The success of a pawnshop is reliant on many factors. In today’s world, countless technologies exist that help improve exposure and traffic, encourage professional education, utilize e-sales channels and, above all, empower pawnshop owners to achieve what they set out to do and allow them to be current while maintaining a high level of productivity. Pawnshops that want to stay relevant know that they must incorporate these technologies into their growth strategy. In doing so, they reap additional benefits that keep them ahead of their competitors who fail to embrace technology, including:
- Staying virtually connected
Pawnshops that create e-sales channels benefit in more ways that just additional revenue and profit. With values for all inventory in constant flux, having real-time data from these online channels give pawnshops a sense of relevance and currency – a distinct advantage over any competitor who fails to embrace the need for technology and rely on outdated, archaic methods of evaluation. In other words (as my kids keep telling me), if you’re not online, you’ve flatlined.
- Monitor productivity and employee progress
Pawnshop owners and managers have to stay on top of everything that is going on within the store(s) and be aware of any and all issues that may arise. Utilizing pawn shop software solutions helps them keep up with all of the details while requiring only a few clicks on the computer. They can check whether sales and loan balance goals are on track to be met, compare (in real time) performance to previous years’, and analyze employee metrics. Additionally, it helps to constantly challenge everyone on the team to do their best work as they learn skills that will benefit them in the future.
- Creating an open and communicative environment
Pawnshops that take advantage of the benefits of their software and it’s respective reporting abilities can create performance appraisals which makes it much simpler to communicate the fundamentals of the business strategy. Likewise, it becomes easier to get that information to other team members. This enables owners and managers to keep better track of specific daily, weekly and monthly goals while making sure everybody is on the same page for the future. Incorporating the information that you gather from your software also improves employee accountability. Everyone will be able to see the importance behind their work and how it will assist the store in reaching its goals. It gives them a feeling of ownership over it and, in turn, helps them feel part of the team. They become engaged and are more likely to understand their value.
- Advanced business reporting and analysis
Pawnmaster (and other software options) offer several reports with specific, targeted information to analyze employee performance, efficiency and improve employee scheduling. By analyzing the results, owners and managers can figure out how to maximize the pawnshop’s potential and pick out weak points that require further training to empower every employee to work smarter. From macro-style reporting like dashboard reports all the way down to specific productivity for each hour of the day, software simply gives you more information to work with. All of this will give each pawnshop a distinctive competitive edge over others.
- Improve employee motivation
Most successful pawnshops utilize employee performance evaluations for pinpointing individual shortcomings and how to fix them. This opens opportunities for further education for certain employees in specific fields i.e. jewelry and diamond knowledge, loan values, customer service, and sales opportunities. By offering these additional avenues for improvement, pawnshop owners and managers allow workers to feel like the company cares and that their skills are valuable and vital to the store’s success.
