Vendor Spotlight: Dialectic has the Goods

   Pete interviews Keith Brock, who handles rent-to-own operations for North America at Dialectic — an international distributor that earned the Trib Group's Rookie Vendor of the Year award in its first year, despite being too busy at the show to even pick up the award.

Keith's entry into Dialectic came through Lewis Garcia, former APRO president and longtime rent-to-own veteran, who was brought in as a consultant to help Dialectic form its rent-to-own department. Lewis called Keith about 90 days in, and the two combined their operational experience to build it out. Both have roughly 20 years in the RTO industry, which Keith says makes the vendor relationship easier because they already understand how the business works — what moves, what doesn't, and how operators think.

Dialectic as a company spans casino equipment, land development, real estate, building supplies, and future tech. The RTO arm is still carving out its niche, and that niche is built around speed and non-traditional product. While major vendors hold the TV and appliance space with slim margins, Dialectic focuses on deals with limited windows — sometimes 24-hour availability on large quantities — and categories that aren't yet saturated. Current examples include international gaming systems (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo) sourced at a discount through currency valuation and trade regulations, the Coleman XLT portable griddle, and smart glasses. They're also in conversations about potentially becoming a direct supplier for Roku's upcoming branded TVs.

For ordering, Dialectic uses the AmpTab platform — effectively an Amazon-style catalog where individual stores can build carts and route orders to a purchasing coordinator. Keith sees it as underutilized but potentially a significant time-saver for multi-store operators.

The most practical advice in the episode comes from a call Keith had the day of recording. A dealer was sitting on unsold PS5 VR units and couldn't figure out why. Keith's answer: pull the list of customers who paid off a PS5 in the last two or three years and call them. They already own the console, they can't go buy VR at retail, and the rental path is the obvious one. It's a simple application of operational knowledge that a non-RTO vendor wouldn't have offered.

His parting advice to operators is to resist closing off product categories entirely just because they didn't sell a few years ago. If the store across town is moving it, the problem might be placement and advertising, not the product itself.

Transcript

Pete Shau 0:07

Welcome to the RTO show. I'm your host, Pete. We're going to talk with Keith Brock with Dialectic. So let's talk rent-to-one with him. Keith, good to have you on the show.

Keith Brock 0:17

Hi, Pete. Thanks for having me. I'm really excited. You do such great work with your uh podcast. I'm really excited to be here. Thank you so much.

Pete Shau 0:26

Well, just so that everybody knows a little bit of uh transparency, this is the second time that we've talked to Keith. The first time we had some stuff go on was just crazy fiasco, but it was a great conversation. So I wanted to make sure that you guys had a talk with that. But just so that we have a little bit of background with Keith, Keith is actually from the rent-to-owned sector. And I'm starting to realize that there's actually a lot of other vendors or now, before I even get into that, are you guys a distributor? Are you guys a vendor? How does that what do you classify as?

Keith Brock 0:54

Uh we are an approved vendor through April and Trib. Now, Dialectic itself is an international distributor. So to be fair, I guess you would say we're both.

Pete Shau 1:03

All right. Well, I mean, it's always good to play both sides of the business, right? So um definitely when I'm talking to Keith, though, one of the big things that always comes out and what always comes to mind is when you have somebody who's been in the RTO arena, and then they turn around and they become a vendor for RTO, it makes it it makes the relationship so much easier when you have that insight. How do you feel about that, Keith? Do you agree?

Keith Brock 1:26

Without a doubt, uh, you know, I think it's it should be evident, at least in the most of the mailings that we send out, promotions that we run, uh, that the background and the industry experience is what helps us separate. Although you're 100% right, uh, you're seeing it more and more where rent-owned operational veterans are into the side of the business.

Pete Shau 1:46

So you're in RTO, and I know I this I know I know this story, but this is for everybody out there in the RTO world who's listening. You're in RTO, you get out. What prompted you to become part of Dialectic? And more so, you have a story about a friend that reached out to you, or at least a colleague in the business that reached out to you and said, Hey, you're the guy I want for this business.

Keith Brock 2:05

It is, and you know that the entry story is all kind of combined and can jumble there. Dialectic, uh, as a distributor and as a vendor, reached out to Lewis Garcia, uh, former president of APRO, uh former former Maryland Rental Dealer Association president, franchisee, uh, just a rent-to-owned veteran, great guy, Lewis Garcia, um, because he's he does a consulting business. And they actually reached out to him as a consultant to help them form their rent-to-own department. Lewis was with them about 90 days and gave me a call and said, Hey, Keith, look, let's let's bring our rent-to-owned collective knowledge to dialectic and help form this department. So really, long story short, that's really how that got started.

Pete Shau 2:49

Now, Lewis Garcia reaches out to you. He says, Hey, Keith, we've got to make this happen. And then didn't you say in less than a year you guys got the the vendor of the year award, at least the the new vendor of the year award?

Keith Brock 3:00

We did. We did. We were the uh trib uh rookie of the year, I believe is what they call it. I tell you uh, we were working so hard at the show where they gave the award, we weren't even there to receive it. So it was uh actually told my others.

Pete Shau 3:16

Well, listen, I can always tell you this. If you're busy enough to not get the awards, you'll get the awards afterwards, but it's always taking care of the people that you are there for that really matters, right?

Keith Brock 3:26

Right, that's the truth. Amen.

Pete Shau 3:28

So just so that everybody knows, there is actually a little bit of it's you and Lewis on that YouTube video, correct?

Keith Brock 3:36

Yes. Uh there was a point in time. Um, again, Lewis was a franchisee and I handled operations for Lewis. Uh we traveled around the country. Uh we did a bunch of state association meetings, uh, we did presentations for APRO. And I believe one of the video you're referencing specifically is the one we did for APRO. It was a uh how sales and collections are combined, kind of an educational video.

Pete Shau 3:58

Just so that you know, I want you to know, Keith, I've actually played your video, or at least parts of your um YouTube video, twice for some of the new rookies that I had that are coming through. Uh, every so often, every couple weeks. I like to sit down with the new hires that I have and kind of just go over them. What is rent to own? What are the definitions? What does it mean? What are we trying to do and accomplish? How do we incorporate the customer service that we want, the culture that we want? And some of the explanations that you have on a YouTube video are actually so spot on that I actually reference it quite a bit on that new hire situation. I say, hey, do you guys want to know what's going on? Take a look at a couple of these chapters out of this video.

Keith Brock 4:39

Uh, you got me a blush in there, Pete. I appreciate that. You know, there is a there's a lot of good content in there. It's a little lengthy, um, but I do understand there's another group in Texas that actually uses that as part of their onboarding and training program.

Pete Shau 4:51

It's one of those things, like sometimes people are so interested in making sure that they get it right that they're almost reinventing the wheel. And if I have somebody who's you know just saying it really well, somebody who's really getting to the point and can say it articulately and directly, why do it all over again, right? My job is to make sure that everybody understands what's going on at Rent2Own, and that's what we have this podcast for. But some of the things that you've already covered, like in that video, makes it worthwhile to say, it's not just me, hear it from people who are in the industry. And that's why I think it's so great that we have people in the industry that have known Rent to Own, not have only just done it, but have taught it, gone around, shown everybody, hey, this is how we do it, and then become a vendor. I think that's an amazing thing.

Keith Brock 5:37

You know, I completely agree. I it's like you said, you know, sometimes we all know that the meat and potatoes, a lot of us know the meat and potatoes in the business, and we get sidetracked with something that's kind of left field, but it works, and every once in a while you've got to return to that center because you know you can follow those one-off situations, um, you know, and it's not always to your benefit uh when you follow them too far and get away from the core fundamentals of the business.

Pete Shau 6:02

So we've got somebody who brings you in, Luis Garcia, he knows the business. He brings somebody in who he thinks knows the business. Now you guys are, well, you're at Dialectic. What does dialectic bring to the RTO world that's a little bit different than everybody else?

Keith Brock 6:17

You know, one of the most interesting things uh I've experienced and begin to understand uh with my time with Dialectic is that the deals that Dialectic has, you know, they may not be core product, but the discounts and just how quick the product turns around, you know. For example, and and it's not a pitch necessarily, but recently, you know, they were able to secure 30,000 of this one particular piece, and the savings and the pricing was different, it was incredible. It wasn't necessarily a rent-to-owned piece, um, but literally they moved at huge volume in just a matter of a few days. And when I'm able to work with those buyers and those sellers and we're able to secure specific rent-to-own deals, you know, I'll do my best to push that out, but it may only be available for 24 hours, even in a huge, huge quantity. So I I think that separates them a little bit. When you get those weekly promotions from other dealers maybe used to seeing that same product listed over and over and over, whereas with us, you may see one product for two or three weeks and then it's just kind of gone. You know, it's just it came and it went.

Pete Shau 7:24

Now, when you said earlier a vendor, distributor, does that play a big role in what you able to get in the quantities that you're able to get for our RTO world?

Keith Brock 7:31

It is. It definitely is. Um, you know, one of the strengths of dialectic is they are a first choice or primary distributor for a number of brands, and we can continuously bring those brands to the market. You know, we've uh we just had a press release about our acquisition of a few companies, um, of our partnerships with a few companies. You know, champion powered equipment is a great example. You know, they they were nice enough to do a press release and identify us as a preferred distributor for the rent-to-end segment. So champion powered equipment, obviously with pressure washers or generators, we can bring those products to the rent-to-end clients at any time. Um being a vendor, we also have lines that are again limited or only available on uh you know for a certain duration of time.

Pete Shau 8:15

I gotta say, when you have when you have the ability, of course, always to bring in a product that's not always widely used or widely had by everybody else, it gives you the advantage. Now, you guys are also on the AMP system, which is a place that you can kind of uh if anybody doesn't know what AMP is, it's kind of like you know what, Keith, why don't you explain? You can probably explain AMP better than I can, actually.

Keith Brock 8:36

Yeah, definitely. You know, uh AMP tab is is kind of new to me. I'll be honest. When I was in operations um for a number of years, I not something that we used or utilized, uh, but AMPTA I would have to compare to a Amazon uh for rent to own, as well as retail dealers, any other segment that use AmpTab. And that's where a company like Dialectic, we would have an online catalog, uh which you know it has product pictures, product specific features, as well as price points and availability. One of the coolest, I I don't think it's being utilized as well as it can, and maybe I just haven't penetrated our my customer things with it, but one of the beautiful things about it is let's say a group has 10 or 15 stores. Each one of the stores can have a unique login. They can build a cart of products that they want for that week. And when they hit send, it can be coordinated to go to their district manager or purchasing coordinator. And I I think it's a beautiful thing because I can only envision how much work that would save a purchasing coordinator from having to gather up everyone's orders each week or having them to email in in different formats. Uh it's a really nice website with I think a lot of potential.

Pete Shau 9:43

Well, I gotta say, I I I definitely want to say when anything is easier and it's necessary, so you make those necessary evils easier, oh man, it's it's like and you know how it goes. It's it's a breath of fresh air because I mean, really what's going on is we want to take care of the customer as soon as possible. We want to fill the holes, we want to fill the needs, and we want to fill it with things that are gonna sell, right? And when you have somebody who can bring in things who knows the rent-to-own industry, not only that, but kind of makes it easier on the order up and the ship down, it just it just makes it that streamline just makes it inevitable to get the sales up and move it. Now, dialectic as a whole has more than the rent-to-owned sector, right? You said that I mean dialectic is a huge, huge company. So they've this this RTO section that you have for rent to own uh in dialectic is is really mothered by a huge, huge business.

Keith Brock 10:37

That's correct. Yeah, dialectic Excuse me. Uh Dialectic is in just about every uh industrial segment you can imagine. From um, let's say I know casinos is a big segment for them. Uh they do a lot with land development, you know, as well as real estate, building supplies, um, and then future tech, you know, system boards, uh, robots. I mean, dialectic is enormous. So, you know, I'm just carving out the niche and really just breaking the ground into setting this department up with Lewis.

Pete Shau 11:08

What is it that's coming down the pipe? What's what's coming down the pipe, Keith? What's the what's the next big thing? I'm always trying to figure that out from everybody. And sometimes it's a little hard to put your finger on. Um, I see a little bit of a tight spot coming up with the economy, and I've had a few people tell me, uh, one way or the other, sometimes that RTO can really kind of withstand the test of time because it it's it's the availability of product that it allows us to work the way we do in hard times and times of hardship. Um but do you see that coming? And do you think that you carry the lineup that's going to help us get through the tight spots maybe coming up in the next couple of years?

Keith Brock 11:43

That's a great question, Pete. It really is. I tell you, it's hard to gauge. Um, one of the things I'm really excited about, Bill, is not only wearable tech, but virtual reality specifically. I think rent to own and maybe even the retail markets on a whole have kind of viewed virtual reality as the 3D, you know, from a few years ago being in the industry. You'll remember 3D was hot and it wasn't, and it was hot and it wasn't. But you know, I think VR is around for the long term. I believe when you know Apple and your other major players release commercial and uh units that people can get, become more accustomed with. I think whether we wanted it to happen or not, virtual reality is here to stay and it'll become more prevalent in day-to-day um society. But you know, and that goes into things like smart glasses. Um, oh goodness, I've even seen these smart clips for glasses now. And I I've got to carry myself. I love the smart glasses. I mean, I can sit and pick up a phone call without breaking stride while I'm working on the computer. It's just it's awesome.

Pete Shau 12:41

Uh oh, we got we got a product pitch from Keith himself. What's the name of these glasses? What are they, what are they the Google glasses or are they a different pair?

Keith Brock 12:50

Uh similar to the Google glasses. Um, you know, I'm not even selling these right now. I do take them to trade jails to show them off, and everybody's just like, oh yeah, those are awesome. But uh Razor, uh Razor has a really cool set. Um there are many out there. Um I know what is it, Meta, Facebook, Instagram. Uh they have a they have a set with some manufacturer. And it's something we may introduce later down the road. Uh right now there's there's a lot of cheap knockoffs, and there's a lot of brands that come and go. And we don't want to introduce a product that you know we wouldn't stand behind. So there, you know, kind of let some of those smaller players filter out of that market, maybe before we bring it to rent-to-own. Um, but yeah, the Razor ones are cool. If you've seen me at a show, you've probably seen many classes. I may have handed them to a bunch of folks and just to see the amazement on their eye, you know, just the amazed look on their faces when they're listening to music and the person standing right next to them can't be or anything.

Pete Shau 13:43

Now, see, I want to say that that's something that we're gonna look at. Are you gonna be at the RTRO world this year in San Antonio?

Keith Brock 13:49

We are. We are. I'm still looking for a few of those, you know, just those products that make you gasp and make you second guess whether or not it would work in rent to own. And you know, you run home, you buy one for yourself just to try it out. But uh yeah, we're we're finally on doing a good question.

Pete Shau 14:04

How many years do you have in rent to own outside of dialectic? Like in straight rent to own. How many years of experience do you have in that?

Keith Brock 14:12

Oh goodness. Um, let's see, 2023. Uh easily 20 years uh combined, service and rent to own, mostly on the operation side.

Pete Shau 14:21

So then here's the question. I gotta get I was I told Mike that I would make a t-shirt that said, here's the biggest question, but I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to make that. But here's the biggest question that I have right now. Going back 20 years, you have 20 years of experience, you know rent to own like the back of your hand. What products does Dialectic carry, or what product does Dialectic carry that you said, I wish I had that 20 years ago?

Keith Brock 14:45

No, I want to look at it from an operational side, and one of the things that I think give us an advantage um right now specifically is international gaming. You know, the international gaming segment, you couldn't do it 20 years ago because you had region locks and you know, you had restrictions to where uh you know that would be available in South America or in Asia, you know, you couldn't use it in the US. Uh one of the things that Dialectic has, and we we do a lot of volume with from a bunch of dealers, is international units. And because of, you know, I'm not gonna get into all the specifics, but because of currency valuations and uh trade regulations, we can actually bring in Nintendo, PlayStation, Sony, Microsoft systems uh at a substantial discount over the same product that you're buying in the US. And 20 years ago, I'm I'm not sure it would have affected me as maybe an account manager or maybe even a salesperson, but um from an operational standpoint, that that's one thing we have now that wasn't available then.

Pete Shau 15:45

That's the one thing that kind of interests you and says if we would have had that connectivity 10, you know, let's well, let's say 15, 20 years ago, you could have you could have sold another 20, 30 customers a month on that.

Keith Brock 15:58

Without a doubt. You know, I think back, I remember the early days, mostly just stories about you know uh big screen TVs and how they were three or four hundred pounds. But could you imagine operating in that environment and all of a sudden you're paying half of what your competitor down the street is paying for that same uh floor model TV? You know, how much of an edge would that give you? So that's really where my thought process is. If you're looking at today versus then, um, you know, whether that benefits.

Pete Shau 16:23

I can tell you right now, as somebody who's been in the business 19 years, I looked at some of those heavy TVs and it wasn't it wasn't fun. It was a day it was extremely difficult at times, uh, especially at a guy of my stature. I would love to say, I think in heart I'm 20 feet tall. But in reality, as far as physics go, I'm only 5'7. So when I'm looking at uh some of the things that I used to do, oh my god, I can't believe I did that. But you know, the big screen TVs, and now of course we have the 86 TVs, I think the 86 inches, the ones I think that that you know CPL group kind of carries the biggest of. We just haven't seen a need to go bigger than that. But I mean, I remember when I had a 65-inch rear projection television and it weighed every bit of 150 pounds. It was about 32 inches deep, and it was it was a massive piece in my living room. Now I have a 75 mounted on my wall, and uh, we're thinking about going bigger just because it doesn't take up enough wall. Isn't that crazy how things happen between now and then?

Keith Brock 17:20

Oh, it's it's night and day difference, Dan. And you know, it's just even a 32-inch back then, you know. I mean, it was uh it was a task, you third floor delivery for a 32-inch, and you're like, oh, but you know, nowadays it's a 32-inch in the store, that's a walkout for a customer. So uh a lot of changes, you know, a lot of different things in the business. Front letters, you know, I'm sure you remember how heavy they were. Felt like they had concrete, like eight inches of concrete in the bottom of them back in the day.

Pete Shau 17:46

And just so we could let everybody know, I want to say that there were a few washer and dryers back in the day that actually did have concrete blocks in the bottom. I don't know if you remember those, and I can't remember which brand it was. I won't try to call them now either, but I could swear there was one or two that actually did have those solid blocks in the bottom.

Keith Brock 18:03

Completely convinced, completely convinced that that was well. That was what they were doing. There's no other reason it could have been that heavy.

Pete Shau 18:09

So here is what I want everybody to understand. With dialectic being a vector, uh a vendor, excuse me, what is the advantage of having dialectic as a vendor over the competition?

Keith Brock 18:21

You know, something we've gotten really good with, and and you, you know, again, I I'm less than one year into this. You know, we're less than we're less than a year into setting up this department. They dabbled into rent-to-own before they brought Lewis in and subsequently myself. But one of the really cool things that we're able to do is let's say you want to run a promotion, a back to school, and for whatever reason you want to do the little red wagons that pull behind, you know, kids of the Rockwell days. You know, these clients and these customers, they can reach out to me and like say, hey, look, I want a red rider wagon, you know, and with our international network, I mean, I can literally put out what they call an RFP, you know, a request, give them a brief description of the product, the amount that I'm looking for, the number of units, and within a matter of days, I'm getting the offers back. Okay, well, here Brazil has 300 red wagons, this is what they look like, and Canada has uh 50 wagons, this is what they look like. So I'm gonna gather these estimates and these quotes for people and you know, shoot it over to the clients, see if it satisfies what they're looking for.

Pete Shau 19:23

You know, I I it's it's crazy you say that because when I mention dialectic, I really, and maybe it's just a name, and that's that's me kind of foreshadowing what I think, but you know, when I when I hear dialectic, I'm mostly thinking of products of service, right? Whether it be a TV, whether it be a computer, whether it be uh uh uh something to clean with, like a pressure washer and and of the sort. But what you're saying is you're not limited to that in the sense that with such a global network, you can actually get the extra.

Keith Brock 19:53

Definitely, definitely. And and it's very easy, uh I want to say with the electronics. You know, it's very easy with the electronics. And you know, we we're not really ready to jump into TVs, and we're not really ready to jump into appliances, although I I get offers all the time. I've seen this awesome 11 and a half cubic refrigerator from Germany the other day. They're like, hey, look, we've got 400 of these, and and we'll give you the plug adapter. And man, the price would have just been insane, you know. But it was they were like neon green. So we've watched deal all the time, and no great deals. And sometimes I'm able to bring them rent-to-own and and you know move some products to um these operators, but other times it's like, yeah, let's let's see what else is out here. So, yeah, a lot of different, a lot of different product options.

Pete Shau 20:40

So let me ask you a question. Why does dialectic stay away from televisions right now? It to me that would seem like a a go-to, and I'm sure that dialectic has a great reason for that, but is it because there's a saturated market, or is it just not on the right time framing for dialectic?

Keith Brock 20:55

You know, look at uh obviously we're in post-COVID right now, and and COVID was a little bit different. You know, people were forced indoors, you know, electronic sales went through the roof. A lot of the stores reaped the benefits from customers being inside and uh you know getting a new TV, a new computer, et cetera. But yeah, uh one, there's some very good vendors in rent to own for television currently. There really are. Um, quite frankly, I don't know if you can see it from that side, but these vendors that supply rent to own, they are doing it with very slim margins. Um, just very slim margins. You know, they're giving great deals to these rent-to-own operators. And you factor in the logistics for that, you factor in that super slim margin. And eventually we may. Uh, as a matter of fact, I believe uh at CES this year, um, Roku actually decided they're going to do their own branded TV. And you know, that's something we're pursuing. You know, can we get in with them and partner and be that direct supplier for Roku into this segment? Um, but there are there are many products like that. You know, it's just there, there are good deals out there from other vendors. Uh we're gonna stay in our lane, we're gonna bring the best deals we can on the products that are. Invigorating. But you know, let these established guys play the TV game for right now.

Pete Shau 22:05

So the dialectic is filling the niche that's not there just quite yet.

Keith Brock 22:10

Definitely. I mean, that's what we want to do. You know, you've I know you've seen the Eam and You know, we were able to bring a portable griddle here recently, the Coleman XLT. Great idea, great product. You know, a lot of the stores are already selling grills, but they were stationary grills. And these are more tailgating. Uh, these won't, we don't anticipate these boomeranging back at the end of the summer, like maybe a stationary grill will. So, you know, you take that combined experience of knowing the products for a rent-to-owned store, identifying, you know, what can help uh what's typically a seasonal product stay on rent. And you know, those are the holes we're looking to fill and we're looking to bring to the table.

Pete Shau 22:48

Now you brought up something that I didn't know. I know Roku. I think I know I I know all my guys know who what Roku is and and what they bring to the table as far as the TV is, but I did not know that they were actually looking to go out on their own. Is that something that's gonna come out soon?

Keith Brock 23:04

I don't want to mislead you at all. Uh it's just I know in CS this year, uh, we had a couple representatives there, and Roku were some of the people they were talking to. So yeah, they're they're planning on producing their own Roku labeled Roku branded TV. And it doesn't take you know much foresight to see that if Roku is successful with that, perhaps they take that away from other branded models using that platform. And uh, you know, and all of a sudden it makes them less attractive, makes Roku much more attractive. So, you know, Dialectic, again, looking forward into the future, you know, we've got we've got people all over the place. And this is just an example, you know, of one product and how in the future we may be carrying it, you know, we may lock the market down, let's hope. But um, a lot of interesting things always in the work.

Pete Shau 23:49

So you've done rent to own 20 years, you're now in dialectic as one of the new rookie vendors of the year. What about rent to own that sticks in your blood that made you decide to hang around?

Keith Brock 23:59

You know, I I loved it from uh I I'll say the first month, maybe not that first week. You know, your first week you're in there, you're making a good flight, there's people yelling at me. Uh but it's just it's an honest day's work, you know, and I love the operation side. You know, there are not many places that one minute or one hour you're sitting down, you're making cold calls, the next thing you know, you're building a fireplace, you know, you're out uh delivering a refrigerator, um, and then you're back just taking a payment, you know, like a cashier would. So it's it's such a diverse uh work environment every day. Uh, and to be on this side of it and to be able to work with people who are new or bounce ideas and tried and trude programs off of them, uh just it's in the blood.

Pete Shau 24:42

Absolutely. So where is dialectic located at? If I was to be in you know a couple of different states and people want to know, maybe they don't know of dialectic yet, and they want to know a dialectic, where do you guys ship out of? Is it a one place? Is it multiple places or East Coast, West Coast?

Keith Brock 24:57

Well, we have multiple warehouses across the U.S. and across the world, but uh in the U.S., uh we serve clients out of New Jersey. Uh, we also have a warehouse down in Miami, and then another warehouse on the West Coast out in LA. So we do work from three warehouses in the U.S.

Pete Shau 25:14

I'm just gonna let everybody know. That was a selfless question. I'm worried about the Tampa Bay area. Everybody else, you guys can deal with your shipping as is. No, but it's nice to know that uh in the areas that you that you're needed to, you can get to quickly. I definitely want to say that uh in the Tampa Bay area, we have a big problem from the West Coast, only because it's so far it takes, you know, the logistics is unbelievable. So when you say a place like Miami and you can service the East Coast pretty well, that's definitely a great thing to do. It's something that we need, to be real honest with you. We have a lot of things. And when the shipping started breaking down during COVID, uh, you know, you probably know more as as most, the logistics of getting the product that you wanted, it just went it went haywire. Whether it was shipping across seas or whether it was getting it from California or whether it was sitting out in a port, you know, waiting for 20 days to make sure that it either passed customs or whatever the case was, it just made it a nightmare. So getting back on our feet, making sure that we are trying to fill those needs and fill them quickly when you have somebody come in and kind of order that one-off thing, whether it be a grill, whether it be the gaming system, whether it be the glasses or whatever, that you know you can get it and you can get it quickly. And that's one of the things that I do appreciate about Dialectic. I don't know where everybody is uh that's listening to this, but I can tell you right now, you guys do get it, you do get it quickly. Um now, where can they go? Let's say they're not on the AMTAB, let's say you know you have a couple dealers that are still a little smaller, they don't have the AMTAB availability yet. Where could they go? Who could they call to get a hold of you guys and set things up?

Keith Brock 26:45

I'm gonna think Delph, I'm the I'm the quickest resource, especially for the rent-to-own uh clientele. Um I handle rent-to-owned operations for North America. Uh so you can call me at 865-369-5902. Uh, they certainly email me, Keith at godialectic.com. You know, and uh I would definitely encourage, especially new people, look, if you if you shoot me a message, I can send you access to the AMP tab, which isn't always 100% up to date, but it does have a really good overview of just the diversity of products that we offer, as well as the core products. You know, I don't want to take away from the fact that I understand rent-to-one operations, PlayStations and gaming is always gonna sell. Um, you know, you're gonna have surround sounds, audio equipment. It's always gonna sell. And we're working to solidify that core product offering while still being able to bring the value of those one offer non-traditional pieces to the table.

Pete Shau 27:36

So reach out to Keith if you guys have any questions. Either email him, call him. You guys can have access to the AMP tab for a little while and see what he's talking about. Great, great company to work with, great vendors to work with. God, I want to ask you uh a quick question though, Keith. What experience that you've had at Dialectic uh have you had recently or you know when you started, where rent to owners really kind of played a part in your being able to facilitate the service or the end of a problem, right? Like I have this knowledge, this helps me to understand this a little bit better. Do you have any of those stories available?

Keith Brock 28:12

No, I I do. Uh I tell you, as a matter of fact, today, I'm just gonna use today as a real example. Um again, it's not a pitch, but I put the PlayStation Virtual Reality 2 systems on sale. And, you know, I'm going through my call list, um, talking with the buyers from the groups, and I come across this one buyer, they bought some previously and they're like, look, we're just we're really having trouble selling this. Um, you know, we've moved a few pieces, but we're sitting on a few pieces. You know, what are we missing? And just going back to rent owned operations days, you know, if I'm I'm looking to move a piece, how do I move it? Well, hey, it's a complimentary piece. I mean, you you need a PlayStation 5, you need a PS5 in order to use the VR. And you know, rent to own has just gorged itself on PlayStation sales over the last three or four years. It's like, look, are your staff and are your sales folks, are they calling inactive PlayStation customers or pay-to-default customers who just paid off their PlayStation? Or even over the last two or three years? Because let's be honest, this is a $500, $600 product. And most of our rent-to-own clientele, they can't go ahead and buy this at retail. And if they're owning PlayStation 5 now, then there's a good chance they want to experience the other games or the other categories or even watch a movie with their PlayStation virtual reality units. So I told them I was like, look, just pull up your PIF, pull up your PIF PlayStation over the last two or three years, have your sales folk, you know, focus your focus your sales effort. Um, but I think that's an example of how being in the industry uh you know may have been able to help that client.

Pete Shau 29:42

I love it. I love it. I'm gonna tell you, Keith, I actually that was a great example of how knowing the business, you know, sometimes we forget. Sometimes we get uh blinders on and we just got things that are going on during our day-to-day, whether it's being open to store, making sure that all the deliveries get done on time, making sure that we receive something, we know that we're gonna get a couple trucks today, or you know, just the basics of running the business. Sometimes we need that reminder or that refresher or that that fresh uh insight to say something and go, God, why not think of that? That's a great that was a great bit of advice there. And that only comes from knowing when to own uh RTO family. I just want to tell you right now, when you have a suggestion like that, it's because you've done it a long time and you know where to put your product placement knowledge to use. I love it. I'm gonna make sure that I push my guys to that because I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna steal that little bit of advice. And for anybody who's not listening, I'm gonna put that in my division and get that working. But Keith, it's always great to talk to you. It's always great to have you on the show. Is there any last bit of advice, any last bit of tidbit information that you want to give out before we call it a day?

Keith Brock 30:44

You don't think there is, and and uh uh I want to thank you again for you know allowing me to come speak with you and you know get some of this information out to rent it and you know, one of the things that we talked about uh last time is you just asked, you know, what maybe uh what is some of these groups can do, or what can some of these stores do uh to increase their sales, especially through the summer period. And one of the things we talked about was the fact that we have so many consuming customers that won't sell or aren't renting a certain product uh when the competition across doing great with it. And that's why we'll I'd like to leave you with just uh anyone who's listening. Look, if if you're not selling iPads and maybe because you tried them two or three years ago and the execution and the sale just didn't work for you, so you just cut it out as a product category. No, I I'd like to say stay away from just closing off categories completely. There there may be a reason, maybe it's Apple Watch, or you don't do window air conditioners because not a whole lot of people ask for them. Well, if you're not selling it, they may not know it's an option to get it. Whereas you would special order that they asked, but you don't have one or two prominent in your advertising, you don't have one or two prominent in your showroom. Um might be why you're not running it. So it's just it blows me away that I've seen a find literally across town from another. One of them says, No, I can't let those our customers won't get it. But the competition is less than a few miles away and they're pulling the doors off the I I would I'm hesitation and just caution to close being closed-minded on any particular product table.

Pete Shau 32:14

I can tell you what, if you guys have any products that you feel that are on the dialectic lineup and you're not really sure how to push it, or you're not really sure what it does, you're not really sure how to handle it, or maybe you are not experiencing the best sales with it. You know, you thought you would, you didn't. Sometimes we happen to uh when we go to shows, we get what we like and not what we need. Call Keith, call him or email him at Keith at godialectic.com and find out his approach to that because instead of just giving you advice, he might be sending you 30 more to put back on the floor. It's always good to have somebody who has the experience of rent to own, moving the product that you have inside your stores at all times, and this is one of those times where it might make a difference. If you have a neighbor that's pushing it out, you should be too. Not that we want to be like everybody else, but we all want a piece of that pie. And rent to own, I want to make sure that all you guys are on the same page and we have all the same knowledge. And thanks to Keith here at Dialectic for giving us a little slice of what it's like to have that RTO knowledge and be the rookie of the year dealer or vendor, and uh just having access to all these things. If you guys have any questions again, reach out to Keith at Keith at Godialectic.com. If you have any questions, reach out to me. You guys are always welcome to reach me, Pete at the RTO ShowPodcast.com, or you can go online, Facebook and Instagram. You can follow us uh on there, and make sure you subscribe to the RTO Show Podcast. That way you don't miss any of these new podcasts that have some information for you that I think you're gonna want to hear. Keith, again so much, we do appreciate it. And this time around, because you're on the show, you get a shirt, sir. So just to let you know, we're gonna send that out to you. I'm gonna get some information from you, and we're gonna send that out to you. That way, when you're out there in Antonio on your off time, you can rock a shirt for the RTO show, sure.

Keith Brock 33:55

You know what? I'll live with pride as a badge of honor.

Pete Shau 33:58

We appreciate that, Keith, and I appreciate your time. And if that, you know, as usual, it's always a great conversation with you, man. I look forward to seeing you uh down there in San Antonio. I'll actually see you next week at the uh order show. Oh, it's gonna be an FRDA. Oh, even better. I will see you then, man. Listen, first drinks on me.

Keith Brock 34:16

Thanks again, Pete.

Pete Shau 34:17

All right, buddy. Have a great one, Keith. Thank you.