Software Pioneer Derek Best - RIP

Derek was one of the first software engineers to create pawn software in the Pawn Industry for the mainframe Digital Equipment Corporation - DEC.  This was accomplished in those days with punch cards.  My dads brother, Dennis Mack who founded Palace Jewelry and Loan in Reno, Nevada in 1957. contracted with DEC to build the state of the art computer systems for pawn around 1972.

My uncles inspiration and enthusiasm planted the seeds of curiosity what computers could do for pawnbrokers in those days.

Derek gathered the basis of the Mack Families pawn operations from my uncle which blended into the development of Dazzle.

3 years ago Derek and I re-engaged in conversation about Pawn and Software.  Dazzle is one of the best products in the industry and Derek's genius and single handed creation was enjoyed by pawnbrokers all over the world.

Derek was a gentleman, honorable and honest, a comrade of Pawn.

The industry owes a 21 gun salute to Derek.  I will miss our conversations.

RIP Derek Best

Steve Mack
Co -Founder - Bravo Stores Systems

Year of the Customer for Pawnbrokers in 2016

Happy New Year to all my fellow Pawnbrokers.

Well, we are off to 2016.  Have you set your annual goals?  What is there to do in 2016?

What is going to drive your business with limited time and resources?

I got all fired up for this year talking with Nygel Scourfield  at C3 Partners U.K. who is a former Director of Albemarle & Bond.  He has launched a new customer generation platform specifically for Pawnbrokers.  Nygel knows his stuff, spent time really understanding the pawn customer and shared common sense findings about the value of a customer and what you can expect to extract from a new customer over time.
 
The Customer

So, the chicken and the egg.  What comes first in the Pawn business?  Customer or Merchandise.  Yes - Customer.  Whats more important to the Pawn business?  Customer or Merchandise.  Yes - Customer.

Its the customer.  Always the customer and nothing more.  Customer rule.  More customers the better.  Never heard of a bad customer.  Customers are always right.  Get it.  Customer are everything to business.

Without customers you have zero value.  If the number of customers your store support is growing you are in good shape.  If the total number of customers is going down, your business is on the decline.

One way to measure the success of your pawn business is total customers, total loans, average loan amount, and average number of items in loan.

Customer Acquisition Cost - CAC

If you have only one take away from this blog, this is the most important business metric that you need to know about your pawn business.  What does a new customer cost you to successfully transact a new loan or sale?

There are a number of ways to figure this out, and most importantly it does not have to be a perfect calculation, but go to this link if you would like a more in depth understanding and methods how to calculate.  click here.

The acquisition cost can vary from a minimum of $50 to $500 per customer.  The average is approximately $75.

Customer Lifetime Value

How much does a customer contribute to your business over time?  Have you ever thought about it?  Isn't that the reason why you have a store?  

Pawn brokers most commonly only see what is in front of them,  "The Merchandise".  

The result of a transaction that maybe a loan or buy that results into a interest revenue or profit after the re-sale of the item you may purchase.

If you can put yourself into the mindset that you look at the customer as a $1200 dollar bill of future revenue over a 3 year period, how would look at the opportunity.

The average Pawn Customer Lifetime Value contribution is approximately $1200.00.

533% Per Year (ROI) return on your CAC - 3 year

My spending 30 years behind the loan counter and on the sales floor, I want to puke to think how many customers I let walk?  How many customers did I not attend to as appropriately as I should have?  How may telephone calls did I not get to in time?  How many new customer acquisitions each day walked out of the store?

And yes, if I had only accomplished one transaction with a new customer it would have resulted in $1,200.00 in revenue over the next 3 years.

The pawnbrokers that effectively complete the customer acquisition that turns the customer opportunity status into a new customer wins.

Think about what you can do at the loan counter to make that loan.

Think about what you can do when a customer is interested in purchasing an item in your store to complete that sale.

Let 2016 be the year of the customer for your store

Steve Mack
Bravo Pawn Systems

First for Pawn Industry - Bravo adds functionality for Today's Pawnbroker.

------------------------First for Pawn Industry-------------------------

Inter-Store Payments

This powerful new feature is exclusively offered by Bravo

Have more than 1 store?  Do you want to make it convenient so that your customers can make payments at any of your stores for all of their transactions?  Wouldn’t your customers shop and borrow at your other stores and more frequently if this was available?  Do you want to offer your customers the ultimate in customer service and make more profit from day one?

Bravo is taking the power of its Enterprise Cloud Platform to the next level with Inter-Store Payments processing.  Make Loan Payments or Lay-Away Payments.  New receipts and Loan contracts are all printed as if they were conducting the transaction at each separate location.  Each transaction through Bravo’s Exclusive Task Manager is seamlessly in real time notifies each store of any necessary processing follow up.  Its fast, its seamless, it’s so easy.

No other software vendor offers this powerful solution in the pawn industry including Cash America, EZ Pawn or First Cash.  NOW YOU DO!

Scan any Pawn Ticket or Lay-Away Receipt at any of your stores and Bravo figures out the rest.  Yes, it is that easy.

This brand new feature will be available in 48 hours on Bravo - October 7th 2015 

For more information contact Michele.

888.407.6287

michelle.lautarevsky@bravorevolution.com

Look up transactions across all your stores

Look up and take payments on all Lay-Aways across all stores.

BRAVO MOBILE - ADDS MORE FUNCTIONALITY

BRAVO MOBILE EXPANDS

BUSINESS TO EMPLOYEE - B2E

 
Bravo again expands functionality to its Mobile Platform.  This week we introduce to Store Owners and their Management the ability to manage your online business via your Apple or Android Mobile device 24/7.  Know you can accept or counter offer "Pending Web Offers".  View the details of the item including the ability to add additional photos directly from your phone.

The Bravo / BUYA ecommerce platform drives local and online customers to shop your stores via the customers mobile phone driving ONLINE OFFERS direct to your to store.  Now anytime and anywhere you can now immediately consummate the transaction immediately.  We have found the faster you respond to your customers offer you double the chances in closing the sale.

Bravo last month released the MOBILE EXCEPTION feature where any business rule that is set up in Bravo can be sent to the manager or OWNER for approval.  Never lose a chance to close a sale or make a loan to a customer.  Whether you are out for an errand, lunch, or on the beach relaxing.  Bravo Mobile enables you to have the freedom but now lose a single opportunity.  Every time you use the mobile approval, Bravo keeps track for record keeping.

Today's store front businesses need to be in the eCommerce.  You need to be a multi-commerce merchant.  Most small business owners can not afford the extra staff to manage all of the necessary efforts.  Its just too hard and time consuming.  BRAVO MOBILE enables small business owners the efficient and convenient integrated features of its complete Pawn and Retail platform.

Bravo eliminates the need for extra personnel when you want to expand services to your customers.  If you are Bravo User, simply download this application from the Apple Store or Google Play Store and then call customer support to activate your Stores Mobile App.

If you are new to Bravo give us a call.  We have a lot to show off.

Steve Mack

888.407.6287

Bravo Newest August 2015 Features and Upgrades

Every 4/5 weeks Bravo releases new updates free to all of its users.  Thursday's release included some really cool new products and features as well.

VENDOR MEMO

Many pawnbrokers are looking to transfer inventory to various 3rd party re-sellers on Memorandum. This feature includes the complete Memo process including the final sale and return of unsold items.  No more keeping track.  Bravo does all of the heavy lifting.

Upgrade ATF A&D Book

Added Categories

Upgrade to Lay-Away 

Upgrade Extension Multi-select

Those of you that offer extensions for your customers, our multi-select product smartly calculates 4 types of payments options on multiple loans with one click.  Whether 1 loan or 50 loans to one customer, again with 1 click all of the loan contracts are then completed, consolidating this arduous single transaction process, this saves 10 -30 minutes per customer. also -  Upgrade to EOM Report.  Added Security Bits.  Upgraded Customer Search across Multiple Stores.  Upgraded Bravo Estimator Google like Smart Search.   

Upgraded Diamond Pricing.  Upgraded to Item Notes and Item Details.  Added Firearm Storage Fee.  E-Ticket export for police - Phoenix.  Upgrade South Carolina Regulations.  Upgrade Washington State Regulation.  Custom Upgrade - Colorado.  

BRAVO MOBILE - PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

Bravo now has mobile app to remotely approve via mobile phone a secure and linked approval to a transactions that requires approval. No matter where you or your managers might be, now with Bravo there is no reason not to have your best employees approving transactions.

PRODUCT INTELLIGENCE  

Up above is Bravo's newest view of our powerful platforms product intelligence that shares real time product values and data analytical review of Manufacture and Models. What to pay, What to loan, What to price, What to sell, How long it should take to sell, Does it sell best in eBay, Does it sell best in your store, Now you know. Now you know best. Be the best pawnbroker with the best information. 

Email Michele for live demonstration at   michelle.lautarevsky@bravorevolution.com

Call us anytime and find out why pawnbrokers that use Bravo do it better and easier.

Steve Mack

BUYA SMASHES ALL TIME SALES RECORD FOR SINGE DAY - $29,070.20

It's like Christmas selling season everyday with Bravo.

Bravo eCommerce yesterday has its biggest day with 529,260 advertisement impressions, 7,337 new customers, 18,002 page views, closing $29,070.20 in sales.

BUYA.COM currently has 152 stores across 40 U.S. states selling 150,000 items interactively live throughout these locations.  BUYA is in the top 16k most poplular website in the United States.

Sign up for free to try out the Buya Trading exchange - click here to join over 690 other business, acquiring merchandise from customers.

Also, PawnMaster single store users can switch to BRAVO for FREE.  Contact Michelle to learn more about this exclusive offering.  michelle@bravorevolution.com

What makes Bravo unique is the seamless integration of eCommerce with Pawn.  It is a lot of work to sell online.  And some of you have had to add extra employees to get this done.  With Bravo you don't need extra employees to sell online.  Its that simple! 




There is no reason today why you shouldn't have the best technology and processes, give us a call or email, we would love to show you.

Steve Mack

bravopawnsystems.com

888.408.6287

michelle@bravorevolution.com