As I prepare to get on a plane and fly out of Los Angeles, I am happy to report that the industry’s First Peer Focus Groups meeting has just gone down and history has been made in the Pawn Industry.

We have multiple countries and a wide array of members in this first of many new Peer Focus Groups that the Pawnshop Consulting Group is NOW forming.

We began this groups event with an outstanding tour of the King Pawn Operation based in the Los Angeles basin and went into our two days of brutal sessions from there. These groups allow like minded entrepreneurs to explore every aspect of their businesses along with their fellow peers. Philosphies, operational mantra’s, financial benchmarking, human resources, marketing and everything else you can imagine that it takes to be in business today in this complex world in which we live.

I am off to get on another airplane as I am typing this blog, we will provide some detailed updates very soon and if your organization would like to get involved with the next generation of the pawnbroking industry by becoming involved in a newly formed focus group, feel free to contact us directly!

Much more coming soon!

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.
954-540-3697

CONTACT INFO

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com
www.pawnsymposium.com
jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

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At long last the industry’s FIRST Pawn Peer Group Meeting is about to go down. We are gathering in Los Angeles this week to the set in motion an historic moment for our Industry.

The Pawnshop Consulting Group is delivering up yet another first for our beloved industry with the Focus Groups. This is is our Group I that consists of the 5 store or less operators.

We will be meeting in Los Angeles this week to witness a case study of Sam Shockett’s King Pawn operations based in the Los Angeles basin area as well as working our high-level synergy group sessions after the tours conclude and the work begins.

The Pawnshop Consulting Group IS actively seeking other innovative operators that would like to part of an “Exclusive Opportunity” to work within like minded Peer Groups to further develop their businesses, their income and long term professional relationships that could last a lifetime.

These groups allow for REAL interaction between the members and encourage networking and innovative trade and operational sharing all at the next levels.

The groups are kept to no more than 15 corporate members, they meet twice a year in member’s markets to critique and tour their operations live and then to work in group functions at their gatherings.

Peer Groups and the concept for them have been around for many decades and this is the first of kind for the  Pawn Industry.

We are working on three new groups currently, these will be the less than 5 stores in operations and the over 5 store groups as well as an International peer group.

Here is the outline of events for our Groups I meeting this week in Los Angeles, enjoy the read!

The Pawnshop Consulting Group has been working for years to develop the next level of high-level interaction between pawnbrokers and other professionals in our industry and we are proud to roll out the first ever – “Pawn Focus Groups”.

Participation in the groups represent real opportunities to witness and work with a wide variety of fellow operators and freely exchange best practices and much more up close and up front.

Membership to these groups provides unique networking opportunities and so much more as we begin to collectively explore all boundaries of our beloved profession together while developing life long relationships with other like minded people.

We have a number of tasks to complete and here are the updates on the upcoming event in LA.

Here is the schedule and agenda’s as we have them set for Group I meetings in Los Angeles the 25th – 27th of April 2012:

April 25th – Load in Portofino Hotel

April 26th –     8:00 am – Breakfast Pacific II Ballroom

9:00 am – ON Van – Kings Pawn Tours Los Angeles, Catered Social – Sam Shockett’s home – return Portofino 11PM (All day out from Portofino) Stops will include Luncheon mid-day FYI

April 27th –     8:00 – 9:00 am – Breakfast Bayside Ballroom

9:00 – Noon – Session I – Bayside Ballroom – Orientation to Group participation/expectations, member introductions and short bio/history, ground rules and language agreements

Noon – 1:00 pm – Luncheon Bayside Atrium

1:30 – 2:30 pm – Session II – Discussion King’s Pawn Operations Q&A with Mr. Sam Shockett – Open Forum

2:30 – 3:00 pm – Session Break

3:00 – 5:00 pm – Outtakes on Peer Groups – Brad Huisken – Jerry Whitehead – Groups Development Discussions Items’ on agenda for group votes:

•    Number of attendees allowed for each member at group meetings

•    Date Parameters for next group gathering, group member volunteers for next tour / meeting region for groups – votes on next destination

•    Agenda or Topics of interest to members to focus on for next group meeting and preparation – some suggestions to offer would include the following:

o    Financial Benchmarks

o    Marketing Strategies

o    Website or Social Media

o    Best Practices

o    Human Resources

o    Productivity or Commission Programs

o    Loss Prevention

o    Security

o    Merchandising Programs – acquisition or disposal techniques for inventory

o    Store Concepts

o    Industry Trends

o    Valuations

5:00 pm – Conclude Initial Sessions

7:00 pm – Group out dinner – short walk from Portofino to Chart House Restaurant – Beach Area Redondo Beach

April 28th –       8:00 – 9:00 am – Breakfast – Pacific II Ballroom

9:00 – 11:30 am – Session III – Pacific I Ballroom – Each member group provide 15 – 20 minute presentation on current marketing strategies – marketing needs or concepts to be explored with group

11:30 – Noon – Session Break

Noon – 1:00 pm – Luncheon – Pacific II Ballroom

1:30 – 3:30 pm – Session IV – David Johns – Human Resource Introspect

3:30 – 4:00 pm – Session Break

4:00 – 5:30 pm – Wrap up member feedback, recap goals and agendas for next group meeting

Open Evening- Saturday night Redondo Beach – Cocktails, music, food? We have some options

New Groups Being Formed NOW

Hope you folks enjoyed the read, please be sure to check out out 2012 International Pawn Symposium & Conference that is happening this September in the Cayman Islands.

www.pawnsymposium.com

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.
954-540-3697

CONTACT INFO

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com
www.pawnsymposium.com
jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

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Ladies and Gentlemen in Pawnland!

We have the following updates for our upcoming camp in May.

We will be at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport Location @

9300 Jeff Fuqua Blvd

Orlando, FL 32827

407-825-1234

This upcoming camp promises to be unlike any of the others we have had up to this date. Camp III will be a case study of the book written by John Thedford entitled “Smart Moves”. This is the book that John wrote sometime ago outlining the key components that they utilized to build an award winning organization named Value Pawn. Value Pawn achieved more than 70 stores before being acquired by EZ Corp back in late 2008 for more than 120+ million dollars.

John along with his co-founder David Johns – the former Human Resource Director for Cash America and Sears & Roebuck built one of the most successful pawn chains in history. They utilized a variety of techniques in order to achieve these goals and in the end, they had built an extremely successful organization focused on bench strength and key human-metrics.

This camp will be featuring another series piece from John as well entitled “Over Managed and Under Cultured” by Mr. Thedford along with another piece from David Johns as well in the Human Resource arena.

Jerry Whitehead will also be doing a piece on what the current environment is like for the industry today from our global perspective. AS many of you know our organization now services more than 450++ clients in more than 35 countries around the world today, and as such provide a unique opportunity to witness our trends in this industry globally.

Our executive leadership series is focused on 7 unique books this year and runs all year and we are well on down the road for our plans for next years series as well.

Here are the remaining dates for the next 4 camps we have scheduled this year:

Our format for these programs are as follows:

Each camp has a series of different topics to present per requests from each of the camps themselves along with topics that we feel are important in the operational worlds of our businesses.

The second half of these programs are the Book Camp type programs that the founders of Value Pawn and LaFamilia Pawn – John Thedford and David Johns have been perfecting over the past couple of decades in their operational worlds.

There are vital performance and career lessons here for managers at every level and best of all the book camp portion of these programs through attendee chapter assignments and participation illustrates how to apply these award winning techniques in your own operational environments. Actual workshops that engage ALL of our participants in active feedback sessions to witness the diverse views of our attendees from around the country and the world today!

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 $2450 per attendee per room, additional attendees sharing initial room or staying off property are billed at $2250 per attendee.

We are recommending that you RSVP as soon as possible, ALL PCG events SELL OUT!

We are taking reservations for our upcoming camps, please contact us directly to get on the lists.

SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED TO THESE FUNCTIONS FOR YOUR INFORMATION!

We still have some space available for our upcoming May camp and promises to be a good one.

You may send your requests directly to:

pawnshopconsultinggroup@gmail.com

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

www.pawnsymposium.com

jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

CONTACT INFO

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Ladies and Gentlemen in Pawnland!

We have our 3rd Executive Leadership Camp coming up and we are filling up FAST!

For those of you who have attended our last camp or camps, this one also promises to be one of our high-lights this year out of the 7 book reviews we will be doing. This camp will be featuring the book “Smart Moves Management” written by John Thedford the founding principle of the highly successful pawn chain out of Florida called Value Pawn. John built this company to 70+ stores before selling this highly profitable and world class organization to EZ Corp back in late 2008 for 120+ Million Dollars.

Mr. Thedford utilized the best tools, the best resources and the best management approaches in the world today to build this highly successful organization. The book Mr. Thedford published a few years back featured the high-lights of the winning combinations and practices that his organization utilized to build an award winning operation providing world class service and results.

Some years back I had the opportunity to work with John and his organization and after witnessing their inner-circles and operational mantra’s I discovered the BEST multi-unit Pawn Organization that was in existence in the world today in their operations.

As most of our subscribers know, Mr. John Thedford along with his other founding partner of Value Pawn, Mr. David Johns have been producing their highly successful book camp programs in conjunction with PCG to offer our clients and followers opportunities to network with the masters, spend time analyzing, listening to and working in workshop environments to see what it takes to be the best of the best.

Our next Executive Leadership Camp dates are May 14th — 16th in Orlando Florida. We will be at the Hyatt Regency Airport location in Orlando which is centrally located in the Orlando Airport area which makes access to our events from anywhere in the world easy and accessable. We have had numerous clients of ours and others following PCG attend these events from around the world today.

We have 5 more scheduled Camps this year and the dates are listed as follows:

• May 14 – 16 – Camp III – Orlando Florida – Book portion “Smart Moves” by John Thedford
• July 8 – 10 – Camp IV – Location TBD – Book portion “Winning” by Jack Welch – more applications of strategy & management
• August 8 – 10 Camp V – Location TBD – Book portion “Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker
• October 11 – 13 Camp VI – Location TBD – Book portion – “6 Habits of Effective People” – self development program
• November 8th – 10th Camp VII – Location TBD – Book portion – TBD

Our format for these programs are as follows:

Pawnshop Consulting Group is in a very unique situation to provide introspect into our industry from a global basis today. We service more than 450+ clients in 37 countries around the world and as such can offer a very wide array of subject matter at each of our Leadership Camps. Each camp has a series of different topics to present per requests from each of the camps themselves along with topics that we feel are important in the operational worlds of our businesses.

• For the May camp week of the 14^th – 16^th PCG’s Jerry Whitehead will be doing our widely desired “What’s driving our Industry Today Overview” along with an award winning program from John Thedford on “Bench Strength Management”, this program is the how to steps for planning, performing and the reporting requirements required to adjust for current and future staffing needs and much more. Mr. David Johns will also be presenting another one of his award winning programs in the HR arena along with Brad Huisken from IAS training providing more personnel development skills and applications.

There will be a litany of other material provided as well by Jerry Whitehead, John Thedford, David Johns and other worthy presenters.

The second half of these programs are the Book Camp type programs that the founders of Value Pawn and LaFamilia Pawn – John Thedford and David Johns have been perfecting over the past couple of decades in their operational worlds.

There are vital performance and career lessons here for managers at every level and best of all the book camp portion of these programs through attendee chapter assignments and participation illustrates how to apply these award winning techniques in your own operational environments. Actual workshops that engage ALL of our participants in active feedback sessions to witness the diverse views of our attendees from around the country and the world today!

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 $2450 per attendee per room, additional attendees sharing initial room or staying off property are billed at $2250 per attendee.

We are recommending that you RSVP as soon as possible, ALL PCG events SELL OUT!

We are taking reservations for our upcoming camps, please contact us directly to get on the lists.

SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED TO THESE FUNCTIONS FOR YOUR INFORMATION!

You may send your requests directly to:

pawnshopconsultinggroup@gmail.com

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

www.pawnsymposium.com

jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

CONTACT INFO

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER/BLOG

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It give me great pleasure to formally announce that David Johns has officially joined the Pawnshop Consulting Group’s exclusive list of Consultants and is providing a very high level of Human Resource expertise to our growing Global Community.

Mr. Johns has had an extensive history in our industry and in the Human Resources area for most all of his professional adult life. He was the former HR director for Sears & Roebuck for more than 20 years, he was director of Human Resources for Cash America for more than 5 years, was one of the founding principles along with John Thedford of the highly successful Value Pawn chain based out of Florida and today’ provides a wide array of consulting services in the Human Resources arena to many organizations as well as serving on the Board of Directors of the National Pawnbrokers Association.

David Johns IS considered to be on the of THE Leading Experts in his field today and specifically in the Pawn Industry.

Pawnshop Consulting Group is extremely fortunate to have Mr. Johns join our team and we have been keeping him very busy with our growing global community since his arrival.

Recently David has returned from Aruba where he worked with one of our clients, Mr. Boris Cybul who now employees more than 120 people in his country with his growing rent to own business and his island dominant chain of Pawnshops. Boris recently commented that he learned more in one week working directly with David about his Human Assets than he has in his past 12 years of owing and operating his growing business, all along while seeking the best information resources he could in the world today.

David is off to Fayetteville North Carolina next to work with Melanie Keefe up with Parker Pawn, followed by Dicks’ Pawn in Myrtle Beach, followed by Douglas Braswell with Braswell & Sons in Little Rock Arkansas, then Bruce Harris with AOK Pawn up in Wichita Kansas, then Bob Moulton with National Pawn in RDU NC and the list just goes on and on.

Our clients that have had the opportunity to work with David and work with him at a variety of our events such as our Executive Leadership Camps or our International Pawn Symposium continue to rave about his intellect, input and real world experiences in applying proven methodologies into the Human Capital applications of our businesses.

PCG like Mr. Johns believes that our Human Capital IS our most important resource on the planet today!

IN our Human Resource client engagements, here is the initial format utilized to begin the assessment processes along with steps involved:

Human Resources Consulting Project Description

(A review of the human capital of a business.)

___________________________________________________________________

GENERAL

The most important component of successful businesses is the human capital employed in the day-to-day operation of these businesses. Numerous studies conducted by a plethora of prominent researchers from a wide range of academic and professional disciplines unanimously conclude that the single and most prevalent defining factor found in successful businesses is the ability of management to properly select and train team members for the entity.

There is an additional and crucial responsibility of management after properly selecting the best talent available noted in all the studies referenced above. That responsibility is to utilize work teams to maximum levels of productivity while constantly monitoring the ability of the entity to attract and retain top producers.

Finally, the referenced studies point to the fact that successful businesses also know how to replace under performers in a manner that does not disrupt the profitability of the business entity. This is often a misunderstood accountability that is clearly on the shoulders of management.

CONSULTING PURPOSE

Consulting provided by David Johns, representing Pawnshop Consulting Group considers the critical areas pointed out above and evaluates whether or not the client entity has the necessary talent in place to reach profit goals. Following is a broad outline of what typically takes place during the course of a weekly consult:

v Evaluate the current productivity level of all those assigned to work groups (stores/departments).

v Review TTS or similar results where available. (TTS) Thurstone Temperament Schedule – Defines Personality Traits

v Tie TTS or similar results to assessments based on interviews with each supervisor/manager in the organization. (NOTE: Each face-to-face interview of supervisors/managers often lasts from thirty to forty-five minutes.)

v Set up an employee evaluation method to insure individual team member productivity to reach profit goals or replacement of incumbents.

v Review recruiting and selection process for all new hires.

v Review current motivational activities centered around employees/work groups.

v Make recommendations for new and different commission/bonus/contest winner plans where appropriate.

v Conduct one or more power point presentations (selected by management/owners) for management. A list of available power point presentations is provided by PCG prior to the consult visit.

The consult can be adjusted to the satisfaction of the client to include other reviews and evaluations as needed. The above list is broad and covers a wide range of operational procedures centered around human resources considerations; all designed to improve the use of human capital to improve profits of the business.

CONCLUSIONS

Following the consult a report will be provided management/owners that outlines consult results along with suggested changes, etc. NOTE: If the consult is for a period of less than one week (five working days), the above list will be adjusted to the satisfaction of management/owners.

A list of the documents/data required to complete the consult is provided the week prior to the consult visit.

PCG and David have found that proper team selections and motivations for them along with guidance are three of the most important aspects of having a good team and establishing solid results in the operational world. If you would like to find out how you could put the missing pieces together in your Human Capital areas of your business, feel free to contact us directly and we would be glad to discuss the steps necessary to help you and your business establish “World Class” service in the organization.

Many of you have seen David recently at our Executive Leadership Camps in Orlando, here is the remaining schedule this year for the next 5 Camps we are hosting and ALL of these would provide anyone the opportunity to listen to, work with and network with some of the most informed individuals in their respective fields today anywhere in the world. These camps are limited in participation size to allow maximization of the attendees feedback and involvement in our workshops. None of which have been offered in the Pawn Industry before.

• May 13– 15 – Camp III – Orlando Florida – Book portion “Smart Moves” by John Thedford
• July 8 – 10 – Camp IV – Location TBD – Book portion “Winning” by Jack Welch – more applications of strategy & management
• August 8 – 10 Camp V – Location TBD – Book portion “Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker
• October 11 – 13 Camp VI – Location TBD – Book portion – “6 Habits of Effective People” – self development program
• November 8th – 10th Camp VII – Location TBD – Book portion – TBD

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

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

David Johns along with a HOST of other highly acclaimed individuals will also be presenting and working with our attendees this year at our upcoming 2012 International Pawn Symposium & Conference that will be held this September at the Ritz Carlton in Georgetown in the Cayman Islands. Like last year, this will be a “Top Shelf” event with limited participation available. Our event is more than halfway sold out currently as of date of this newsletter/blog, if you would like more information on this event, please visit us at:

www.pawnsymposium.com

Pawnshop Consulting Group is in a very unique situation to provide introspect into our industry from a global basis today. We service more than 450+ clients in 37 countries around the world and as such can offer a very wide array of subject matter at each of our Leadership Camps. Each camp has a series of different topics to present per requests from each of the camps themselves along with topics that we feel are important in the operational worlds of our businesses.

You may visit our website “Blogs” area to find all the details of the camps, fees, registration information and more.

We at PCG have found that in today’s constantly changing business environments, you have have to stay focused and informed to stay ahead of the game. There are those that do nothing, those that watch and those who are actively engaged in improving their businesses and their lives, where are you at?

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

www.pawnsymposium.com

jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

CONTACT INFO

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER/BLOG

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Monday, March 12, 2012

Ladies and Gentlemen in Pawnland!

I am happy to report that we have our second Executive Leadership Camp coming up this week in Orlando Florida.

We have a very interesting agenda at this camp along with a superb book – review as done by John Thedford and David Johns, two valuable guys with a long history in our beloved industry.

Our agenda for this camp will be as follows:

• March 14^th – Attendees arrive from various destinations around the world

• March 15^th – Breakfast 8:00 – 9:00AM TBD
• 9:00 – 9:45 AM – Jerry Whitehead – Camp updates along with information on PCG Exclusive Focus Groups and Pawn Symposium scheduled for September of 2012 in the Cayman Islands
• 9:45 – 11:00 AM – John Thedford – Customer – Loan – Buy – Standards
• 11:00 – Noon – David Johns – Contests to Enhance Profits & Goal Attainments
• Noon – 1:00PM – Luncheon
• 1:00 – 2:30PM – Jerry Whitehead – Customer Qualifying – Workshop centering on the importance of Customer Qualifying
• 2:30 – 3:00 PM – Intermission
• 3:00 – 4:30 PM – Brad Huisken – Pawnbroker Certification Program and more
• 4:30 – 5:00 PM – Jerry Whitehead – Attendee Feedback and informational program
• 5:00 PM Adjourn – Group Dinner – Ala Carte – Hotel – 6:30PM

• March 16^th – Breakfast 8:00 – 9:00 AM – TBD

• 9:00 AM – Forward – John Thedford / David Johns – Book review – “First Break all the Rules”
• Noon – 1:00PM – Luncheon
• 1:30 PM – Book reviews continue till adjourn

The feedback we have had from our first camp has been exceptional. These events allow for a widely mixed group of folks from around the world to work together in workshop formats to improve their businesses and ultimately their lives and to network with our industry brothers and sisters.

We have the following dates for the remainder of the year for the rest of our Executive Leadership Camps for 2012.

I am happy to announce we have established our dates for our third Executive Leadership Camp for 2012. The dates for this event will be May 12^th – 15th and will be hosted at the same property we hosted the January and March Camps that are coming up this week and that will be at the Orlando Marriott Airport Location.

Our dates for the upcoming Camps are as follows:

• May 12 – 15 – Camp III – Orlando Florida – Book portion “Smart Moves” by John Thedford
• July 8 – 10 – Camp IV – Location TBD – Book portion “Winning” by Jack Welch – more applications of strategy & management
• August 8 – 10 Camp V – Location TBD – Book portion “Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker
• October 11 – 13 Camp VI – Location TBD – Book portion – “6 Habits of Effective People” – self development program
• November 8 0 19 Camp VII – Location TBD – Book portion – TBD

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

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

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

Pawnshop Consulting Group is in a very unique situation to provide introspect into our industry from a global basis today. We service more than 450+ clients in 37 countries around the world and as such can offer a very wide array of subject matter at each of our Leadership Camps. Each camp has a series of different topics to present per requests from each of the camps themselves along with topics that we feel are important in the operational worlds of our businesses.

• For the March camp week of the 14^th – 16^th PCG’s Jerry Whitehead will be doing our widely desired Customer Qualifying Program – Workshop centering on the importance of Customer Qualifying and the steps involved

There will be a litany of other material provided as well by Jerry Whitehead, John Thedford, David Johns and other worthy presenters.

The second half of these programs are the Book Camp type programs 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. 

The camp in March book review and 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 Marriott Airport Location

We are recommending that you RSVP as soon as possible.

We are taking reservations for our upcoming camps, please contact us directly to get on the lists.

SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED TO THESE FUNCTIONS FOR YOUR INFORMATION!

You may send your requests directly to:

pawnshopconsultinggroup@gmail.com

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

www.pawnsymposium.com

jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

CONTACT INFO

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER/BLOG

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We officially sold out the worlds First Industry Peer Focus Groups and I wanted to take this time to share what we will be doing on our first one coming up.

We are officially taking names now for another less than 5 store groups, if your interested in joining one, please contact us directly!

For our current members, here is the info relating to their first retreat coming up:

We would like to thank all of you that have signed up to become part of the Pawn Industry’s first of kind Peer Groups. Many of you saw our program description this past year at our Pawn Symposium down in Naples Florida and at long last we are moving forward with our program.

We have the dates of April 25^th – 28^th established for our first official Peer Group Meeting. We will be meeting in Los Angeles for our first go round and we have selected the following property for our gathering.

Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club – 260 Portofino Way, Redondo Beach, CA 90277

310-379-8481

Here is a link with some additional information on the property:

Portofino Hotel INFO LINK

The resort is offering us standard rooms at $155 per night. We will have other room options available for those of you who may be seeking suite upgrades or other, additional information out quickly.

Our tentative schedule is as follows:

• April 25^th – Attendees arrive – check in
• April 26^th– King Pawn Store Tours LA – Sam Shockett
  • Group breakfast at 8:00 AM
  • Tour Bus 9:00 AM Depart – All Day OUT
  • Group Social – Cocktails / Dinner
• April 27^th – Group Breakfast 8:00 – 9:00 AM
  • Meetings begin
  • Luncheon Noon – 1:00PM
  • Meetings continue – 5:00 PM Adjourn
  • Cocktail Social / Dinner IN/OUT TBD
• April 28^th – Group Breakfast 8:00 – 9:00 AM
  • Meetings Resume
  • Luncheon Noon – 1:00PM
  • Meetings Continue – 5:00 PM Adjourn
  • Adjourn / Wrap up /  Socials or Dinner TBD

Folks this is our tentative agenda and our first Peer Groups meetings which promise to be very exciting. For starters we will be doing an initial case study and examination of Sam’s stores. His large operation in LA generates more than 1000+ loan transactions per day and is one of the largest operations in the world today of its kind and is certainly one of the largest in the United States. Sam has several stores that we will visit and all of this will be wrapped up with a special evening out on day one.

Our second day will be setting the tone and the agenda for our Peer Groups. This will be the time that our attendees with our guidance will set our agendas, cover our ground rules and membership participation and establish our next members store locations and dates for our second meeting of the year.

Our third day will focus on various Pawnshop Operational formats and will lead into the types of information and programs we can create for our Peer Groups.

All N’ all it promises to be a very unique opportunity to work with fellow non-competitive peers in our industry and to share all of the wealth of knowledge, skills, mistakes we have made and tour live operations around the country and more.

We will be covering our by-laws, do’s and don’ts and much more at our initial meeting in Los Angeles.

Pawnshop Consulting Group will take care of all of your hotel bookings and arrangements, members will pay their own hotel expenses and travel related fees to attend the events. Members will be billed for their hotel rooms in advance prior to our meetings as well.

As part of the participation, our production costs will be equally divided by the number of members and or participants present and billed at time of our events. We will have common shared expenses such as the meals, transportation arrangements for our tours and travel related expenses for the event producers and or any special guests or other event promotional related expenses that could arise.

Membership Fees cover each organization of the Peer Groups. Organizations can bring two or more people to the functions with no more than 3. Each organization will have to pay for their meal and or shared function costs as a pro-rata of the total number of attendees plus their own hotel rooms or other.

If you plan on bringing others to the meets, please provide us with the complete names, positions, contact info and email addresses for each additional – limit 3 per organization please.

Please specify the room types you would like, how many rooms you will require as well as: king – queen – twin beds – ocean view – suite or other. We can begin to make all of your room reservations ASAP and make preparations. Additional pricing info out soon for the suite upgrades and other, please stay tuned.

We will be sending some additional information requests within 3 weeks of our event for the financial disclosures and more.

Please get your financial commitments in the mail ASAP to us and let us know your attendance numbers and room requests ASAP.

Look forward to seeing you all in Los Angeles and let’s Rock the Pawn World some more!

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

www.pawnsymposium.com

jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

CONTACT INFO

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We have updated information for this year’s upcoming 2012 International Pawn Symposium & Conference scheduled for September 9^th – 14^th at the Historic 5 Star – Ritz Carlton Hotel in Georgetown Cayman Islands on 7-mile beach.

Here is a link with some information on the Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman Location:

Ritz Carlton – Cayman Islands

We have added two more night stays for a total of 6 nights for this year’s event so that we may all take in some of the many excellent group social functions we are planning for this Historic Event and to enjoy the glamour and beauty of the Cayman Islands themselves.

Moving forward with some of the feedback we received last year in Naples we have shortened up several of our days just a bit so that we can ALL have planned social or family functions together or individually to partake in many of the island hospitalities that are offered.

The Cayman Islands offer WORLD CLASS activities unparalleled anywhere else in the world today. The Caymans’ have been long known as one of the top 10 diving locations on the Planet today as well as providing excellent deep sea fishing grounds and a variety of ocean and marine activities suited for just about any age or ability level.

Here is a link with some information on Cayman Island activities:

Cayman Island INFO

We are also billing this year’s event as “Family” friendly!

Children will be welcome and we will have several of our social functions geared around good ol’ fashioned family fun. We are looking at sand-castle building competitions on the beach, sea turtle aquarium visits, dolphin swims, snorkeling, diving, swimming with the stingrays, submarine dives, fishing, golfing and more. We will have a host of options that will fit just about any of our attendees’ desires traveling from around the world to attend our event this year.

This year’s event promises once again to be unlike any other event of its kind in the  Pawn Industry today. We will be mixing and mingling with some of the best and brightest minds this industry has produced along with some other skilled and knowledgeable folks that will be interacting and presenting even a wider array of subject material for our consumption.

We have assembled a variety of packages to accommodate just about anyone wishing to attend.

Our Attendee packages include ALL nightly room charges, ALL the meals, ALL the cocktail socials and ALL of the functions at the property itself.

All you need to do is get yourself to the Islands and we will take it from there!

Remember to get your PASSPORTS IN ORDER!

Specifics for our hotel packages and arrangements with the Ritz are as follows:

• $4200 1^st Attendee Standard room – 6 nights – all meals and all functions included
  • These are standard rooms – king, queen or twin bed options available pool or garden view rooms

• $2600 2^nd Attendee shared room – 6 nights – all meals and attendance to ALL functions – Spouses or significant others who wish to attend our Seminars would be included in this category

• $1650 Spouses or Significant others staying in same room w/registered attendee – Includes all meals, cocktail socials, no attendance to seminars

• $5200 1^st Attendee OCEAN view room – 6 nights – all meals and all functions included
  • There are a limited number of these rooms available please RSVP ASAP if you would like to have one of these rooms – king, queen or twin bed options available

• $1000 Per child fee, staying in same room with Paid Attendee(s), includes all meals and attendance to any of our organized social functions (fee does NOT apply if children are not attending meal functions)

        *  $1800 Additional Standard room – pool or garden view, king, queen or twin bed set up – 6-nights – For children or other guests requiring additional rooms – Rooms ONLY

Tentative Schedule is as follows:

Sunday September 9^th 2012

Attendees arrive and UNPACK, UNWIND and RELAX on the BEACH!

• Informal Cocktail Social on the Beach at Sunset

Monday September 10^th 2012

• ALL DAY – Group Organized Deep Sea Fishing, Diving, Golfing, Submarine, Snorkeling, Stingray Dive/Snorkel, Sea Turtle Sanctuary/Aquarium, Spa Treatments and more
• 5:00 – 7:00 PM – Attendee Registration and Credentials
• 7:00 – 9:00 PM – Welcoming Cocktail Reception – Room – Seven Mile Beach South

Tuesday September 11^th 2012

• 7:30 – 8:30 AM – Breakfast Served – Ballroom Terrace
• 8:30 – 9:00 AM – Jerry Whitehead – Opening Remarks – Symposium Agenda, Format and Whitehead vision for the Industry Today
• 9:00 – 9:15 AM – Intermission
• 9:15 – 11:00 AM – John Thedford – “Over Managed and Under Cultured” How to run the Leadership Deficit
• 11:00 – 11:30 AM – Feedback Session
• 11:30 – 1:00 PM – Intermission  – Luncheon – Ballroom Terrace
• 1:00  – 2:30 PM – David Johns – How to Create Contests to Build Profits & Goal Attainments in the Operations
• 2:30 – 3:00 PM – Feedback Session
• 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Jordan TaBach Banks – Beverly Jewelry & Loan – How to procure and obtain high value loans and customers
• 4:00 – 4: 15 PM Intermission
• 4:15 – 5:00 PM  David Johns – Performance Evaluations to Drive Profits and Productivity in the Operations
• 5:00 PM Adjourn – Sand Castle Building Contests Beach – Kids invited

Wednesday September 12^th 2012

• 7:30 – 8:30 AM – Breakfast Served
• 8:30 – 10:30 AM – Jennifer Kanistras – Loss Prevention Techniques in the Operations – The how why and what to look for
• 10:30 – 11:00 AM – Feedback Session
• 11:00 – 11:15 AM – Intermission
• 11:15 – 12:15 PM – Roberto Doering – Technology Utilization for monitoring customer behavior, loss prevention, maximizing efficiencies in the Operations
• 12:15 – 1:30 PM – Intermission / Luncheon – Ballroom Terrace
• 1:30 – 1:45 PM – Intermission
• 1:45 – 3:00 PM – David Hurst – Argentum Refinery – Descriptive of the offshore refinery – the principles of a CO-Operative profit sharing operation – processes and more
• 3:00 PM – Adjourn – Argentum Tours & Group Social Activities

Thursday September 13^th 2012      

• 7:30  – 8:30 AM – Breakfast Served
• 8:30  – 8:45 AM – Intermission
• 8:45 – 9:45 AM – Neil Johnson – Fund Manager – Lombardy Fund – Benefits to offshore banking, tax free, duty free zones, logistics and more 
• 9:45  – 10:00 AM – Intermission
• 10:00 – 11:30 AM – Brad Huisken – Pawnbroker Certification Program
• 11:30 – 1:00 PM – Intermission / Luncheon – Ballroom Terrace
• 1:00 – 3:00 PM – ButterMilk Media / Justin Whitehead – Total Online Presence – latest trends and developments with Social Media
• 3:00 – 3:15 PM – Intermission
• 3:15 – 4:00 PM – Sponsor Presentation – Special
• 4:00 – 5:00 PM – Jerry Whitehead – Status of Industry today – Global Trending – informational and more
• 5:00 – 6:00 PM Cocktail Social
• 6:00 – 9:00 PM Group Dinner – North Sound Pool

Friday September 14^th 2012

• 7:30  – 8:30 AM – Breakfast Served
• 8:30  – 10:30 AM –   Kevin Prochaska – How to create and establish Financial Goals and Benchmarks for your operations
• 10:30 – 11:00 AM – Feedback Session
• 11:00 – 11:15 AM – Intermission
• 11:15 – 12:15 PM – Sponsor Presentation – Special
• 12:15 – 1:30 PM – Intermission / Luncheon – Ballroom Terrace
• 1:30 – 2:30 PM – Jerry Whitehead – Symposium Agenda Wrap Up – Feedback Session – Symposium Analysis w/Group
• 3:00 PM – Adjourn – Social Functions – Group Out
• Group out – Lighthouse Restaurant / Other?

Pawnshop Consulting Group is PROUD to continue to deliver up WORLD CLASS events for our beloved industry and for those who wish to actively participate and be part of the new revolution that exists for the Modern Industry of today.

In regards to our events Pawnshop Consulting Group functions all seem to SELL OUT  and as such we are recommending that you get your requests on the list as soon as possible, we are already past the halfway point for attendees based on our early registration to this past years event attendees.

Due to our active feedback sessions with our many presenters and speakers space has to be EXTREMELY LIMITED for these events so that ALL of our attendees are able to maximize the benefits of ALL of the live interaction with the community present at our functions.

We strive to bring the best of the best to present their views and real life experiences in our industry and more for the betterment of ALL.

Pawnshop Consulting Group continues to strive to bring our industry leaders together with fellow pawnbrokers in arms from around the world. These functions allow us to socialize and network with our brothers and sisters in the most luxurious and relaxed environments we can find and produce anywhere in the world today.

Don’t miss out, be part of this historical International Event going on in the Caymans Islands this year!

To add your name or organization to our list – feel to contact us directly to reserve your space(s). SPACE IS LIMITED

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

www.pawnsymposium.com

jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

CONTACT INFO

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER/BLOG

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Ladies and Gentlemen in Pawnland!

We are pleased to announce that the 5-star Ritz Carlton in the Cayman Islands in Georgetown on the world famous 7-mile beach IS the place for our 2012 Pawn Symposium & Conference.

All of our attendees and all the souls and countless members on our team last year loved the service, ambiance, food and excellence in production by the staff of the Ritz Properties which are unequaled anywhere in the world. Because of these factors and more, Pawnshop Consulting Group has selected the Ritz Carlton once again as our host property this year and in the Cayman Islands!

We are planning on providing a wider array of social functions and activities to take our select high-level attendees and adorn them not only in the wealth of knowledge to be shared at these events, but also in the luxurious environments provided by the Ritz properties and more importantly as to be experienced in the Cayman Islands themselves.

The Cayman Islands is also the home office areas for our CashWiz division that operates stores throughout the Caribbean today and is also home to Argentum our newest Gold Refinery currently under construction.

The Caymans present world class opportunities in the snorkeling, diving, deep sea fishing, golfing, submarine reef dives, deep sub dives and much more.

This event promises to be unlike ANY event ever produced for our beloved industry in history!

Here is a link on the Ritz Carlton in the Cayman Islands, have a look it’s a world class resort property right on the most beautiful beaches in the Cayman Islands.

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/GrandCayman/PhotoGallery.htm

Our dates are September 10 – 14th in Georgetown Cayman Islands and we will have a definitive schedule along with our pricing structures out very soon.

We have very limited space availability for these world class engagements, we are recommending that you reserve your spots AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

We have invited our previous years attendees as a first come first serve and have most all of their commitments as of now since our first official news release about this years exciting event and email blast directly to last years attendees.

The 2011 event was SOLD OUT as point in mention and due to the extreme nature of these events, attendance has to be limited.  

We have a limited number of spaces available while they last for those who wish to invest their time and money into a high-level work shop Pawn Industry Symposium along with all the networking and social opportunities that arise from these events.

More information coming soon !

Sincerely,

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

www.pawnsymposium.com

jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

CONTACT INFO

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER/BLOG

www.buttermilkmedia.com

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We have tentatively established our dates for the Historical Pawn Symposium for 2012.

Our dates are September 10 – 14, Georgetown Cayman Islands – Ritz Carlton  5 – star Hotel on the world famous Seven Mile Beach.

This event promises to be unlike any other event in the history of the pawn world and is a MUST see program.

For those of you who were fortunate to participate in the Pawnshop Consulting Groups Symposium last year at the Ritz Carlton in Naples Florida, you know what is in store for us this year!

For those of you who were not fortunate enough to attend last years, you have another opportunity to come mix and mingle with some of the best and brightest minds the industry has ever seen in a luxurious five star hotel on a world famous beach in the Cayman Islands.

Participation in these groups has to be limited for maximum benefit for our attendees. We are suggesting that if any of you would like to attend, you should contact us immediately to get on our lists.

Attendees from last years event have first privalages for our limited attendance events, post their confirmations and commitments we will take on a limited number of new attendees for this years event.

GET YOUR PASSPORTS IN ORDER NOW!

Grand Cayman is another country and a valid Passport IS required to gain entry there and back in the USA.

Our initial line up of speakers and presentations is as follows:

* John Thedford – Founder of Value Pawn and LaFamilia Pawn – Piece on “Over managed and Under Cultured” how to run the Leadership Deficit

* David Johns – Former Human Resource Director for Sears & Roebuck, Cash America International, Value Pawn and LaFamilia – More on high level aspects of the Human Resource Challenges for our Industry

* Kevin Prochaska – CEO Lombard Financial – Insta Cash Pawn out of Texas – How to create and establish Financial Goals and benchmarks in your operations

* Jordan TaBach Banks – Owner – Beverly Jewelry & Loan – How to procure the HIGH END Specialty Boutique lending business and trade

* David Hurst – Argentum Refinery – Presentation on the new refinery in Georgetown, explanation of the Co-operative format for this refinery, a comprehensive game changer for the processing of precious metals

* Neil Johnson – Fund Manager for the Lombardi Fund Cayman Islands – Topics to include the benefits and processes of offshore banking in duty free and tax free trade zones

* Jennifer Kanistras – Former Loss Prevention Analyst for Cash America International and Value Pawn – A Comprehensive program on loss prevention and analysis

* Brad Huisken – Founder of IAS Training – Introduction to a comprehensive Pawnbroker Management Certification Program

* Steve Moore - ButterMilk Media – Much more on Social Media and where it is at today

* Justin Whitehead – Student – Social Media and practical applications for obtaining today’s generation and more

* Jerry Whitehead – CEO of Pawnshop Consulting Group Inc. – Status of industry today, global trending, financial benchmarks and much more

And we will have a few surprise guest speakers and presenters along with a host of fun and exciting group social functions. ON our list for this year for social activities we are looking at:

* snorkeling with the stingrays

* submarine rides off the reef

* diving/snorkeling reef adventures

* deep sea fishing

* sand castle building contests – kids included

* golfing

And other activities that are in the works!

This is our preliminary news release there will be more following over the next few weeks, be sure to email and contact us immediately if you would like to be included in yet another world class event production from the Pawnshop Consulting Group!

Stay Tuned !!

Sincerely,

Jerry Whitehead

Pawnshop Consulting Group, Inc.

954-540-3697

www.pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

www.pawnsymposium.com

jerry@pawnshopconsultinggroup.com

CONTACT INFO

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER/BLOG

www.buttermilkmedia.com

Click on our Social Media Links below

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