Simple Management Group Newsletter - March 2022

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