Pawn Shop Advisor Blog

He Was Flabbergasted

Earlier today I was doing an interview with a New York journalist and one of the questions he asked me during this interview was "How is the pawnbroking industry affected by the current economy?" To answer his question, I borrowed a line I swiped from a membership meeting of the National Pawnbrokers Association that I recently attended.

My answer was "The demand for pawnshop goods and services has not been greater in the US since the Great Depression."

He was flabbergasted.

Ahhhh ... Hello Mr. journalist. Did someone forget to tell you that most people in the US right now are busy riding out a pretty bad recession? No kidding - he just didn't get it - and this gent is a business writer. I went on to explain to him exactly what we do and exactly how we do it and how many people we are helping out with financial difficulties. Finally he understood - and he thought it was really cool. It is.

This should tell you something and it's exactly why I'm telling you about this interview. Do not ever assume that people in general have any idea about what you do in your business and what you offer to consumers in your marketplace. Because if you assume they already know - you are cheating your pawnshop out of a lot of business. Most people don't have a clue. This journalist certainly didn't. He does now - and because of this the article he writes will be considerably better. His article will be selling the pawnbroking industry.

And when you think about it, this is also a big task in your pawnshop career. Selling the pawnbroking industry. Or at least it should be. Putting yourself out there and marketing pawnshop goods and services can prove to be very rewarding for your business. But would you like to know the number one reason you should be doing this for your pawnshop?

The number one reason is - because odds are, your competition won't.

Your competitors feel they are too busy already servicing this new flow of nontraditional customers brought to them because of the current economic conditions. Because they are doing more business than usual - the last thing on their mind is to market for even more customers. But the fact remains - there has never been a more perfect time to do it.

You can even do this at no cost. I've done it for years - I call it my elevator speech. That being, the ability to describe exactly what you do for a living in under 30 seconds. My elevator speech did not even include the word pawnbroker. Let me give you an example:

"Tell me Steve, what do you do for a living?" "Glad you asked. I'm in the business of extending short-term credit to consumers and businesses secured by personal property retained by me as collateral." That pretty much sums up the loan side of the business. But do you want to hear the funny thing about my elevator speech? Only one in ten could guess I was a pawnbroker.

That's because only 1 in 10 were really aware of what a pawnbroker does for a living.

If you choose to start utilizing an elevator speech and you hand the person your business card after briefly explaining your business - you will end up being the person whose flabbergasted. Just make sure you use the wording "to consumers and businesses" in your explanation. Why? You will be amazed at the amount of businesses that will come to you for credit.

And if you try this little tip and like it, you may then be ready to delve into the hundreds of tips and systems for running your pawnshop contained in the Pawn Shop Advisor(tm) coaching program. http://www.pawnshopadvisor.com/main.cfm There's never been anything else like it. It's like an owner's manual for your pawnshop.

Keep your eye on the target and your mind on the goal,
Stephen Krupnik

P.S. This is the first time in many years nontraditional customers have been flocking to the pawnbroking industry. In the Pawn Shop Advisor(tm) coaching program http://www.pawnshopadvisor.com/main.cfm not only do I show you how to attract even more of them, but I show you how to make them more profitable and keep them for life.

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