American Family; Interview With American Rental's Cari Barnes

American Rental, the Midwest's largest rent-to-own company, wrapped its annual Trade Expo Sunday with a Hog Roast near Nashville, Indiana. See over 400 photos from the event here.

Of the dozens of company events covered by RTO Online every year, the American Rental Hog Roast is unique. You won't see teleprompters or a motivational speaker at the annual celebration and the biggest trophies awarded are for the kids bubble-blowing contest and wiffleball home run derby. What you will see are hundreds of families with an endless stream of kids enjoying what looks to passersby like part county fair and part family reunion - a really big family reunion.

Take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers. It's a simple philosophy that starts at the top with vice president and general manager David P. David - or David Squared as he is sometimes called - and is mirrored at every level of management.

Cari Barnes has been a member of the American Family since she was six years old. When she was in high school, Cari spent summers working for American and went to work for the company full time after graduation.

Cari smiles when asked about doing business in fly-over country. Running a 700 BOR store in a town of 6,000 people takes more than a simple talent for rent and collect. It takes a 24/7 commitment to customers and employees. Cari has been demonstrating that commitment for 11 years.

Barnes manages the Scottsburg, Indiana American Rental store. She is a second generation American family member - her mother has been with the company for 22 years. "We do better in small towns," Cari told RTO Online. "It's more personal. We're a lot closer to our customers." See RTO Online's videocast interview with Cari Barnes here.

Lawnmowers and air conditioners have been hot (no pun intended) for the last few months. But LCD TVs are the best renters now. Barnes said her customers have heard the myths about hard-to-service Plasma TVs and aren't ready make the leap just yet. "People in small towns are more conservative," she explained. "Our job is to give them what they want."

Barnes says flat-panel TVs offer a lot of multiple BOR agreement opportunities. "Blu-ray really brings out the quality of the new LCDs. We try to package Blu-ray DVD players and racks that give the units the effect of being hung on a wall without having to drill holes or go through lengthy installation procedures."

42 inch is Barnes' most popular LCD size. She is excited to see built-in DVD players added to flat screen TVs like the one displayed at the Expo this weekend by LG Electronics. "That will be a hot item," she said. "With flat panels, there's no place to hide the cables. Anything we can do to make the final package cleaner and more presentable is a plus."

Lawnmowers and air conditioners are a summer rental staple in Scottsburg. Many companies struggle to balance the extremely high demand for these items with their short-term-agreement nature. Rental customers tend to return the items at the end of summer, filling up back rooms and sitting idle for nearly a year. Despite being costly, a high level of returns doesn't fit with American's commitment to ownership.

Barnes said American has an organized campaign that encourages customers to continue renting seasonal items throughout the year. "Our program encourages ownership by lowering renewal payments in the off-season and during holidays."

Top-load laundry is another staple of Barnes' Scottsburg location. Her customers have not yet embraced front-load. "Some of our top-load units have the same features as front-load at a lower cost." Units with no agitator and clear lids are popular. "The most popular selling point for any washer is not how it loads," Barnes explains. "It's whether or not I can fit a comforter in it."

Barnes says the key to success in any rental market is maintaining focus on the "Own" part of the Rent-to-Own transaction. No one ever made money picking up all their merchandise. Even from a practical standpoint, she says, keeping merchandise in the customers home costs less and keeps the store looking fresh. Product knowledge is also critical. "You'll lose a lot of customers if you don't know features and benefits."

American Rental has a strong manager training program, an efficient distribution model and a world class marketing program - the company mails over one million flyers per month. But many rent-to-own and leasing companies have these same programs yet still suffer high employee turnover and struggle to open new stores due to what is commonly described as "a lack of qualified people."

American Rental hasn't become the Midwest's largest chain by taking in raw recruits and manufacturing qualified rent-to-own professionals through some magical formula. It nurtures an American family that attracts people that can succeed anywhere.

"This is my family," Cari Barnes says. "I've been around since I was six years old and I wouldn't want it any other way."

RTO Online is the official channel for Rent-to-Own Industry News and the only independent source of news for the rent-to-own, rental-purchase, lease-purchase trade. RTO Online (Rent to Own Online) represents the choice of the entire RTO Industry for trusted information, as it happens.

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