvil Steven Gainey Turks and Caicos New Smyrna March 7 - 3 Years March 22 - 1 Year Shenel Morris May Pen March 23 - 2 Years Ruben Parra Kissimmee March 6 - 2 Years
Elrico Frederick St Vincent March 22 - 1 Year
BIRTHDAYS Aloha Wallace - March 2 Chyna Broderick - March 6 Tkeyah Burton - March 10 Tasha Thomas - March 12 Kadian Hutchinson - March 15 Simon Dolcy - March 15 Kimberley Walrond - March 19
Oriel Cox - March 24 Jennifer Kanistras - March 31
TEAM MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Current Role: Senior Sales Associate How long have you been with the company? This year marks my 10th anniversary with the company. What is your top goal for 2022? My goal for this year is to be Number 1 SA in the company in all areas. What is your greatest career accomplishment so far? Being ranked as a top Sales Associate in my region. What would your coworkers be surprised to know about you? I was a hairdresser. What do you enjoy doing outside of work? Visiting the local resorts.
MONTEGO BAY JAMAICA
YANIQUE SPENCE MONTEGO BAY
MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3 MAR. 2020, ISSUE 5
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR FEBRUARY WINNERS!
TOP STORE FOR FEBRUARY - ST CLOUD Congratulations to manager Marilyn Vasquez and the St Cloud team on achieving top store status for the month of February.
MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
Jackie Garcia Training Coordinator
HERE'S HOW A CUSTOMER LEAD LOG WILL BOOST YOUR SALES AND PRODUCTIVITY Consistent success in sales requires a distinct strategy, a repeatable process and a clear plan to execute with commitment and passion. A Customer Lead Log is a great tool that helps you generate sales, build good rapport with customers and increase repeat business. A Customer Lead Log is a must-have tool for building your customer base and keeping track of your customer information such as past purchases and interactions. Having this history easily accessible can help you provide better and faster customer service, focusing on the customer unique wants and needs. It will also assist you in tracking important dates for your customers to facilitate their gift buying ideas. Most of all, it allows you to maximize your sales and productivity goals each week. Need more information about this great tool? Send me an email at jackie@smg.inc.
UPCOMING WEBINARS
READ MORE
MARCH 2022
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
Loss Prevention It all begins at the counter! BY JENNIFER KANISTRAS
The life of any item in our store begins at the loan counter. What happens here can decide the item's fate. Sound strange, of course, but think about it; when you are taking an item in as a buy or pawn/option there is lots of information you must collect to describe the item accurately, qualify the transaction, enter the
customer
information,
all
important
things. So, I ask the question, if you had to grade yourself, what would your grade be, an A or an F or someplace in between.
It
is
important
to
provide
correct
the transaction is taking place. This means describing tools by the correct brand or type, including serial numbers, color or identifying marks and a picture. If entering each
piece
needs
to
be
entered
separately with accurate weights, carat of gold, item description, color of the stone, and number of stones.
this
because
information if
correctly
the at
is
important
is
described
item the
time
of
the
transaction, it is easy to track. If not, it can make it difficult at the time of forfeit. Items described incorrectly often make it difficult to reconcile forfeits and items get mistagged, which causes shrinkage. Does it make sense to you now how an
information when describing an item when
gold,
All
item's
fate
is
decided
at
the
counter? To be the best at what we do,
we
collecting
must and
be
sure
entering
we
are
correct
information into our system. This is the first step to defeating shrink in our stores.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
90 Day Layaway Program The benefit of our layaway program is to help our customers buy something that they are unable to purchase at the current time with a simple and free payment plan. Starting March 1st, 2022, the Layaway Plan will be as follows: 90 Day Layaway 10% down, 30% each month 6-month Layaway on items over $2,000 USD with Regional Director approval. 10% down, 15% each month. 10% restocking fee of the original price for cancelled layaways. Layaway transactions processed before March 1st, 2022, will have the original contract time. Knowing that popular or “cream” items are usually the first to go on layaway, please ensure we are getting the proper payments from the customers. It is important to explain the contract and let them know how much each monthly payment will be. If a customer cannot make the required payment amount, the SA will need to get a manager involved to work with the customer.
Simple Protection Plan Success Stories "We quote the price inclusive of the protection plan using the starburst tags. We also educate the customer of at least two benefits they get with the protection plan." Dionne Luke, Manager, Oistins "Add the 10% in the price, and the Protection Plan will automatically sell itself. This strategy has resulted in the Kingston store almost doubling their target for February." Cargill Brown, Regional Manager, Jamaica
MARCH 2022
OUR VISION To be the largest and most profitable chain of pawn stores in the world. PURPOSE
Best at whatever we do; because our family, customers, community, & company deserve it.
VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
Your Corporate Support Team John Thedford - CEO Gethin Huckle - CFO Jeff Archer - CIO Alison Verni - Controller Joe Genovese- VP of Operations Rebecca Vieira Cox - Director of HR Jennifer Kanistras- Auditor Jackie Garcia - Training Coordinator Nanci Wynn - Accountant Leslie Matthews - Payroll Accountant Debbie Smith - Bookkeeper Viktoria Williamson - Executive Legal Assistant Samantha Miller -Employee Experience Coordinator
CORE VALUES
Great Teams Excellence in Every Role Green and Clean Open Culture of Trust and Accountability Celebrate Our Accomplishments
Corporate Office 625 Main Street Windermere Florida, 34786 +1 321. 424. 5919