Black Friday's here - Make it count!

Danny and Pete are back together for this one, and the energy is high — because Black Friday is about ten days away and both of them live for this time of year. For Pete, it's his 18th year in rent-to-own and it still feels like a first date. For Danny, the fourth quarter is the make-or-break moment that defines the whole year — not just for sales, but for setting up the following year. Whether you had a great year or a rough one, this is your chance to finish strong.

The conversation kicks off with product prep. Normally, Danny and his team would use the Florida Rental Dealers Association trade show to lock in inventory deals for the fourth quarter, but Hurricane Ian forced that event to be canceled in 2022. Without it, the approach shifted to leaning on vendor relationships week by week to find out what's available and what the deals are. The hot items are still electronics — TVs and gaming systems never go out of style — but both hosts agreed there's always a search for that one breakout product. Last year it was e-bikes. This year, nobody quite knows yet, and the honest answer is to stay in close contact with your vendors and ask what's in the goody box.

Pre-selling is where Danny really digs in. The moment he had deal information in hand, he was calling everyone — active customers, paid-off accounts, return customers — letting them know what was coming and asking for a deposit. A commitment isn't a sale, he says, but money down is. He and Pete would even call neighboring stores to see how many pre-sales they had, conveniently shaving a few numbers off their own count just to keep the competition guessing. That friendly rivalry, they both agree, is part of what makes this time of year so fun.

On the showroom side, Pete is a firm believer in going all out. Decorate for Christmas, move the showroom around, put matching sets together, and create an atmosphere with sight, sound, and smell — Danny's personal touch is cinnamon scent, giving customers that Christmas feeling the moment they walk in. Pete even recalls disco balls, smoke machines, and Santa photo corners from past years. The point is to make it feel like an event, not just a business day. Every item on the floor should have some kind of Black Friday tag or Starburst, and this is the perfect time to blow out your high-idle and pre-release inventory at reduced rates. Danny's goal: an empty showroom by the end of Saturday.

When customers walk in, the opener matters. Danny's go-to is simple and assumptive — "What are you leaving with today?" — which signals confidence and sets the tone immediately. Pete jokes about offering free gift wrapping on everything except sofas. But beyond the one-liners, both hosts stress that all hands need to be on deck. Delivery drivers, account managers, everyone is a salesperson on Black Friday. The phones will ring all day, online leads will come in fast, and whoever responds quickest is most likely to close — because most companies are selling the same products at similar prices. Pete even suggests pulling your best salesperson off the floor and putting them on the online queue if they can type fast and build rapport digitally.

To keep the team engaged and competitive throughout the day, Pete shares his "funky hat" tradition — whoever has the fewest sales at any given moment has to wear an outrageous hat until someone else falls behind them. It passes all day, everyone's got skin in the game, photos get posted, customers get a laugh, and by the end of the day even the person wearing the hat has been part of something memorable. Danny riffs on the idea, suggesting a Santa hat for the top seller and an elf hat for the bottom — and hinting that a future Rent King commercial might be involved.

Beyond the sales floor, both hosts emphasize consistent marketing leading up to and through the day. Facebook Lives, hourly social media check-ins, guessing contests on how many candy canes are on the tree — anything that keeps your audience engaged online, plants seeds for Christmas, and keeps your brand visible to people who may not need something right now but will in December. Because Black Friday is huge, but it is not the finish line.

Danny closes with a piece of advice aimed specifically at newer GMs: the day before Thanksgiving, go buy two or three turkeys and personally deliver them to a great customer, a paid-off account, or someone going through a hard time. It costs almost nothing, builds your reputation in the community, and reminds customers that this business is about relationships, not just transactions. He points to George Hatamillo at Great Rooms Tampa as someone who does this every year and does it right. As Pete puts it — take care of the people who take care of you, and it always comes full circle.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

And welcome to the RTO show with Danny and Pete. I'm your host, Danny. And I'm your host, Pete. Today we're talking about Black Friday prep. What are we doing for Black Friday? What are you doing for Black Friday, bro? You know me.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

I'm always ready for Black Friday. I look forward to this every day of the year. This is what we talk about, bro. Like all year from January 1st, we talk about fourth quarter, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:29

I'm getting my sales, I got my sales shoes on. I'm doing the monkey dance in front of the store. Listen, this is this is going to be the time where we shine. I mean, we got a little bit of ways to go, a couple like 10 days or so, but man, I can't wait. This is gonna be an event.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Uh I I just know. Super exciting time. It's fun. It's the funnest time of the year, you know, in the stores, high-fiving, the camaraderie, the excitement, the energy, the sales. I mean, how do you not enjoy the sales process?

SPEAKER_00 0:57

You know, like and But doesn't it feel like you spend all year coming to this moment, right? Is this the like the culmination of the entire year? And I know that it's not the takeaway from the other events, but doesn't it feel like it all comes down to this one? This is the event. This is like this is like our Super Bowl right now, right? Isn't Black Friday like that Thursday Super Bowl? Like you you just you come in that Friday and it's like, man, this is this is the way to go. This is this is the way to make it happen. Like right after you eat, you calm down, first thing come in the morning, boom, you just kill it.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

I mean, I've always said that the fourth quarter is the make or break point. That can make your year, it can break your year, it's a time of redemption. If you had a crappy year, you know, if you're down a lot of ideal or par, whatever you want to call it, you can make it back up and then some rental revs. Rent a revs, rent, or if you did a great job of maintaining it to grow it for the next year. Like it all comes down to the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter is what's gonna set you up for the following year. I mean, that's where the real valuation time comes in, to be honest. I mean, I know we got 12 months and we evaluate all year, but for me, even when I was a GM, it was just I knew fourth quarter was crunch time. Like, you know, I use a lot of sports analogy, and so as a GM, as a DM, I used to always say, you know, we're training for the fourth quarter. It's like basketball. We got first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, and then the last quarter, but it's not how you start, it's how you finish. So we are practicing all year long for this, for this one day.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

So we're talking about today. We're talking about the Black Friday day prep. What you know, the crazy things that go into that. I mean, one of the one of the craziest things that I always know is like going into that, it's not going into that week, it's not going into that month, it's almost not even going into that quarter. It's about like when you come out, you start coming out of summertime and you really start looking for those products, right? We start looking for like what we're gonna get, what the hot items are. I mean, when you're when you're searching around, right? It's it's it's like almost being in a supermarket and you gotta find find the hot items and the bogos and stuff, right? I mean, what are you doing to prep for Black Friday coming out of the summertime? What what is it that you attack first?

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Unfortunately, this year, FRDA, you know, the Florida Rental Dealers Association was canceled because of Hurricane Ian. So normally that's what we normally do is look forward to that. That show is where we purchased quantity of goods to set us up for the fourth quarter, set us up for Black Friday specifically. So this year was a little different. This year we weren't able to really do that at all because it got canceled because of the storm. So now it's almost like everybody fends for themselves. And I know if I was running a store, I would be getting with my DMs and I would be getting with the vendors on a weekly basis, which I think we've been doing a good job of just consistently talking about what products they have, what's the deals as a as a team? What are we gonna do? Push what's the hot item gonna be? Is there a hot item? I don't know. I mean, we talk about this all the time, Pete. I mean, do you think there's a new hot item? Is it the PS5s? PS5s were hot last year, but is it still the hot item? Is it anything else new? I don't think so. I think it is it's always electronics. Let's talk, let's get real. It's the TVs, it's the gaming systems.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Well, I mean, nobody gets excited about that brand new bed, right? I mean, it's something that you need, but nobody can nobody's like, hey, I gotta go out there and get a bed. You know, nobody's like, I gotta go out there and and get that massive recliner, right? Those are those, those are those add-ons, right? Those are the things that go with it. But I'm with you 100%. It's I think I disagree with you.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

I think I disagree with you because even the furniture, I think we have customers that wait for Black Friday knowing they can get that bedroom set, that living room set at a reduced rate that they can actually afford even better because they need it. Appliances get reduced, everything gets reduced. Our customers, I think, look forward to this just as much as we do.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Well, I mean, I'll make it happen, whatever it is. I mean, I'll sell you a plant, I'll sell you a chair, you know what I mean? I'll sell you the picture. You want a deal? Today's the day that we're gonna make it happen. And sometimes securing that product, man, is you you know, you sit down and you call your vendors and you're really looking for, but I think you're right, man. You're always looking for that silver bullet every year. You're looking for that one tickle mielmo to make it happen. And I want to say that this particular year, like last year, I think the breakout was the e-bikes. E-bikes was something I never thought was gonna take off. And all of a sudden, I mean, it just they just flew out of the door. But now they've been out. Now we've got, you know, different types of e-bikes. The PS5 is out, the Xbox X, you know, so they've already been there. Maybe not stables in a household because they're a little bit more expensive than they used to be. But so what is the go-to product? I mean, that's you almost have to like rely on the vendors. Hey guys, what's coming up? What what's what's in the goody box? Tell me what tell me what's in a happy meal.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

No, absolutely. Uh on a side note, Pete, I just want to say also thank you and to Teddy last week. Y'all did an amazing job of doing that episode of What to Do on a Slow Day. Y'all definitely held it down when I was on vacation. I was on the boat. I listened to the show. It was great, it was awesome. I loved how you shot me out, how I called you from Mexico. Dude, I needed that vacation. Like, it was a good vacation. I will say this. I went on a Disney Disney cruise vacation of the fantasy, and my kids had a blast. They loved it. But as far as me and my wife, it was uh it was it was a relaxing time, but there's not a lot of adult activity to do. So, for the record, if you have a family, if you have small chick kids or even like teenagers, definitely take them one time. You'll they'll enjoy it, they'll have a blast. It is a relaxing experience. If you're looking for a grown-up activity to do, uh, maybe go to Carnival or Royal Caribbean. But but I definitely needed that relaxation.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Sorry, Disney, we're just trying to keep it real.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

Yeah, uh definitely needed that relaxation, though. I'm I I came back Monday fired up, pumped, you know, ready to kick some butt, ready, you know, to help my team get this Black Friday event off and securing products was the number one thing I made sure I did. You know, I think I even asked you before I left, hey P, do me a favor, call in my guys, make sure they got product. I'm just worried about them not having product, you know.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Well, yeah, I know, right? Especially with FRDA being canceled and hurricane. Ian, sorry, I know last time, guys, I got that wrong. I do apologize. We're retconning that now. I said the wrong hurricane. I feel terrible about that. Also, man, you know, I was thinking about Paul, you know, and I know that he was going through a lot. His family's going through a lot. Uh, we reached out to him not that long ago and he said he was all right. Paul Mativier, the president of FRDA. And I know that there was a lot going on, but they did have a rescheduled time that we're looking forward to this next year. May of 2023. Oh, it's gonna be on. It's gonna be on. But, you know, when we're talking about securing products and finding out what's coming, the the next silver bullet coming from the vendors, I mean, why are we doing that? I think it's good. I gotta get some pre-sales, man. I want to get the pre-sale started. I want to get it going. I want to, I want to know that I've got a stacked event. Do you guys do what do you think about pre-sales? Do you think it should just be on the fly? Do you think we should pre-sale? Do you think that, you know, we should lock down to good pricing, or you should, you know, wait for that last minute deal that maybe can come up and go, yeah, yeah, I waited for that long enough. I'm gonna make that happen.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

So I I know in the past when I was running a store, you know, beginning of November, you know, every company's a little different, but I would wait. I couldn't wait to find out what the deals were. You know, whatever the company established, whatever the deals were. But as soon as I had that information in my hand, I'm calling everybody under the sun. I'm calling every active customer, I'm calling every piff, I'm calling every return, and I am letting them know what the deals are before Black Friday. I am on, I'm like, hey, we got this, we got this, we got TVs, we got giving says these are the prices, this is what I need now. Limited quantity. Everybody has limited quantity, so of course you prioritize to your star customers, to your pay to folds, to your return customers, and you know, hopefully you get some new customers. But I am non-stop pre-selling, I'm securing the deposit because that's a sale. A commitment is not a sale. Getting money down, that's a sale. That's a pre-sale.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

And let me tell you, I I've I've had that in the past. I've had guys say, Hey man, I got this. You got any money down? No. Listen, guys, and and gals, if you want something to be yours and you want to make sure it's yours, don't wait to the day of. Make sure you put your money down now because if you don't, there's no guarantee it's gonna be there. Friday, Black Friday is definitely a time where you're gonna want to put some money down.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

I remember calling, you know, my my neighbored stores and just kind of talking smack, but getting information. Hey, how many pre-sales you got? Hey, Pete, how many you got? I got 25, you know. You know, oh, oh Danny, I got 40. Oh, I gotta get them on my game. I gotta hurry up. I gotta call more people, you know. Like, and it was a thing, like who, and of course, it was always a fun thing for us here at Ranking as well. Like, you know, we always did a Black Friday event, like, you know, rents everybody all day long, every 15 minutes, whatever we're posting on our on our Slack channel. You know, Lakeland's got 10 rents, Avon's got five rents, Winter Haven has 20 rents, whatever, whatever, you know? And it was just a fun, fun, you know. I look forward to it every year. You know, I know me and you, we have that camaraderie. I, you know, hey man, how many pre-sets you got? How many you got?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

You know, no, no, no, no, no. You gotta tell me first, bro. You can't come in here asking questions. You gotta you gotta answer the question first, bro. How many you got?

SPEAKER_02 9:51

And then we really lower our number just a little bit just to see what the other person really has. And I'm like, oh, okay, now I'm not I got three, bro. I got three. But see, this is what I'm talking about. That's what I love. Like, you know, it's uh it's a little friendly competition. It's uh man, it just gets us going and it makes us fall in love with uh industry all over again because that's what it's all about. It's just having fun and it's get engaging with our customers.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

It reminds me of that movie 50 First Dates. Every time that I come here, I've been doing this. This is gonna be you know, I'm starting on my 18th year, and it's like this is that first date all over again, right? You put your best foot forward, you put your nice clothes on. You talk about that, you know. I've never been one to like, you know, when you have certain events like the Fourth of July and stuff, you get your flags and out, you know, you and the and the St. Patrick's Day and you get your stuff out. But when you start going into November, Black Friday, this is where you merchandise. This is where you pull out the tree and you pull out the you know, the presents, and you you put things on on some of your sets and you decorate the the trees that you have with lights, and you know, you you put the the ink on the doors, you know, they have the people come by and they paint the Santa Claus and stuff. Florida that's big because we ain't got no dang snow. So we put all the snow, the thick snow on the windows, right? But it's like it really puts you in that sales mode. And when you're merchandising and you and you get all that crazy Santa stuff out, and it just really changes it to that environment where you're like, yes, like this, this, we've waited all year for this. We're going to have a blowout event. And I love decorating and just and just making everything look new again. You know, I was talking to Teddy about last last week on the podcast. Move your showroom around every 30 days. This is the time you move your showroom around, you make it stand out, you organize and you put everything together and you make all your matching sets. Of course, you do that when you order before so that you know which what will match and what won't match, right? But you come through and you just you just make it this solid event. I mean, I've even seen guys take a disco ball and hang it from the center of the showroom and put one some some type of light on it. And you know, nowadays we have that uh that that stereo that kind of does the disco lighting. But back in my day, right, where you put a little light on it and it would like shine around the showroom. It was freaking awesome, man. And you just get you just get your people involved. We had like smoke machines and we had like a little Santa set up in a corner where they take pictures and you kind of just you get everybody involved. You know, of course, Black Friday is all about the sale, but you put it there so that they can see it when they come in. Man, it just it just sets that that motion. Like it's a time of giving, it's a time of thinking about others, it's a time to make make those decisions that you know what, listen, this is the best time of year to buy anything. Let me make it worthwhile, let me get somebody something that they really want. And we just man, we just go with that and just really, really like kill it. This is the greatest time of year to really just put all your sales, your your your sales knowledge and your training and your and your push, put it in that basket and just wrap that sucker with a bow and just go on with it, just make it happen.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

No, absolutely, Pete. You're right. And you know, speaking on the merchandise and the showroom, that's a great idea, disco ball, you know, sight, sound, and smell. You know, we always talk about that. And this is the time you want to enhance it. Yeah, you know, I personally like the smell of cinnamon, so you know, with the scents, I try to make sure my stores are trying to smell like cinnamon. You know, that's just me, that's my thing, but it gives you that Christmas smell as soon as you walk in. So you have your store well lit, you have it merchandise, you have some sound, maybe you have some Christmas music playing, or if you don't have Christmas music because maybe it's not Thanksgiving yet, or just past Thanksgiving, I don't know, put the put some Christmas music on, or just have some upbeat, pleasant music on. And you know, I will say this in addition to the merchandising and the decorations and the inflatables with the the lights, Christmas lights, the trees, the Santa corner, whatever you want to call it. You know, in addition, is when you walk in on Friday, you want to know that it's Black Friday, and the way to do that is to have some sort of signage or price tag, something that says Black Friday, and you know, everything should be on sale. Yeah, you have your core items, yeah. You got the you know the deals specifically for Black Friday, but I mean, everything should be on sale, and this is the perfect time to get rid of your high idols, your pre-elease items, man. You know, cut that rate down, uh, lower the term, you know, make a decision on that product. But if it's been sitting there, whether it's new, whether it's used, that's the time to blow it out. You know, everything in the showroom should have some sort of, you know, Starburst or Black Friday tag or you know, whatever you want to call it, the the deal of the day, which everything should be a deal, but that's just my opinion. I think that's a perfect time to get rid of your high idols. That's a perfect time to really promote it and just make sure you try. You want the goal is to try to have an empty showroom by the end of Saturday. I don't know. That's my goal.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

So, like going into Black Friday, right? You're there, somebody's walking in the door, you know, just like a date. What's your pickup line, bro? What's your hook?

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Okay, okay, okay. So hold on. All right, so so you walk in, I'm running a store, it's Black Friday, you walk in, you know. Let me think. I'm trying, I'm trying, hear me out, hear me out. All right. So you walk in, you walk in the room.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

We're setting the mood, we're setting the mood.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Okay, you're setting the mood. All right, you walk in, I I walk up to you. Hey, how you doing? Welcome to Ranking. Uh what are you leaving with today? That's my that's my go-to. That's my pickup line. Hey, hey guys, that that's the assumptive sale going on right there. And and and then I'll make a joke. You know, I get to, oh, Pete, how you doing, Danny? Blah blah blah, whatever. And I'll yell to the counter, whoever. Hey Joe, uh, type them up for one of everything. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

I just, you know, I tell people, listen, we do free rapping, but if you get a sofa, you're on your own. I'll put a bow on it. I'll put a big red bow on it. I'll make sure that the guys deliver in their in their Santa suits, but uh, I can't I can't rap it, right? Well, there can only be one Santa, so I got a bunch of elves. So now here's the thing, because w when people are coming in and this is happening, you got all hands on deck, right? I mean, or do you, or how do you how do you do it? How do you staff a day like that?

SPEAKER_02 15:51

Listen, so I was very big on this. I'm still big on this. You might have some delivery drivers or account managers that might not be completely sales oriented, and I personally am okay with that. Use everybody for their strengths or weaknesses. However, I made it a valid point, and I still do that on Black Friday. Well, at least the two weeks coming to Black Friday and Black Friday, everybody is a salesperson, and I I enforce that. Everybody, any that should be coming out of your mouth like every 90 seconds. Hey, boss, where do you want me to move this couch? Oh, that Black Friday couch over there. Like that needs to be that needs to be everyone's mindsets Black Friday, Black Friday, every customer you interact. You're you're out on the field, you do as a flyer. Hey, here's a Black Friday ad. Come see us on Black Friday. These are hours of operation, and you know, with the exception of maybe the drivers, I want everybody in the store all day. The phones are gonna be ringing off the hook. Yeah, we talked about the pre-sales. So, okay, you got a good amount of pre-sales, but you don't think people are gonna call you last minute on Friday, whether it's your actives, then actives, or brand new customers, you're gonna get shopped, especially if you've been doing your job and marketing for it. That's the key.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

Well, back in the day, what we used to do was we had the funky hat, right? You ever heard of the ugly sweater contest? Yeah, especially in the wintertime. So we had the funky hat. Okay, right? And so we we tried to make the funkiest, ugliest hat that you could possibly imagine. Like it had like a one of those jingle balls on the side of it, it had a couple bells on it, it had some crooked little uh bows on it, and it was just funky, it was just a funky looking hat. And we called it the last sale hat. So, in other words, if you did not sell, whoever had the least amount of sales had to rock the hat until they had the they didn't have the least amount of sales, right? And it wasn't like you're just gonna wear the hat, we're gonna let you get away with it. Like we're we're you're gonna you're gonna hear it. You know what I mean? When you're looking all funky, we're taking pictures, we're posting up the pictures, like who's wearing the funky hat now? Because it's not gonna be me. And everybody starts out at zero, right? So nobody, nobody walks in like, oh yeah, I got a couple of pre-s. I don't care what you got pre-sold, that's for the store. Today is is anybody's anybody's show. And so as we do it, we put the hat, we put the hat on the counter, and it would always go next one up. So if I had the first sale, my assistant would have to wear the hat because he's the next person up. He's the highest in the in a row. But if he got a sale and we're tied, well, then it goes to the next person up. Could be an account manager, could be a salesperson, could be the driver, and it keeps on going down. And dude, we would have so much fun because we would he would take silly pictures with it and customers, and you know, you'd have the associate there looking at it like, oh my god, I got this funky hat and this picture. But it was something that we we pass along so that we can just get everybody involved. You know, like, yeah, you know what, if you get it from me, homies wearing a funky hat, you know, and you can call it whatever you want to, but it was some way to just get everybody involved. And we used to have some crazy stuff, you know what I mean? We we we just like like if you're at the end of the day, if you didn't get it, you'd have to eat like a wonky donut, some weird, weird-tasting donut or something, you know what I mean? Like just something crazy. And uh, we had a lot of fun with it. And I think that when you have that that everybody on deck mentality and everybody's involved in it, regardless of who's wearing the hat at the end of the day, everybody wins. And I think that's that's the biggest thing you gotta remember. At the end of the day, as long as everybody's had fun, you've done everything you can to make this a special day. And a day that listen, let's not get away from the business side of it. They call it Black Friday for a reason. This is when we're in the black as far as sales, this is when we start growing, this is when things start to happen. We're having fun, but we have not forgotten what Black Friday really is all about. And, you know, one of the things that we haven't had, I probably back when the funky hat was a thing, is online. We didn't have that back then. So, you know, I I could handle somebody coming in the door and I might have somebody who has got like three online sales just kicking my butt. Before I get into the online real quick, you know, you kind of man, that's a great idea, man.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

I like that. I'm gonna steal that idea. I'm probably gonna do a little different. What if we did this? I'm just speaking now. Now I'm just like now I'm just rambling, but what if we have a Santa hat and an elf hat in the store, and the person with the most sales get the Santa hat, and the person with the least sales gets the elf hat.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

You're trying to say that about our upcoming commercial, aren't you?

SPEAKER_02 19:51

Hint.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

I see the subliminal look on your face, Danny. I see the subliminal look. But somebody's not a good idea. You if we make every store do that.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Hey, think about it. You get the Santa hat if you get the most sales. Not the pre-sales, pre-sales don't count. It has to be like in stores. But anyway, okay. I don't know, just thing that out there. Listen.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

The RTO show condones no funky hats if it makes you feel bad. But no salespeople were hurt in the making of this of this show.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

No, you but you just hit it on something new to his 2022. Now, I've been talking about this all year long. Actually, I've been talking about this for a couple years. Foot traffic is dying. All right. It's back in the day, and Pete, you're much older, so you can tell me way back in the day, you would probably you you probably experience this. You probably experience a little rush on Black Friday. You know, maybe you're not that nothing like Walmart Best Buy. You're not gonna get hundreds of people, but you might have like five to ten people waiting to come in. Oh, we did, yeah, we did. Yeah, but that's not that's that's why we pre-sell so much now because you're not gonna get that foot traffic. I wholeheartedly believe that. And I don't think even now you're gonna get the foot traffic of people coming in. What you're gonna get is people calling you over the phone or people online shopping and and sending in quick approvals. Now, again, this is what we've been talking about. What have we been practicing all year long? We've been practicing our online Webley sales. Why? Because it's going to be crazy on Black Friday. And if you're not on top of it, if you don't respond quickly, if you don't close that sale, they already message three, four other companies, you're gonna lose it. We all have the same products, guys. All have the same products. We most likely all have the same pricing as well. Who's gonna be the quickest on the keyboard? That's what it's gonna come down to.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

It's gonna be salesmanship, man. It's gonna be salesmanship and who's hungry enough to get it. And the truth, like I said, I mean, the truth is you could, you know, you could be standing by the front door and the guy that's sitting there behind a counter or gal uh is not wearing a hat because they might be they may be knocking them out of the park just sitting there. And the truth is you can type fast, you've got a good, you know, you've got a good rapport with customers. Maybe that's the person you want to have on there. You know, maybe you take your salesperson off the floor and stick them on the online computer and and see if that's the best way to go. Because the truthfully is, they're they are shopping you and everybody else at the same time. Like you said, it could be a laptop open, an all-in-one open, or they got their cell phone open because you can pretty much shop from anything right now. And they're getting quotes and they're getting things set up. I mean, you got to make sure that everybody's involved. And when I say everybody, again, down to the drivers, everybody's in that sales mentality. So when they do walk in the door or they call you or they're online, or it's a lead, or it's it's somebody that put down money and they're, you know, they're a pre-sale, it's time to get moving. And I think that's I think it's a great idea. I mean, you could have the sales hat and the elf hat. I will never be the one wearing the sale the the elf hat. I will make some sales, bro. I'm I'm like cutthroat when it comes to Black Friday, bro. I will nudge you out of the way.

SPEAKER_02 22:41

I'd be like, yeah, but I call for you. But okay, so here's the thing though, as well. Okay, so but Danny Pete, you know, I don't get a lot of online sales. Are you marketing? Are you marketing? Because that again, we're talking about the foot traffic. You're not gonna get the foot traffic. The foot traffic is now online leads, is now phone sales. You have to be consistently marketing. Now you have to figure out what's marketing works best for you. But I say you do a little bit of everything. I know our past episode of social media marketing, digital marketing, we talked about it, but you gotta do a little bit of everything. But more than ever, I don't care how busy your store is, you have to be consistent with your marketing. You have to do daily flyering, you have to do daily social media posts, you have to be camera friendly, you have to be online talking about the product, showing the deals, talking about it, talking up. That's also pre-selling for the actual day event. You have to be consistent on it, on it, on it.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Well, one of the things that are is gonna be new to the funky hat is that you could probably do online in social media, do a Facebook Live, and you can be checking in every hour to see who's who's next to wear the funky hat. How are they gonna wear it? Are they are they really killing it to you know get get out of it? Are they not? That'd be a Facebook live thing. We can go in every live, every hour, and see who's wearing it. At the end of the day, maybe the person who has the most sales get something, and maybe the funky, uh, the funky chicken hat dude, maybe they, you know, they do something funny on Facebook Live or or just, you know, like a little stunt. Nothing embarrassing, but you know, they've got it, they've got to sit in a dunk tank, they've got to run around uh, you know, the outside and they've got to say how great that their store is. You know, if you make it a fun thing, but like you said, it's gotta be out there. You have to do it all the time, and social media is one of the best ways to do that. Talking about social media, Unlimited Marketing Solutions is a social media marketing company that can market directly to your specific customer base and provide solid and trackable results. Unlimited Marketing Solutions are also extremely flexible to meet your unique needs and budget and are currently running a promotion for 10% discount off your first six months of marketing. When you mention the code RTO show, that's R T O S H O W when you call them at 352-553-3245. You can also email them at unlimited marketing solutions LLC at gmail.com. This is this is a great time to get your people together and just really go through your social media events. Create something that somebody's going to want to follow and see and then reward them for it. You know, if if they have the right guess or or the right number at how many peanuts in this jar or how many candy canes are on our tree, you know, and every hour you do an update, but keep them involved because it's it's it's important to make sure not only do you take care of the people that are coming to you for the sales, but you also take care of the customers that maybe don't need anything, but they still want to be a part of what you're doing because you're creating that event. You're also planting seeds for Christmas. Because if there's anything that I can tell you, Black Friday is probably one of the biggest days, but it is not the only day. And that's a great day that if you do not make a sale or if you can't make it or whatever reason, make sure you plant those seeds for December. Because December's a right around the corner and Christmas isn't done yet. Like you said, the year ain't over till it's over.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Pete, you're right. It's not over until it's over. We've been saying this all year long. It is crunch time. We are reaching there. And you're right, man. Make it a fun activity. I love that idea. You know, how many candy cans are on this tree, how many MMs in this jar. That's something you can do on social media as well. That's something you can do inside the store, write a little note, you know, of a guessing jar, and then on Black Friday or maybe the day after, you have a little giveaway or a stupid little prize, whatever the case may be. But I think that's a great idea. You definitely want to make it a fun atmosphere that day. You want to have things outside the box, be creative. We talked about the the products securing the products, the deals, the marketing, the pre-selling, you know, going into Christmas, think about giving back too. Like I always do this, I encourage my team to do this. It's the day after Thanksgiving. So I know everybody just had are probably full from Thanksgiving food, but have some food out, some drinks out that morning, that day, you know. Let them know that hey, you're part of our family, you know. Here's some, you know, leftover turkey or you know, maybe some fresh turkey, honestly. I don't know. Think else of the box, you know, some yam, some uh bednid, some yucca. I don't know, you know what I'm saying? I'm Spanish, so you know that's what we kind of eat, you know what I'm saying? But some green bean casserole, whatever, you know, like have it an eventful day that it's also just having fun with the staff, having fun with the customers that do actually walk in. You can even make it an event party, you know, but again, you gotta promote it. But tell all your customers come on in, have a free meal on us. You know, it's not just about the sale. Yeah, it's about the sale, but we're giving back. We love you guys. We wouldn't have our jobs if it wasn't for you guys. It's also an appreciation day. Other other big box retailers don't do that. They have the product, and that's it, get in, get out. With us, you know, we have to build a rapport with our customers, and we have a relationship with them. We know them in and out, they know us. Let's take that extra 30 minutes and just sit down, have a plate with them, have something to drink. You know, that's also, I think it's very important to stand out from everybody else.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

One of the great things is a lot of times you hear the stigmas about rent-to-one again. And we've said it before, you know, we're this and we're that. Well, you know what? We also are probably the closest to our customers than a lot of businesses are, right? You can go to Best Buy, they're not close to you. They're not gonna know your name. They're not gonna, you know, they might greet, they might have a greeter at the door or something like that, and some guy ringing a bell, hey, you know, help me with some change. But it's not the same. When you go in and you know somebody and they're sitting with you and they're kind of conversing with you, and you know what? It's true that you it's a sale day, but you treat them the same whether they get something or not, right? And again, you're planting that seed because you're always thinking sales-minded, but they come in and you love them in any ways. You show them the love, you show them the appreciation of how much you care about them, even taking their time to come out to see you on the phone, smile, take care of them, make sure it's right. Because the truth is, at the end of the day, this is a relationship business, and we probably can't say it enough. Black Friday is not the end of the year, it's not the end of the world, but it is a big day for us. And if you give back as much as you want to get in that day, I guarantee you you'll feel it in the next 30 days because it ain't over till it's over. So enjoy it. Have fun with it. Make sure that you decorate, make sure that you merchandise a hundred percent. Make sure, you know, if you got that one line pitch, get it. If you got two line pitch, get it. If you don't want to wear the funky hat, tell them you'll do whatever you got to do. But I mean, make sure that your entire staff, who's there, you're doing what you got to do. And you know, yeah, we might not have started as early as we used to. Man, I start at one time like five o'clock in the morning, six o'clock in the morning. Nowadays, I don't think it's like that. It is a little bit more online. But the time that I'm gonna spend in the store, I want it to mean more. I want it to make sure that the customers, when they walk in, they're greeted like family and they're gonna leave feeling better than when they came in. And I think that's the best way to treat a Black Friday. And then, of course, in the end, sell your butts off. That's what it's all about. Make the day worth it because this is the time to get your customers back. This is the time to get your rental revs back. This is the time to put you back on the same plateau that you were before the year, you know, got really crazy. Because this 2022 has been a crazy year for some people. And yet, I still know people that are trying to open up locations. You know, they're trying to make it happen. And I'm glad that they are because you know what? When you face the future with an optimistic, you know, mindset, when you're going into a Black Friday, like, man, it's it's gonna happen. That's what really matters. You've got to take it by the horns. This is the best day to do it.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

You know, one thing I also look forward to every Black Friday, especially as a DM, and me and you have done this for the past two years, it's been fun. I can't wait to do it again this year. Is you know, we always do something here ranking that we call the Battle Royale, or it might be known as a war room, whatever you want to call it. And I I talked about this earlier where, you know, we're every 15 minutes our stores are calling in how many rents they have. And me and you, you know, we go to DM headquarters and we have our whiteboards with our stores and rents, and we're just, you know, every 15, 30 minutes, Pete, me and you, we're just, you know, making tallies of how many rents each store has. And, you know, we're calling the other stores over, talking smack. We're having fun. Me and you, you know, we're just going back and forth, you know, calling our guys up like Tom and Tom and Chris Stir, Tom and Hain City, Chris Dur and Newport Richie. They're neck and neck right now. They are neck and neck. And I tell you, I know they're both like Tom is in my ear. I'm gonna pass. I'm gonna make Stir know his place. And I know your boy Stir is probably talking to you, like, don't worry, Pete. I got this. Tom ain't nobody. You know, like, and I love it. I love it, man. Like, that's what I look forward to. It's King of the Hill and nobody else is playing, baby.

SPEAKER_00 31:09

I'm on I'm on top of the hill.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Yeah, man. And uh, you know, that's what I look forward to, just you know, that friendly competition. As far as giving back, man, I know we just we did an episode of GM Takeover a couple weeks ago. I'm gonna talk to some new GMs right now. If you are listening, this is a great opportunity about giving back. I'm gonna give you food for thought. And here's my two cents. Shout out to George Hatamillo at Great Rooms, Tampa. He does an excellent job of doing this every year. I think Frank at Great Rooms also does this. We have a couple ranking guys that do this. But if you're a new GM, go purchase two or three turkeys on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Go visit some inactive customers. Maybe it's a payout, great customer. Go deliver that turkey in person and just as a thank you for the past business, or maybe an active customer that's just a really great customer, or maybe a customer that's going through some hard times, they've been with you. That goes such a long way. And again, that goes back to we're not the bad guys. We are here for you. We're part of your community, we love you. We thank you so much for your business. We're all in this together. That's my two cents. Do that the day before Thanksgiving. It will go a long way, it will help build your reputation, it will help your community involvement. And overall, in the end, in the end, it's going to help your sales. It's going to. I promise that.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Well, that's what it's all about. At the end of the day, we're here to tell you enjoy what you do, do what you enjoy, love it, be smart about it. But remember that at the end of the day, we are part of the community. We're all in this together. This is all one big boat, and we're all we're all eating from the same pie. So do what you can to give back because when you get back to your customers, they're gonna they're gonna be loyal to you, they're gonna come back to you. And although I've seen I've seen great years, I've seen low years, I've seen years where you just maintain, listen, it always comes full circle. Take care of the people who are taking care of you, and it will always come full circle. Just so you guys know, we have the shirts up on the website. Right now, they are available. Um, we're gonna start shipping some out soon. Thank you for sticking with us. We've had so much going on and so much from you guys. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna probably reach out to Leroy Steen, who reached out to us uh not that long ago. I'm gonna just talk to him about some some rental business. Teddy Kervin, who came on the show last week and just really killed it. Got a lot of feedback on that. And Teddy, we really do appreciate that. Guys, we want to be part of your community and the RTO show and the RTO community. If there's anything that you guys need, anything that we want to talk about, anything that we can do for you, hit us up at Pete at the RTO Show Podcast.com or Danny at the rto showpodcast.com. You can probably send a message to him and then to me. See how kind of different answers that you guys get about any questions that you have, including Black Friday. That would be that would be something, right? That'd be somebody testing us out and seeing if we get some different answers with it.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

No, that would be pretty cool. That'd be funny. I know we would cross-reference and find out, hey, did you get an email from so and so? Yeah, I did. What'd you say? What did I say? Oh, we we think so much differently, P and we have totally different answers every time. Um, real quick, uh, guys, I do apologize as well. We're a couple weeks behind, but I want to publicly announce that subscriber Vinny Safi did win the RTO helmet. We did call him and announce that we have it on order. It will be here hopefully within a couple weeks. And when it does, we will go in person to deliver this helmet. We will be live. Shout out to Blake at uh Venetian Worldwide for donating the helmet. Greatly appreciate it, guys. If you're needing any information on Venetian Worldwire, they do lift recliners, they do e-bikes. Great company. Blake will help you out. We can provide their information if you're needing it, but go check them out, they'll take care of you. Thank you again, Blake, for the donation of the helmet. Vinny, congratulations again. I don't support the the team you chose, but it's okay. It's all good, man. We got to jab him in the ribs a little bit, right? We've got we've got to get him a little bit of slack. He chose the Buffalo Bills, but we're we're men of our words, so we're gonna get it for him. And we will be delivering it and then we will be on live. So check that out. If you haven't already subscribed to our channel, the RTO show. We're on Spotify, Amazon, and Apple. Please download each episode. If you're just streaming, you know, it doesn't really contribute so much as far as the download goes. So make sure you download the episode as you're streaming and hit that plus sign so you don't miss an episode. With that being said, this is what Pete and I do to prep for Black Friday. Hopefully, you got some good information up from us. And if you have any questions, give us a shout out. This is the RTO show with Danny and Pete