NOVEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 11
Since 2009, Simple Management Group has provided corporate leadership to non-traditional financial & retail establishments throughout the Caribbean and United States.
The Presidents Corner This time of year can rapidly get away from us unless we are prepared! By now every store team should have their BLACK FRIDAY retail sales event flyer prepared and available to share with every customer. This will be the big-gest shopping day of the year! Not only is this the time to create awareness, it is time to plan! You should be identifying specific pieces of jewelry that can be specially presented on Black Friday at aggressive prices. You should be combing your general merchandise and holding back great items that will be displayed and appropriately priced for your Black Friday event. During your daily loan and layaway calls, you need to be promoting your Black Friday sales event. In your Monday morning meetings, you need to be focusing hard on creating value on the items you are attempting to sell, adding on and closing. Do some role playing so you are an expert at closing the sale! This should be your primary sales focus for this time of year. Don’t rely on discounting! Rely on your ability to create value for the customer and to sell your merchandise at the tagged price. One of our important core values is our Green & Clean philosophy. In preparation for these big events and for the busy months of November and December, your store and parking lot should be as clean and fresh as the first day you opened your store for business! Parking lots should be free of weeds and trash. Cigarette butts should be not wedged in the cracks of your sidewalk and drive-way. Check to make sure that both the front and back of your store are Green & Clean every hour of every day you are open! Reminder...don’t pass it up, pick it up! Green & Clean is not about discipline, it’s about the PRIDE you have in your store, your team and yourself. We all want these next two months to be our most successful in our history. Let’s live our vision and have a great month of November. We’re best in everything we do, but we can grow and get better every day!
John Thedford, CEO
IN THIS ISSUE Sales Competition Employee Spotlight Rankings Google Reviews Great Teams Webinar Training Sales Tips Jewelry Training New Hires In the News Celebrations Corporate Team
pg. 2 pg. 3 pg. 4 pg. 5 pg. 6 pg. 7 pg. 8 pg. 9-10 pg. 11 pg. 12-14 pg. 15 pg. 16
SALES COMPETITION PRIZES! Store managers of the winning stores of each round will receive as follows: Round 1 winners - $250 Round 2 winners - $500 Round 3 / Grand Champion - Weekend trip to Miami (Flights & Hotel) with $1,000 spending money! If the company hits Net Revenue budget for the month, prizes for each round will be doubled!
Round 1 Results!
Big Congrats to the Top 4 Stores by Region!
Competition Rules November will be Round 2, the Semi-finals, where the four top stores will play each other for a spot in the December finals (Round 3). Note: the store with the highest
1. TEAM DOMINICA 2. TEAM CAYMAN 3. TEAM MAYPEN 4. TEAM SIMPLE 1 Semi-Finals start in November for a spot in the Finals (Round 3)!
percentage over budget in Round 1 will be able to choose their opponent for Round 2.
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EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
Renee East
PORTMORE, JAMAICA
Renee started working at the Portmore, Jamaica store in May 2022. Renee's greatest accomplishments in her career so far, are being able to multi-task and building great rapport with customers. She is always aiming for the highest and never gives up. Renee's top 3 goals for the remainder of 2022 are to work hard and upgrade in position, help grow and promote the company and getting all age inventory out of the store. A little surprising fact about Renee...she plays football!
Cassinique Oliver FREEPORT, BAHAMAS
Cassinique has been with the company for 6 months and is a sales associate at Freeport, Bahamas. She is driven to be the best associate in the store and is not afraid of hard work. She understands the vision of the company and always looking for ways to be excellent and goes out of her way to be a supportive team player. Cassinique takes initiatives to keep the store green & clean and her organizational skills ensures things are easy for her teammates. She has a great smile, great energy and customers enjoy interacting with her. We are pleased to have Cassinique on our team!
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RANKINGS TOP 10 STORES
IN LAYAWAY BALANCE 1 Cayman, George Town 2 St. Cloud, Florida (SP2) 3 Bahamas, Freeport 4 Kissimmee, Florida (SP1) 5 Bahamas, Nassau 6 Dominica, Roseau 7 Pleasant Hill, Florida (SP3) 8 Barbados, Bridgetown 9 Barbadps, Oistins 10 Jamaica, Kingston
$254,417 $124,233 $107,233 $ 91,741 $ 87,176 $ 45,393 $ 43,490 $ 40,953 $ 40,700 $ 40,169
TOP 10 SALES ASSOCIATES 1 Jessica Rosado Moreles 2 Abiann Gayle 3 Deandrea Rahming 4 Wilmar Mazo 5 Ingrid Jones 6 Ricardo Maldonado 7 Austin Reyes 8 Josue Santiago Guerrero 9 Sashana Wilson 10 Yanique Spence
$51,756 $43,332 $39,930 $36,768 $33,994 $33,274 $32,967 $32,802 $29,321 $27,614
Kissimmee, FL (SP1) Cayman Bahamas, Nassau St. Cloud, FL (SP2) Cayman Kissimmee, FL (SP1) St. Cloud, FL (SP2) Pleasant Hill, FL (SP3) Cayman Montego Bay, Jamaica
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5-STAR GOOGLE REVIEWS
Simple Pawn 3 Pleasant Hill
Simple Pawn 4 New Smyrna Beach
Awesome place to buy stuff. Friendliest staff out there
Staff is very friendly, store is very clean, and had a coupon for 30% off. Very happy.
CashWiz Turks & Caicos Awesome customer service!
Simple Pawn 2 St. Cloud
CashWiz Kingston
Wilmar helped me great pawn shop
Keena gave me a wonderful customer experience, she took the time to assist me and my needs where met.... Cash wiz is the place the shop.
CashWiz Antigua
CashWiz May Pen Wonderful service from Cashwiz May pen ....excellent service from Shanise, Shaver and Britannia
CashWiz Portmore
Renee east wonderful very friendly and helpful. Thanks again.
CashWiz Oistins Tameka was a breath of fresh air and a great example of how a sales rep should interact with customers. Professional, eager to help and friendly. Keep up the great work!
CashWiz Bridgetown I love it doing Business with you
CashWiz Mandeville Awesome customer service!
CashWiz Montego Bay The customer service here is epic!! I felt welcome, I was well attended to by Cean, Heidi and Jaheim. Very jovial and respectful! They deserve a raise. I'll definitely do business here again!!!!
Best place to get money
Simple Pawn 1 Kissimmee Definitely one of the better pawn shops in the Kissimmee/Orlando area. The shop itself is very clean, staff is friendly, and every experience thus far has been great. Highly recommend this shop.
CashWiz Freeport
Great customer service!!
CashWiz Cayman Love this place , I always get great gifts for shopping
CashWiz Dominica The employees are nice and the service there is very good, I always get great customer service!
CashWiz Grenada I’ve traveled to many countries and so far this has been the best pawn shop I’ve ever been to. Their prices on jewelry are the most affordable I’ve ever come across and I was able to trade in my piece for a bigger heavier piece with more karats. The customer service was even more amazing and not forgetting she was very knowledgeable about the items they provided. If I could I’d give the Sun and the moon and not only 5 stars!
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GREAT TEAMS
Freeport Team works together, have fun together and deliver results!!
May Pen Team celebrating their spiff for BIG MONEY FRIDAY!
S1 Team celebrating together at a local Spanish restaurant and enjoying the benefits of winning!
Grenada Team! Great synergy and GREAT continuity!
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WEBINAR TRAINING Pocket Guide
New!
Customer calls = Higher dollar sales Heroic Customer Service means communicating with your customers often. Keep a customer wish list and call them when the items become available.
This pocket guide has
Invite customers to big sales events and always follow up with a thank you call.
the Loan Standards & Sales Standards and much more!
Remind customers of any due payments on layaways and Bbo’s.
WEBINAR SCHEDULE Simple Plans 11/7/22 Layaways = Future Sales 11/14/22 Merchandising 101 11/21/22 Tips to Make the Initial Contact Easier 11/28/22
Instructions on How to Order Lead Books Managers can order customer lead books on the Magic Portal online. Here are different ways to access the online store: Personalized link: http://smg.magicordering.com. Or you can access by going to the website at: www.magicprintingservices.com and clicking on “client login”: https://qnet.e-quantum2k.com/~magic/login/ Both of these links will take you to the same store. Use your personal credentials to login and order. The lead books will be under promotional products tab.
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SALES TIPS 3 Ways to Increase Sales & Marketing Ideas 1. Give Them a Reason to Come In Many people who go to pawn shops do so to get a loan. While each loan can be profitable, they can't sustain your store alone. In order to sell the merchandize, you need to attract customers. High Energy & Take Action! Get Involved in Local Events Stay Active on Social Media with Deals Use Gift Vouchers Customer Appreciation Calls Work!
2. Think Through the Visual Merchandising of the Store Entice your customers to buy something by reworking the merchandise displays for freshness and to maximize selling opportunities.
3. Make it a Great Experience By focusing on the customer experience it will increase customer lifetime value. Great customer service versus a lackluster customer experience makes a big difference.
Marketing Ideas:
Stay active on social media to promote deals and enhance your brand, and to stay top of mind with current and potential customers. This is also a great platform to advertise for bringing in much wanted items. Hold special events, this gives people a reason to visit your store. Whether it's a seasonal party or a blowout sale to make room for new inventory you can use photos from the event on social media, which can drive engagement and help to increase turnout next time. Provide courtesy calls to your customers thanking them and sharing information about holiday promotions & events!
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JEWELRY TRAINING Jewelry Training November Schedule Grenada
Nov. 2 - 3
Location: at the store
Antigua
Nov. 15 - 16
Location: at the store
Great week of training with the Dominica Team!
November Birthstones Individuals born in November can choose between two sunny gemstones to brighten up the month. Topaz and citrine look so similar, in fact, that they've often been mistaken for one another throughout history. Both of November's birthstones are abundant, durable for everyday wear, and affordably priced. Topaz: The name topaz derives from Topazios, the ancient Greek name for St. John’s Island in the Red Sea. The largest producer of quality topaz gemstones is Brazil. Topaz is actually colorless, but natural impurities can turn it almost any hue, with yellow to amber being the traditional tones & blue being extremely popular. The topaz birthstone symbolizes love and affection and is said to bestow strength and intelligence on the person who wears it. The ancient Greeks believed that topaz could make a wearer invisible. In the Middle Ages (500–1500 AD), topaz was ground into a powder and mixed with wine to guarantee a good night’s sleep. Citrine: Is a variety of quartz that ranges from pale yellow to a honey orange color. It takes its name from the citron fruit because of these lemon inspired shades. Brazil is the largest supplier of citrine. In ancient times, people believed that citrine gemstones could calm tempers, soothe anger and manifest desires, especially prosperity. To leverage these powers, Egyptians used citrine gemstones as talismans, the ancient Greeks carved iconic images into them, and Roman priests fashioned them into rings. Source: American Gem Society
Simple Management Jewelry Training Program Greg Weiss, Director of Jewelry Operations visited Dominica, and is heading to Grenada and Antigua for jewelry training. This month he is facilitating the Diamand Class for all team members and is looking forward to seeing everyone there! Greg has been in the jewelry industry for over 40 years. He has been training, educating, and teaching our employees and staff the fine art of selling jewelry & diamonds. SMG core principles remain the same: Treat customers with professionalism, educate them, give them quality merchandise and impressive customer service, and it will hold priority over anything else. 9
JEWELRY TRAINING Christmas Sales Tips Recognize these three facts and make more sales! People often shop with a single purpose/person/gift in mind Christmas isn’t the only thing people need to shop for this time of year Close to 50% of annual engagement & wedding customers are shopping now
Help your customer with all their Holiday gifts by asking
WatchCSA Already Paying Off! Great job Daniel Sturrup and the Nassau Team for contacting our WatchCSA users to run the serial number on this $7,900 Breitling watch that turned out to be a known fake. Make sure to ALWAYS contact one of our four WatchCSA authorized users to run the serial number whenever you are dealing with high end watches. It takes just 15 seconds to identify a known counterfeit! Our WatchCSA users: • Kerwin Boxill • Bernard Cooper • Dave Skibinski • Rosa Wedge
Who else is on the shopping list this year? Can you think of anyone else you might need a gift for? We have some great values right now…have you thought about treating yourself this year?
Suggest they take advantage of Holiday Discounts and use Free Layaway Are there any other gift giving occasions coming up? Any Birthdays, Quinceañera, Sweet 16, Anniversary? Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!
Suggest Engagement customers take advantage of Holiday Discounts and use Free Layaway Wedding Bands Gift for Bride/Groom Wedding Party Gifts
Greg Weiss, GG (GIA), Director Jewelry Operations
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NEW HIRES
FROM OUR HR TEAM Say Hello to our new team members! Welcome to the Team!
Davina Williams Sales Associate Antigua
Kevor Burton
Sales Associate Montego Bay, Jamaica
Malik Smith
Sales Associate Nassau, Bahamas
Micheala Greene Sales Associate Nassau, Bahamas
Karl Morrison
Manager in Training Kingston, Jamaica
Gregory Wilson
Sales Associate Nassau, Bahamas
JOIN OUR TEAM! WE ARE NOW HIRING HIGHLY MOTIVATED, CUSTOMER-FOCUSED, SALES-DRIVEN, POSITIVE TEAM MEMBERS!
Superior hiring practices. Competitive pay with bonus opportunities. We believe in building core leadership teams that are both resilient & creative, while being able to overcome any form of adversity. Low turn over rate within the entire company with many team members still with us since the very beginning. Exemplary training, team building events, & of course corporate support wherever needed. Stores in Florida and throughout the Caribbean, including Antiqua, Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Turks & Caicos, St. Kitts and St. Vincent
HR Specialists Chyna Broderick and Samantha Miller held a job fair in Kingston, Jamaica.
LEARN MORE OR APPLY TODAY AT: For Management positions, email MIT@cashwiz.com For Sales Associate positions, SA@cashwiz.com For positions at Simple Pawn, email hr@smg.inc
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IN THE NEWS
Team Dominica celebrates Creole day! Each team member received a ticket to the World Creole Music Festival for the good job done so far this year as a token of appreciation!
Team S2 Jazz and John for the WIN of the Net Revenue Contest!
Jackie Garcia and Bernard Cooper visiting Danielle Sturrup at the Nassau store!
Team S3 Margie and Wilmar for the WIN of the Net Revenue Contest!
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IN THE NEWS
Team Cayman visit to the haunted house with team and ticket winners. We appreciate our loyal customers!
S1 store is drawing in customers!
S1 Team is rocking the Halloween Vibe!!
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IN THE NEWS Pinktober was a HUGE SUCCESS across our regions! It made for incredible local promotional events and lots of customer engagement all for a great cause!
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CELEBRATIONS
Jenika Seide Abiann Gayle Deandrea Rahming Kevin Ramos Olmeda Carlos Bustamante Sherra Newston Andrine Brown Gethin Huckle Juan Marrero Naomi Barbour
Nov 1 Nov 10 Nov 12 Nov 13 Nov 15 Nov 17 Nov 20 Nov 23 Nov 26 Nov 26
Greg Jules Leslie Matthews Lianabell Vargas Saidah Thorpe Brian Nepa Chyna Broderick Lazanna McNab Jaheim Holness Aloha Wallace
Dominica Corporate Simple 3 Oistins Cayman Mandeville Montego Bay Mandeville Kingston
10 years 1 year 3 years 1 year 1 year 11 years 2 years 1 year 1 year
Happy retirement wishes to David Johns! David has been a valuable resource for SMG and CashWiz over the years and will be missed. The SMG family wishes David a great retirement and thank him for all his hard work. 15
OUR MISSON
To be the largest and most profitable chain of pawn stores in the world.
OUR PURPOSE
Best at whatever we do; because our family, customers, community & company derserve it.
CORE VALUES Great Teams
Your Corporate Support Team John Thedford - Chief Executive Office Gethin Huckle - Chief Financial Officer Joe Genovese - VP of Operations Keith Sexton - Director, Corporate Development Jennifer Kanistras - Director, Corporate Administration Greg Weiss - Director, Jewelry Operations Samantha Miller - Human Resources Generalist Chyna Broderick - Sr. Recruitment Coordinator Alison Verni - Controller Nanci Wynn - Accountant Leslie Matthews - Payroll Accountant Debbie Smith - Bookkeeper Jackie Garcia - Training Coordinator Julie Walker - Executive Assistant
Excellence in Every Role Green and Clean Open Culture of Trust and Accountability Celebrate Our
Corporate Office Address
625 Main Street, Suite 27 Windermere, Florida 34789 Tel: (321) 424-5919
Accomplishments 16