The Client
Bellevue Rare Coins Eric, Ryan, Daniel and Angela Hoolahan, Owner

The Challenge
Bellevue Rare Coins was running all four of their shops pen-to-pad. The siblings knew that they needed to be able to coordinate their locations, report to the police through Leads Online, and improve their processes to be more efficient.

The Result
• Coordinate Locations
• Police Reporting
• Improved Processes
• Improved Efficiency
• Record Keeping
• Inventory Control
• Compliance

About Bellevue
Bellevue Rare Coins is a four-store business that started as West Seattle Coins, a Seattle, Washington coin shop founded by Patrick “Pat” Hoolahan in 1979. Pat instilled the fundamentals of the business early on in his two eldest sons, Eric and Ryan, and they took these principles with them to carry on their own careers and expand the family business years later. As the expansion took place, they decided to incorporate jewelry into their inventory and business plan. With three locations, Eric and Ryan knew it was time to bring their two younger siblings, Daniel and Angela, on board. Today, the four siblings run their four shops with discernible passion.

Their Problem
Before Data Age Business Systems’ Buy/Sell software came into the picture, Bellevue Rare Coins was running all four of their shops pen-to-pad. The siblings knew that they needed to be able to coordinate their locations, report to the police through Leads Online, and improve their processes to be more efficient, so they put out an RFP to have custom software developed. In addition to a high-end POS system, they needed a program that would keep records of everything for them. They began to realize that not only would the custom software be extremely costly, but there was huge risk involved as well. That’s when they set out to find a trusted software company that could meet their needs. Once they found out that Buy/Sell could do everything they needed plus help with inventory control and compliance, they were sold.

Solution
Bellevue Rare Coins decided to pilot Buy/Sell in one of their shops, so they installed the program and used it for about eight months. The Bellevue team was very excited to learn that Buy/Sell already had built-in solutions that met their needs, including the incorporated Leads Online, but they were even more excited when they realized just how much time it saved them. They now had a much more efficient process for checking their do-not-buy list; no more flipping through a book! The system was able to help them compliance-wise, as they were able to track customers between jurisdictions, eliminating serious problems that could be encountered when using pen-to-pad.

The Pilot
Eight months down the road, and the Hoolahans were proficient with the software in their pilot shop. They learned the ins-and-outs of the program and had a solid understanding of how to best utilize their reports. They decided it was time to implement Buy/Sell in their other three businesses. Most importantly to the family, they recognized that they could trust Data Age and knew from experience that if they called with a question, concern, or problem, it would get resolved.

Implementation
Since the first store was running so smoothly, they wanted to replicate everything in the other three locations. At this point, Bellevue hired Data Age’s world-class training team to travel to Seattle in order to train their staff and implement the software. Within a week, all four shops and the corporate headquarters were up and running, and the employees were well prepared because they’d taken the Data Age University online courses beforehand. The company held contests for employees within the shops for scoring well on tests, and the staff was very receptive because the software made their jobs so much easier.