Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

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PCG Announces Dates for second 2012 Pawn Leadership Camp

Jerry Whitehead — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:27:57 PST

Ladies and Gentlemen in Pawnland!

I am happy to announce we have established our dates for our second Executive Leadership Camp for 2012. The dates for this event will be March 14^th – 16^th and will be hosted at the same property we are hosting the January Camp and that will be at the Orlando Marriott Airport Location.

Spaces are extremely limited to these events and sell out quickly.

We encourage all interested parties to get on the list as quickly as possible.

For a recap, here is what the programs are about and can benefit any level of operator.

These are the Leadership and Book Camp type retreats that the founders of the highly successful companies, Value Pawn and LaFamilia Pawn - John Thedford and David Johns have been perfecting over the past couple of decades in their operational worlds.

These concepts were shared at our Symposium this past year down in Naples Florida and will be blended in with other operational insights and more from the Pawnshop Consulting Group as well.

This camp’s book focus will be “First Break All the Rules” one of the most exciting books in this 8 part series we will be conducting this year.

Here is some info on the book and the authors:

The greatest managers in the world seem to have little in common. They differ in sex, age, and race. They employ vastly different styles and focus on different goals. Yet despite their differences, great managers share one common trait: They do not hesitate to break virtually every rule held sacred by conventional wisdom. They do not believe that, with enough training, a person can achieve anything he sets his mind to. They do not try to help people overcome their weaknesses. They consistently disregard the golden rule. And, yes, they even play favorites. This amazing book explains why.

Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of the Gallup Organization present the remarkable findings of their massive in-depth study of great managers across a wide variety of situations. Some were in leadership positions. Others were front-line supervisors. Some were in Fortune 500 companies; others were key players in small, entrepreneurial companies. Whatever their situations, the managers who ultimately became the focus of Gallup’s research were invariably those who excelled at turning each employee’s talent into performance.

In today’s tight labor markets, companies compete to find and keep the best employees, using pay, benefits, promotions, and training. But these well-intentioned efforts often miss the mark. The front-line manager is the key to attracting and retaining talented employees. No matter how generous its pay or how renowned its training, the company that lacks great front-line managers will suffer.

Buckingham and Coffman explain how the best managers select an employee for talent rather than for skills or experience; how they set expectations for him or her — they define the right outcomes rather than the right steps; how they motivate people — they build on each person’s unique strengths rather than trying to fix his weaknesses; and, finally, how great managers develop people — they find the right fit for each person, not the next rung on the ladder. And perhaps most important, this research — which initially generated thousands of different survey questions on the subject of employee opinion — finally produced the twelve simple questions that work to distinguish the strongest departments of a company from all the rest. This book is the first to present this essential measuring stick and to prove the link between employee opinions and productivity, profit, customer satisfaction, and the rate of turnover.

There are vital performance and career lessons here for managers at every level, and, best of all, the book shows you how to apply them to your own situation.

The event pricing includes 3 nights at the target property, two full days of workshops with the masters and other invited guests, breakfast and lunch for two of the days and participation in all of the functions themselves.

Package price for these events are running at $2250 per attendee per room, additional attendees sharing initial room or staying off property are billed at $2050 per attendee.

We will be hosting our event once again at the:

Orlando JW Marriott Airport Location

We are recommending that you RSVP as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

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Aloha from Oahu Hawaii!

Jerry Whitehead — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:37:23 PST

Aloha friends in Pawnland!

It is with joy and relief I bring this little tid bit from the islands to all of our friends, family and followers. This past weekend myself and a number of other well known pawn folks have been celebrating over on Oahu.

We brought in the New Year in big style, one of my pawn buddies from the Carolina’s celebrated his 50th Birthday in Hawaii and what better way to do it? We even had a private VIP area set up, pool side, next to the ocean at the World Famous Rumfire hangout on Waikiki Beach New Years eve .. it was definately off the chain as they say.

Some of our fellow pawn friends from New Zealand arrived today and will be heading over to Maui from here about the same time I am, back to my ol’ homeland of some years back, so it works out all good as they say here in the islands.

2012 promises to be a wonderful year for all of us, from our perspective we are looking at rolling out a whole suite of continuously developed products and services.

Stay tuned for more new dates for our Focus Group and Leadership Groups, we did sell out our first groups in about 24 hours, much more to come and we will have some news soon on the PCG 2012 Pawn Symposium & Conference that will be in the Cayman Islands in late 2012.

Aloha Nui Loa and Mahalo !!

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

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Leadership Camp Schedule Set for January 2012 Meeting

Jerry Whitehead — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:24:37 PST

Ladies and Gentlemen in Pawnland!

We have a preliminary schedule for our upcoming Leadership Camp slated for January 25^th – 27^th in Orlando Florida at the Marriott Airport Location.

The Leadership Camps are one of the many new products and services that Pawnshop Consulting Group is rolling out in the upcoming year.

Our initial camp was sold out in 24 hours of our initial news release I might add, stay tuned more dates for future camps are in the works as well as our long awaited Industry Peer Focus Groups.

For Camp I in January we have a great line up presenters and information that will be shared along with the highly acclaimed book review process as created by the founders of Value Pawn and LaFamilia Pawn, Mr. John Thedford and David Johns.

These events promise to be like nothing offered in our industry before and are truly a one of kind experience to mix, mingle and further the educational experiences within our industry today with some of the best and brightest minds in our sector.

Tentative schedule is as follows:

January 25, 2011 Arrival & Check In

January 26, 2011 Conference Convenes

8:00AM – 9AM Breakfast

9:00AM – 9:30AM Opening Remarks/Introductions

Jerry Whitehead & John Thedford

9:30AM – 11:30AM Watch/Timepiece Training

Jack Hartsoe & Rob Chramosta

11:30AM – 12:30PM Lunch

(Location)

12:45PM – 1:45PM Financial Overview

Jerry Whitehead & John Thedford

1:45PM – 3:00PM Audit/Loss Prevention/Security

Jennifer Kanistris

3:00PM – 4:30PM Selection & Management of Top Performers

David Johns

4:45PM – 6:30PM Certified Professional Pawnbroker Program

Brad Huisken – IAS

January 27, 2011 Leadership Development

9:00AM – Noon Book Review & Presentations

Noon to 1:00PM Lunch

1:00PM – 5:00PM Book Review & Presentations

John Thedford & David Johns

Wrap UP – Jerry Whitehead

ON behalf of the Pawnshop Consulting Group I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all of our family, friends, fans and supporters for yet another record year for our Company. We have been so blessed to work with so many wonderful families and organizations all over the world and we really DO appreciate the opportunities they provide.

We hope that the blessings continue for all of you and also wish the Happiest of the Holiday Season for our clan along with a very big Merry Christmas!

I am off to Peru today and then unfortunately I will be in Hawaii for a number of weeks for some fun in the water and a little bit of work with Big Rich over in Maui.

Aloha and Mahalo!

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

Steve Moore from:
www.buttermilkmedia.com

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Leadership Camps and First Focus Group – SOLD OUT IN 24 HOURS

Jerry Whitehead — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:44:34 PST

Ladies and Gentlemen in Pawnland!

I am very happy to report that the first two of our newest programs, the Leadership Camp and the first TRUE Industry Pawn Focus Group are sold out. Both of these up coming events were completely committed and filled within 24 hours or our initial news releases concerning these two new products that we are rolling out.

We are working on creating more schedules for both products, I just wanted to take this time to outline how our Pawn Focus Groups work and what is involved with them. For those of you who were not fortunate enough to attend our most recent Historical Pawn Symposium down in Naples Florida, here is the details of what our Focus Groups are all about.

We are working on some additional dates for new groups as I type!

Pawn Industry Focus Groups:

What is a Peer Focus Group?

- Modeled after a successful program started over 70 years ago in the automobile industry
- 12 – 15 non-competing pawnshop businesses meeting twice a year
- Explore industry specific issues that face other group members
- Tap into a network of industry experts and profitable colleagues and get answers on improving performance

What does a Peer Focus Group do when they meet?

- Discuss each other’s operations in detail
- Analyze each other’s businesses
- Identify ways to maximize profits
- Put together a plan to stay ahead of the competition

What are the Benefits of a Peer Focus Group?

- Increase your profits
- Associate with other successful pawnshop businesses
- Share best practices and marketing techniques
- Set goals and be accountable for your goals
- Compare financial results and metrics
- Compare your operation with the industry’s best

Who are the members?

- Committed, motivated pawnshop owners and senior managers
- Action-oriented business people who want to constantly improve
- Those who are willing to seek out and obtain outside input
- Those who expect an Return On Investment (ROI) from their time and monetary investment

Meeting Format

- 2-3 days twice per year
- Location determined by the members
- Often in a member’s city to enable member evaluation
- Education
- Best practices – operations and marketing
- Goal setting
- Financial composites

Financial Metrics Analysis

- Compare key financial results to other members’ financials
- Measure P&L and Balance Sheet performance
- Track key financial and operational metrics
- Measure against your financial goals
- Determine areas to improve profitability

Groups consist of 12 to 15 member companies

Non-competitors in the same marketplace
Consider break out by volume and number of locations
First meetings planned for April and May of 2012

Pawnshop Peer Focus Group Meetings

- Facilitated by:
  - Jerry Whitehead, Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.
  - Wayne McMahon, PROFITsystems, Inc.
- PROFITsystems, Inc.
  - Peer Focus Groups for retailers since 1993, financial and business consulting services
- Pawnshop Consulting Group
  - Most comprehensive consulting and support services in the pawnshop industry

Investment

- $5000 per year plus share of common meeting expenses
- Peer Focus Group Members say that one new idea per meeting covers the cost and provides a great return on investment

There are three kinds of people in this world:

- Those that MAKE IT HAPPEN
- Those that LET IT HAPPEN
- And those who wonder WHAT HAPPENED

If you would like to be considered for our next focus group, feel free to contact me directly and we will see if we can get you on the list!

Sincerely –

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

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PCG Rolls out the Highly Anticipated Pawn Industry Focus Groups

Jerry Whitehead — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:29:49 PST

Ladies and Gentlemen in Pawnland!

I am happy to report that the Pawnshop Consulting Group continues our commitment to delivering up high level materials and events to continue to propel the industry into the future.

We are officially rolling out our highly anticipated Industry Peer Focus Groups. We outlined the concepts for these groups recently at our historical Pawn Symposium held earlier this year over in Naples Florida at the Ritz Carlton.

We are organizing two groups currently and they will be divided up into operators of less than 5 stores or greater than 5 stores initially for our first two groups.

For group I, our event is going to be in Los Angeles this coming year April 23^rd – 27^th.

Our case study will be King’s Pawn, founded by Sam Shockett in Los Angeles. This particular group promises to be like no other, Mr. Shockett runs one of the single largest operations in the world today, and we will have an opportunity to examine and critique the operation up close and up front while going thru our group formats for our high level industry Focus Groups.

These groups will be limited to no more than 12 members, they can not be competing members in any market and there is a host of other rules and regulations to abide by to be in the Focus Groups themselves. Our bylaws will be posting up soon and we are already taking on sign ups for the groups.

We already have sign ups for Group I and it is coming to a close very quickly!

Here is some info on the Groups:

Pawnshop Consulting Group Inc. is proud to announce that we are launching our much anticipated Pawnshop Peer Focus Groups. These are the first organized groups at this level in the history of the industry.

What would happen if your business was infused with fresh ideas?

Innovation can be incremental and evolutionary, or radical and revolutionary. For Innovation to occur, it is sometimes necessary for people to change the decisions they make and the processes they use.

The great news is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There’s a good chance that the business dilemma you’re facing today has already been solved by someone else. Networking and resource sharing are the most practical, economical, and entertaining ways to increase profits and attain personal success.

The Pawnshop Consulting Group is bringing together decades of proven methodologies, systems, and people to further assist in the high line fine tuning of our operational worlds. We will also explore the outer boundaries of what is possible if we put our minds together.

We would like to invite you to become a member of the Pawnshop industry’s first true focus groups. The Pawnshop Peer Focus Groups will be comprised exclusively of highly motivated Pawnshop owners and/or management personnel who will meet twice a year in locations decided on by the group members. To ensure that members get the most out of this experience, groups will be made up of organizations of similar size and operational levels. At the meetings, members will discuss common goals and challenges, share best practices, and participate in financial analysis and benchmarking as well as tour and critique various operations.

Due to the extreme networking and close relationship-building potential of the groups, we must limit their sizes and availability. If you are interested in participating with these groups, we recommend getting on the lists ASAP. Events organized by Pawnshop Consulting Group sell out quickly, so don’t let this opportunity pass you by.

Group 1 – April 23-27, 2012 – Los Angeles California

Group 2 – May (to be determined) 2012

Are you ready to join the elite members of these innovative groups?

Jerry Whitehead

President

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954.540.3697

jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

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Perfection Has It’s Price

Jerry Whitehead — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:25:32 PST

Ladies and Gentlemen in Pawnland!

It is with joy I write this post today here from Lima Peru, where we are laying the ground work for our first store operations in Peru.

Pawnshop Consulting Group is teaming up with one of our Mexican partners to open up the first of at least a dozen stores in this market. We see a huge potential in the Latin American markets and are making great strides to move our company and our operational philosophies into the stratosphere with continued perfection in high level sophisticated operations on a global basis.

On the subject of Perfection, I wanted to just pass along that Perfection does have it’s price. In my ongoing consulting work, I am still amazed of how many folks in this industry are afraid to INVEST in their businesses, or the push back that I often receive when it’ comes to fees associated with high-level consulting services or our high level leadership camps and or focus groups.

8 years ago, a very good friend of mine and a client once barked at what our fees were to come up and provide services for his company. What is amazing is that his $8000 investment many years ago, mushroomed into a rebirth and genesis of his company. In his existing 6 stores back then that had been operational for about 20 years and were at a flat-line with loan growth and income, we only increased loan balances across the board in 12 months by 100% ++ and we doubled the bottom line in that same time period as well. A believer, a convert, you betcha. Now we visit at least once a year and continue to tweak the operations to levels of sustainable growth. Today this client and associate has added two more stores and is still experiencing growth today in the existing operations. Year one after our first visit, bottom line increased by more than $500,000+ dollars. Now was that a good investment?

Our belief is that stores never mature. We have found that by keeping high-level associates and team leaders in place for the longest periods of time in stores continue to have continuous growth. They in affect don’t stop growing if we keep maximizing everything we do in our operations and continue to reward our team members for highlevel productivity.

I often times receive push back on fees, but can only look at the results that we have achieved with more than 99% of our clients. Sadly, until recently there is only ONE client that could not see or could not utilize our operational directions correctly. Sometimes we may be blinded by our own operational worlds and remain resistant to true change. Only one constant in life and that is change.

Most recently we just had our first International Pawn Symposium and Conference at the Ritz Carlton in Naples Florida. We charged $3500 per head for attendees which included the room at the five star hotel for four nights, breakfast and lunch all days, two open cocktail socials, dinner, a mystery show and we put a dozen high-level industry experts in front of them for 3 days. What is amazing is that YES, I did get some comments on fees and in the end, our event was over sold and sold out, ALL of our attendees indicated they were just blown away with our high level presentations and programs and I have had one client indicate that he has made over $100,000 since the Symposium on some of the techniques introduced at that program.

We even had one of our clients comment on the list of some of the names of our presenters that he had seen them before, unfortunately NONE of the material we presented at our event has been seen anywhere outside of the Symposium. We purposely had our speakers produce customized material specifically for presentation to our high level attendees from more than a dozen countries around the world. For those who missed the event, they missed HISTORY in the making!

No one in the industry has ever offered any products or events like these and we are striving to change the industry and the world in which we live in. We are now spinning off our Executive Leadership Camps and Focus Groups as well while we prepare for next years Symposium to be held in Georgetown Cayman Islands. Invest in your business? I hope so, nothing like having another set of eyes on whatever it is that your doing or to continue to network with some of best and brightest our industry has ever seen.

We at the Pawnshop Consulting Group strive for excellence in all that we do and for operational perfection, yes it does come with a Price!!

Why not take the leap of faith and join our other 450+ clients in more than 35 countries around the world and SEE for yourself what we CAN do for you.

Your only investing in YOUR Business, and YES Perfection has it’s Price, what’s yours?

Sincerely,

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

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PCG, Inc and ButterMilk Media – Jackson MS

Jerry Whitehead — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 14:01:45 PST

It’s been a busy time since we partnered up (or rather created a Joint Venture) with ButterMilk Media in Mid-June for our new Website Design, Social Media Integration offerings and more! We were also extremely pleased that the International Pawn Symposium worked out so well – but it took up a lot of time in regards to my being able to keep up with posts about our “other” news and what’s been going on with myself, Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc as well as Steve Moore and ButterMilk Media.

Be that as it may, I was asked by Kevin MacDonald of “Big Daddy’s Pawn” and past president of the MS Pawnbrokers Association to speak at the Mississippi (MS) Pawn Brokers Association for the Continuing Education in mid-summer that is now required for all pawn shops in MS.

I gave Steve Moore of ButterMilk Media a call to get him to come over and record the Seminar via audio/video and Steve took some photos as well. I’ll be posting more about that event and others in the days to come – and of course, we’ll be adding a lot of photos of the pawnshop owners or workers in the pawn shops that were required to attend in Jackson, MS as well as videos that Steve Moore shot as is now in the process of post-editing. As there was a really good turn out and we had people attend from all around that area: Jackson, Pearl, Vicksburg, Greenville, and many more!

Again, Kevin MacDonald, the then President of the MS Pawnbrokers Association was kind enough to invite us! So we’re going to make sure to return the favor and help promote the MS Pawn Shops CE. Kevin owns several pawnshops in the Jackson, MS and surrounding areas! Check him out a “Big Daddy’s Pawn” or visit his Linked In Profile (JUST CLICK HERE)

Our plan is to post numerous photos, several video snippets of the Presentation so that you can get an idea about what I speak about when addressing these pawn shops or pawn brokers for CE. As these CE sessions are a lot different from my other speaking engagements! MORE TO COME – so STAY TUNED!

Sincerely,

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

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