Text Messaging: Opt-In Best Practices

header-optinbestpractices

Text messaging is a great service that you can provide to your customers to help keep them up to date on their loans while providing you the ability to alert them to sales and promotions you’re offering in-store. In order to connect with your customers, they have to opt-in to receive your messages. Watch our Text Messaging: Opt-In Best Practices video below to learn how easy it is to opt customers in to your text messaging promotion programs.

(more…)

What You Need To Know About Data Ownership

header-dataownership

We are consistently coming across shops changing their software vendor for a number of reasons, so we feel it’s important to provide resources to those who are looking to make a switch. When you’re entering into a SaaS agreement for the first time, you may have some questions or concerns. That’s normal. According to CIO Review, “The best means of protecting yourself is to carefully read and understand the terms of the contracts with your data vendors. Often these provisions can be negotiatedfor example, you can require that your data to be anonymized when it’s used by the vendor.”

(more…)

The Extra Yard

header-extrayard

In my previous life as a small business owner, this was always the time of year when I was heads down looking to crank out sales. Having a multiple store chain and selling straight retail, the holidays was where I made my mark. At the time, I didn’t realize that the entire year leading up to the holiday season we were unconsciously making sure that we went the extra yard for our customers. This is always the correct approach when supplying and supporting a large customer base.

(more…)

The Power of Teamwork

header-teamwork

I’ve been working with people in some capacity for 27 years, and I always have been and remain a firm believer in the concept of teamwork.  Recently in fact I experienced the power of teamwork firsthand here with our own PawnMaster team. The way they came together was nothing short of spectacular and something I’ve never witnessed before, and it’s really galvanized my belief and commitment to the teamwork concept. When you have a great team like we do, you think there’s nothing more they can do that will shock you but man I have to admit, I was wrong in this instance. Let me set the stage for you and share this real-life scenario, which will only reinforce why teamwork is vital to every business.

(more…)

The Importance of Being Present

header-BePresent

Time is short and every day matters. Each day is 24 hours that cannot be reclaimed. I believe it is important to take the time to invest in yourself and know where you want to go. Below are a few things I do consistently for my own growth, and believe these are helpful for anyone.

(more…)

My Goldenballs Memoirs: My Employee Incentives Include Crack Dip

header-JeniLei

According to my employees, I make crack dip. It’s really nothing crazy and I haven’t had a flavor that was ever considered disagreeable. My secret ingredient supplier is no longer around, so I have had to find alternate resources and blends, but without fail I’m still told that it’s crack dip. So, you’re wondering; how does dip equate to Employee Incentives?

(more…)

The Lights Are Always On, and There’s Always Someone Home

header-lightsareon

No product or service – or end user – is perfect. This is especially true when it comes to hardware and software. Most entrepreneurial-dominated industries are successful because the people who make up the industry focus on what they do best. In the collateral lending industry, PawnMaster users are heads down with their customers, loaning, buying, and selling. They don’t have the time to focus or be concerned if an issue arises around the technology they depend on to help operate their business. Should they have an issue, they know that they can make a call and get an answer, and never have to worry about getting their vendor on the line to help them.

(more…)

David vs. Goliath: What does a sustainable business model look like?

header-Goliath.jpg

There are several schools of thought when going to market with software and technology. Many companies pick the market they want to go after. The “upstream” market consists of the larger enterprises and public space. This market, albeit very lucrative, places great strain and demand on a technology company in a host of ways. Specifically, round the clock support, custom development, hyper-specific service level agreements, and of course, special reduced rates. If a technology firm is primarily seeking this kind of business and does not want to scale, the model works-but it is very tedious to sustain. This model can’t sustain the smaller downstream clients because of the lack of resources to succeed at both. Companies who are constantly shifting their focus and toggling from one client model to another are doomed to implode, and the client base on both ends suffer. Not as damaging for the larger customers who may have the resources to go out and build custom software for themselves, but for smaller customers these events can be catastrophic.

(more…)

Gearing Up for Black Friday 2018

header-bf18

Hey y’all! Anyone who knows me over the years knows…. I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!!!!  So I’m back again this year to talk about Black Friday and how it’s going to affect your business. I’m also sharing my Black Friday predictions as well as which stores will be open on Thanksgiving this year. There’s less than 50 days to Black Friday, so let’s get ready to kick off a slew of sales!

(more…)