District 15 Memphis Wins Bestway Knowledge Bowl

District 15 won the second annual Bestway Knowledge Bowl Tuesday night. District Manager Tony Watkins told RTO Online that daily exposure to "Best Foot Forward", Bestway's training system, gave his team of 8 managers the edge. District 15 contains Memphis and parts of Mississippi.

The Knowledge Bowl resembles a game of Jeopardy. Each District team has a handheld unit used to answer questions asked by the host. Bestway Chief Financial Officer Beth Durrett played the part of Alex Trebek.

District 15 managers split the $3,000 grand prize. Watkins gave his winnings back to his managers. "This is about them," he said. "I'm very proud of them."

Watkins and the entire District 15 team will be featured in an upcoming edition of RTO Magazine.

Bestway tracks training very closely, assigning a "training percentage" to each store. Watkins said that six months ago, District 15 ranked near the bottom. "We made a commitment to improve and it paid off," he said.

All of the Knowledge Bowl questions come from the company's Best Foot Forward training program and range from company policies to product knowledge.

Jim Ford is DM for Bestway's most profitable District. Ford has been with Bestway for seven years. Ford's secret is a constant focus on growth in all areas. Ford's management philosophy; "Hire the best people, give them the best training, teach them to do a job and get out of their way."

Ford says he recognizes that increased fuel prices are an issue for the bottom line, but doesn't dwell on the problem. "It's part of doing business. It isn't something we can control so we accept it for what is and move on. It's affected our customers and we have to recognize it. But we offer a valuable service and I don't think its caused us to miss a single step."

How does Ford and his team manage to grow in an increasingly competitive environment? "Our programs and processes are second to none," he said. "Service takes top priority. The people on my team keep customers coming back....and they bring their friends and family. We have second and third generation customers."

"This is MY company for the rest of my life," Ford concluded. "Bestway is in my blood. I couldn't imaging being any place else."

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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