Photo courtesy of BellesLink.com
This is a guest blog post by Paul Kulas. The original post can be found HERE.
Howdy Everyone:
North American Repossessors Summit (NARS) 2015 was by far the best I’ve attended. There was great energy, and I think the industry is finally starting to adopt co-opetition. The repo industry is going to boom again. My big takeaway from this year is a thought that came to me while hanging out with two good friends, John Lewis and Michael Eusebio. John, Michael and I have been to numerous NARS events together, and I always leave with big ideas—because I went to NARS and because I was hanging around others with big ideas.
{Warning! Shameless friends and family promotion.}
Photo courtesy of BellesLink.com
John and Mike are friends of mine; they are family. They’ve collaborated on really cool software called RepoRoute. If you don’t know it yet, check out RepoRoute here. I’ll let them tell you all about it. But the short story is that it tells your driver where to go each day. It looks to me like it’s going to be a great innovation to save fuel and time. John was also there talking about masterQueue. I’ve talked about this software here before; BellesLink is integrated with it. Call John and have him talk to you about masterQueue. You won’t be sorry.
{End of shameless promotion.}
The Video Game Generation
The theme of NARS was the building blocks of success. This is my idea connected to this theme: The repo industry needs to be attractive to the video game generation, young people, Generation Y.
Young people are all over social media. Regardless of what you think about it, Gen Y grew up sharing their lives online, and they share what they love. If they love working for you, they’re going to talk about it in their social networks. That’s free advertising that you can’t buy. Who are your best salespeople? Your customers — and your employees!
Photo courtesy of BellesLink.com
Young people are coming out of college saddled with student loans. They’re heavily in debt. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not suggesting young people not go to college. I’m suggesting that the repo industry is going to boom, and therefore it’s a lucrative opportunity for young people to make good money and even pay for their college. But young people aren’t even thinking about repoing cars or coming to work for you because of all the stereotypes. They think repoing cars isn’t cool. To some degree, they’re right. The repo business and you the repo company owner need to change this. In fact, it’s key to the industry’s growth.
Making Repoing Cool
Video games and repoing cars have many similarities. Both are about software and solving the puzzle — unlocking doors, moving to the next level. Kids in their 20s can hop in a repo truck and make, what, $60,000 to $80,000 a year repoing cars? Yes, they can. But for this to happen, the repo company owner must open the door for them. How? By appealing to their inner video game persona.
Make the inside of the truck their console, their online world. The repo truck needs to be new, equipped with a laptop, mobile phone, tablet hookups and a headset. And it has to have a good stereo. Now they’re spending most of their time in an environment that’s highly appealing to them, because it mimics the world they grew up in. They feel like a rock star. And if they’re feeling it, they’re making you money.
Now that you set up the truck as an extension of their world, the software needs to be cool. No one in their generation wants to use clunky, stale software. They want to use cool software. Software like RepoRoute, masterQueue or BellesLink. The BellesLink mobile app is going to be ready soon. It will be way cool and way useful.
They have a cool truck and cool software. They’re making money; you’re making money. They can use the money they make to pay for college.
Making It Work
I get it; all of this is expensive. Raise your rates. But you can’t just raise your rates for no good reason. So you need to connect your clients to your vision. Show your clients that by paying you more, they’re actually going to save money and have less risk. Show your clients that for you to represent their business in the best light, young people are going to want to work for you.
A fancy truck and software won’t do you any good if you don’t deliver. Your repo people need to be able to make money; they need to feel great about coming to work for you each day.
If you follow the vision I laid out, it won’t be long before your drivers are promoting your business to all of their friends on social media. Before you know it, their friends will be knocking on your door asking if you need any more help. And when was the last time that happened?
A Building Block for Success
Here’s the takeaway: NARS was about the building blocks of success. A building block of success is to make your business appealing to young people. Build your business to appeal to young people, the video game generation. Give them everything they need to succeed and more. Connect your clients to your vision. When you do, your business will go viral.
Big ideas happen when you’re constantly thinking about investing in your business. You’re reading this because I’ve invested in NARS and got inspired by hanging around others with big ideas.
Go to NARS!
