.png)
The RTO Show: "Let's talk Rent to Own"
The RTO Show Podcast is the podcast for the rent-to-own industry, hosted by Pete Shau, an industry insider with more than 20 years of experience in RTO operations, sales, leadership, marketing, and store growth.
Each episode brings candid conversations, practical insights, and real stories from the people shaping the RTO community, including operators, vendors, association leaders, store teams, industry veterans, and innovators helping move rent-to-own forward.
Pete’s conversations are built for seasoned veterans, newcomers, owners, managers, vendors, and anyone who wants to learn from the shared experiences, hard-earned lessons, and fresh perspectives inside the rent-to-own industry.
From lead generation, lead management, customer behavior, store traffic, door swings, sales process, collections, training, recruitment, and leadership development to technology, CRM integration, mobile-first shopping, Google ranking, Facebook ads, video marketing, advocacy, APRO, TRIB Group, RTO World, LegCon, and the future of the rent-to-own business model, The RTO Show helps listeners understand what is really happening in RTO.
If you work in RTO, serve the RTO industry, or want to better understand the people, challenges, trends, and opportunities behind rent-to-own, The RTO Show Podcast is your insider’s guide to the industry’s pulse.
Join The RTO Newsletter: https://bit.ly/RTOPODnewsletter
Learn More About Sponsorship: https://bit.ly/RTOPODsponsor
The RTO Show: "Let's talk Rent to Own"
The Future of RTO Buying, AI, and Omnichannel Retail with AMPTAB
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What does the future of rent to own technology actually look like, and how can dealers stay competitive as AI, automation, and real time inventory systems reshape retail buying?
In this episode of The RTO Show Podcast, host Pete Shau sits down with Michael Costa from AMPTAB to explore how digital infrastructure, integrated ordering systems, and omnichannel retail tools are changing the way rent to own businesses source, manage, and sell products.
From simplifying vendor catalogs and reducing buying friction to discussing AI powered product search, API integrations, customer facing kiosks, and the future of connected retail ecosystems, this conversation dives into the operational side of modern rent to own.
What You’ll Learn:
- How AMPTAB helps rent to own dealers simplify purchasing and vendor management
- Why real time inventory updates and API integrations are becoming essential in modern RTO operations
- The role AI could play in product search, catalog management, and customer buying experiences
- How RTO dealers can reduce buying anxiety and improve operational efficiency through centralized systems
- Why data quality, product taxonomy, and digital infrastructure matter for future scalability
Episode Highlights:
- 00:07 – Why AMPTAB was created and how it entered the rent to own industry
- 03:36 – What AMPTAB actually does for furniture vendors and RTO dealers
- 09:46 – How centralized product catalogs simplify the dealer buying process
- 18:29 – The evolution of AMPTAB from vendor catalogs to integrated workflows
- 22:37 – How AMPTAB compares to other retail kiosk and omnichannel platforms
- 33:23 – What AI and intelligent product search could look like inside AMPTAB
- 35:38 – Why real time inventory and API integrations are changing RTO operations
- 41:02 – The search for the next “big product” in the rent to own industry
- 47:17 – Michael Costa’s vision for the future of connected retail ecosystems
- 51:58 – Why better product data and taxonomy could transform the RTO experience
- 58:02 – The biggest thing RTO dealers can do differently after hearing this episode
Meet the Guest:
Michael Costa is part of the leadership team at AMPTAB, an omnichannel sales and catalog platform used across the furniture, retail, and rent to own industries. He specializes in product workflow systems, retail integrations, customer support strategy, and scalable digital solutions for modern dealers.
Tools, Frameworks, or Strategies Mentioned:
- AMPTAB omnichannel sales platform
- AMPShop B2B ordering system
- AMPAvenue retail kiosk platform
- API integrations for real time inventory updates
- ERP and QuickBooks connectivity workflows
- Vendor taxonomy and centralized catalog management
- Retail order approval workflows for RTO operations
- AI powered product search and enhanced product discovery
Closing Insight:
“The future of rent to own technology depends on connected systems, accurate data, and making the buying process easier for both dealers and customers.”
Join The RTO Newsletter: https://bit.ly/RTOPODnewsletter
Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/4wpbUqF
Subscribe on Spotify: https://bit.ly/RTOPODspotify
Learn More About Sponsorship: https://bit.ly/RTOPODsponsor
Welcome And Quick Housekeeping
SPEAKER_00Hello and welcome to the RTO show. I'm your host, Pete Chow, along with the producer, my man Anthony over there. And today we got something perfect lined up for you guys, but I want to take care of some stuff. First, listen, I want to dive right into what we got going on. But first, you've got to subscribe to the show. You guys do not want to miss out. And listen, help somebody out. We are growing the show, and with your help, we can get it over the next level. So make sure you subscribe. Make sure you hit that notification bell so that every time something comes out, you guys get notified. Also, talking about notifications, the newsletter is out. It was going to be once a month. You know what? I didn't think that was enough. It's actually going to be twice a month. You're going to get it the first and the 15th. All you've got to do is go to the podcast website at the RTOShow Podcast.com. Scroll down just a little bit. Put your name, put your email in there, and you guys are going to get the best information that our intown has. And last but not least, I want you guys to know there are some sponsorship spots open. You guys are what helps keep this podcast open so that we can bring things like you and me, the information coming from our guest today. We're talking to Michael Costa, all the way from AnTab in California, which is amazing because it looks nice and sunny out there. Looks great. You guys having some good weather?
SPEAKER_01Oh, as as good as it can be, yeah. And I expect it to get even warmer.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's what we have in common. It is getting hot over here. Michael, I appreciate you being on the show. Listen, big fan of Amtab, but there is a lot of things as I was going into this, as I was trying to do my research and getting ready for this. There was so much that I didn't know. Now, a lot of RTO dealers actually use Amtab to buy some of the product and supplies that they have to get things going. Now, in that regard, I want you to explain it to me a little bit. First off, Patrick Hanley decides to make this a couple years ago, and then it grows and grows and grows. And now you have a lot of products out there, but we only use the AmTab. So we'll talk about the RTO section first. But how did the idea first come up? And then where did you come into Amtad to kind of help support that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the the company started, I want to say 13, 14 years ago, you know, with the early research. And I only know this from retellings of the story, of course, I wasn't there. Um Patrick uh found an industry that was uh lagging behind in technology, this manufacturing sales industry for the all-in-home space. So your case goods, your upholstery, rugs, lamps, what have you. Um and they they have a sales force that travels the country, visits retail stores, and
The Origin Story Behind AmTab
SPEAKER_01at the time they were just pulling out these paper catalogs. And these reps would represent several brands. So if you can imagine a dozen or so paper catalogs uh multiplied by several you know markets over the year. Um and the problem with paper, besides it's heavy and uh takes up space, is it's static, right? Um so if there's price fluctuations, inventory information is not there, these reps would have to call into the office uh just to get an order through. So that the solution at the time was hey, let's digitize this process, let's make a website. Well, to AMP's luck, uh Apple released the first iPad at the same time. So AMP jumped in and was like, let's make an iPad app. This is perfect. We'll put this this trunk full of paper catalogs into an iPad in the rep's hands. And that's where we started. That's where uh we kind of got our foothold into vendors selling all this furniture. Um, and then it expanded into RTO where we learned a ton about retail working with the RTO side.
SPEAKER_00So for folks that have never really seen it, how would you describe Amtab in like one sentence, one summary to say this is what it is?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a it's a sales platform that helps uh companies gather all their sales materials into one location, whether that's documents or photography and videos, general product romance, like descriptive language. And it helps sales reps generate presentations and write orders and quotes offline. So using the iPad app, they don't have to worry about internet connection. And then that you know, easily translated over to a website for dealers to access that same catalog so they can have the same uh in-sync uh conversation with their sales rep looking at the same catalog for their orders.
SPEAKER_00So I'm kind of curious. Let's say that I am, I'm you you come to me, we're talking about this. I think Amtab is a great idea. I sell furniture. So I want to sell some furniture on your Amtab, and I would think that'd be a great idea. But now maybe Ashley's on there, maybe Havertes is on there, maybe somebody else is on there. Why would I want to advertise with that if you're gonna put my product right next to somebody else's product and introduce us in the same light? I would, I would think, you know, the thought process is okay, maybe my guys are going out there with some paper, and trust me, I get it. That's a little bit archaic, but at the same time, they're only representing one brand. If if if I have somebody that has an Amtab, but I'm selling it to dealers, dealers are gonna see the three of lineup or 20 lineup of of furniture, you know, case goods, whatever the case is. And now they kind of get to pick and choose. Why would what would what makes Amtab enticing so that I could say, hey, you want to be on this platform along with these other furniture dealers because?
SPEAKER_01Oh, believe me, we've heard that question uh many times. And and we have different, you know, metaphors. Patrick, our CEO, would like to say, you know, this big market everyone goes to in high point, which folks are at right now, uh in in North Carolina, um, it's an equivalent to that. You know, dealers are are visiting these markets, these trade shows, they're they're headed towards their appointments to look at new furniture. Well, they're gonna pass a dozen other companies along the way, right? So that's the general idea is this AMP marketplace. But we have other solutions as well. We've built private lobbies in the past where hey, only your dealers will see your offering when you invite them, as opposed to the entire lobby. But uh we're we're very uh what would you say, uh agnostic to brand. You know, we just want to help people connect. That's that's our real value is this networking effect. We don't charge for a headcount, we don't charge for buyers to log in. We just want to make it as useful as a platform as we can by introducing folks, you know, passive leads through through connecting vendors.
SPEAKER_00You know, something that you had said just a a little while ago is that you weren't there in the beginning, you you've come along since then. Uh, you know, doing a little search, I have I see a lot of different hats that you have along the way. And I don't know if if that's right, because I I I see customer support, I see uh the director of customer access, I see VP of Continuous Improvement. It was that like uh uh this trajectory going up and going in and kind of getting deeper into this the system as you came along?
SPEAKER_01It was. Uh it's it's maybe my secret sauce is uh I'm just the guy who says yes all the time. Um and I come from a startup background where I'm used to wearing as many hats as possible. It's it's more about what's
What AMP Does For Sales
SPEAKER_01the challenge today and what great is.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. My reduce is like, yeah, I know exactly what he's talking about over there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I I'm not big on titles. I I think you know most of the time they're made up. It's just it kind of represents how much experience you may have had along the way. Um, but we we all have the same goal in my in my regard, is as far as helping the customer with their what the new question is, right? Like, hey, we're here to sell. How can you help us sell? And that's what we do here.
SPEAKER_00So at one point in time, AMPAB or our what what is I know you as AMPAP. What is the actual name of the mother company for this? Because I know AMPAP is probably one part of it versus the entire. And I know that I'll get into a little bit more because I see AMP sell, AMP shop, AMP sites, AMP press, AMP Avenue, and AMP API. What is the actual name that I could reference that would mean all of that?
SPEAKER_01Is the the technical name is AMP Tablet Solutions? We prefer to shorten it to just AMP. Um, and that's because we launched with the iPad app, right? Tablet, AMP Tablet. Um, and all those various names references uh the new products we've developed developed along the way. So AMP shop is the B2B website. Uh AMP press is our print generator, AMP sites is the public website, and they all feed from the same data, which is which is kind of our golden ROI is you upload your data once and you get six different outputs for all these different use cases.
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, it sounds good. I was actually named the best technology provider by furniture to day readers, which was awesome. Um, but when I look at that, and and I'm trying to dial myself into the RTO space and what it does. I know that we use AmpTap. Um, there are people that, you know, they they put their product on there, and as dealers, they go in, select, get a purchase, and then have it come in. Is there any of these products that would actually mean anything to the rent-owned industry that they might want to get involved with it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. So the the product they'd be most familiar with is AMP shop. That's the B2B website. Um an extension of that is actually a product not even named on the website is our retail order workflow. So we have several RTO uh retail chains that that also pay for an AMP subscription for a curated single catalog in AMP. So instead of shopping 20 different vendors at a time, you shop a branded singular catalog that has all the vendors mixed together. Um these retailers are able to install order writing rules and approval steps. And once the order is placed, it sends its way over to the vendor in AMP. So that's a curated retail experience. Uh beyond that, AMP Avenue is a kiosk designed for retail stores. So if you like what you see on AMP shop, there's a consumer-friendly version you can put on a touch screen in your store.
SPEAKER_00Well, help me out because you with the way you said at Dam Shop, and I just want to make sure that I understand it. When you say, you know, you're not going to uh brand specific, so does that mean that my scooter might end up next to another scooter and we are completely different? We are competing brands, but you wouldn't know that. Basically, it's whatever scooter that they like the most. There's going to be five there, it could be from five different brands. I'm going to select that. So so for lack of a better term, it looks like a a Walmart website, right? There's no, there's really not the brand thing. It's like I look in for a scooter and it gives me whatever comes up available. What advantage is that for uh for uh if I'm if I'm trying to sell my product, you know, it's great for an RTO dealer, right? I I agree that you know when you're looking at that way and they're looking for a specific product, it helps them dial in a lot quicker and find out what they need from multiple areas and pick make their own choice. As a as a vendor though, what is the advantage of that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a fair question because you know it's kind of that unspoken rule. We we like to pretend nobody's shopping around, but we all know we do, right? Um, so it's really you know, it's an opportunity. Hey, your your competition is offering their products to to your buyer. You need to be right there, locked step with them. And then compete in other ways. Compete with better data, compete with more reliable data. Hey, we have inventory updated every hour. We're competing on prices in your in your area or shipping. Um I understand you know the hesitation of why would I want to show my product next to my competitor? It's already happening. We just don't like to talk about it.
SPEAKER_00So in other words, I could look at yours, then go to another website, then go to another website. What you're saying is instead of shopping all the way around, let me give you an outlook, and then what really is saying is it you know, let your products be for itself.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And furthermore, that's the initial value prop AMP came into the market with is we heard a bunch of frustration from the the buyers that they've got 20 different logins to try and do their sourcing for their stores, different websites to navigate. I can't remember my password. And if I'm giving my my store managers the same list of passwords and turnover and all that, uh is it was just a headache. So AMP's value was we're gonna give you one login to see all of your vendors in the same website layout. And now we just made it even more convenient.
SPEAKER_00Buying simplicity.
Competing Brands In One Marketplace
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. Now I see 60 plus vendor catalogs available through AMP Avenue. Uh how does a vendor get into that catalog? What does that relationship look like?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it it is a B2B, a private B2B website or uh for lack of a better term. And it just starts with a vendor, a singular vendor on the AMP platform, listing your email address as an authorized buyer. As soon as your email address is listed as an approved buyer, you'll receive your login credentials from AMP, and then you'll be able to browse the other participating vendors for free and ask for permission to see those catalogs as well. So we we don't uh AMP's not interested in charging buyers to participate. You just need to be uh an email listed on someone's customer list.
SPEAKER_00We're gonna do that, Anthony. We're gonna put you on AMP and see if uh we put you against some other producers and see if they like you the most. You better smile if we put you on there. Hey, I'm confident. There we go, here we go. So AMP Avenue supports both retail and RTO pricing models. How does an RTO dealer benefit from being with everybody else in these situations, like retail and RTO? Now, RTO in those situations, and you know, we're just being honest with the RTO brands, we are not retail driven, right? We have cash prices because you can go in and do that, but we're not also gonna beat the Walmarts and the Targets and you know, the CVS is on the corner. They have pricing because their model is to retail as fast as they possibly can. Their margins are way lower because they're going by volume. Where an RTO dealer is gonna be absolutely opposite. If you're talking about a retail transaction, yes, I could probably sell it to you. And there might be times that I can actually get you a good deal, but the truth is that's not our model. Our model is free delivery, no credit checks. You know, we can service it. And that's why the pricing is a little bit different. Because if I'm gonna add delivery, I've got labor, time, truck, I've got to bring it in, set it up, put it on the floor. Those are costs that they're not doing. They're taking it in the package, throwing it on a shelf, and then if you want it, you have to pick it up and take it to a kiosk where nobody's saying, How are you doing today? Right. So, what's the advantage of having an you know an RTO dealer and a retail dealer is all in that same idea? And and you know, again, you're educating me, but I'm just looking at it from the RTO standpoint, going, Where is the plus side of that and how does it work out for Amtop and the RTO dealers? Sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's there's certainly a nuance between the two using our software. I'd say for RTO, um, we actually uh designed a lot of the kiosk alongside Countryside. Countryside was our first uh beta partner with the kiosk, and they gave a lot of great uh insight. They used it more um internally to they actually integrated their their POS system with the the kiosk so that they could check the inventory levels across their stores. So they used it uh for employees to see, okay, yes, we have inventory we can move around. I need this over at my location. And then oh, I can also see the vendor inventory. So if we're out of stock across the board, I can now uh turn around and place a special order.
SPEAKER_00Hi, I'm Pete Chao. You may know me from the RTO Show podcast, but today I'm doing something a little bit different. April and Wow Brands have launched a special project to bring the story of our industry to life like never before. They've asked me to sit down with some of the true legends of Rent to Own, capturing their stories, their impact, and their vision for the future. And now I get to share those conversations with you, right from the legends themselves. All of this leads to something groundbreaking though. A new book, The Rent to Own Revolution, a definitive history of advocacy and consumer access, written by APRO CEO Charles Schubertman and WoW Brand CEO Brian Kraft. The book explores the grassroots of RTO, the advocacy that has defined it, and the future that we're building together. Here's where you come. We're giving away free copies once the book is released. Just head over to the rtorevolution.com and sign up for a chance to receive a copy in early 2026. Don't miss the chance to be among the first to hold this piece of RTO history. That's rtoorevolution.com. Check it out and become a part of RTO History.
SPEAKER_01Uh directly with the vendor. So it was more of a for their particular use case, just for the store managers. Um, but they could flip the screen around and show just the product information. Here's what the the this special order, here's all the photos for that product, uh dimensions and all the information you need to know. If they want to apply a markup, you know, here's our our our weekly rates, they could do that as well. Um and and any other information they could append to that product data.
SPEAKER_00So just so that I'm clear, when you say countryside, we're talking about countryside rentals that's doing business as rent-to-own in the Ohio area, Mike Tissett's group. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Because they're they're great. I mean, they're they're pretty successful. They know how to do rent-to-own pretty darn well. So it's nice to see that they're doing that right. Mike, I'm looking at you. I know you're doing a great job. But um, you know, I it it is a different way to use it. I never really thought about it like that. And I think that's why they're they're pretty cutting edge because they have the ability to kind of think forward like that. So I like that idea. Um okay, I like I like that. Now, let's talk uh RTO specifically. How did how did Rent2Own get Amtab? How did Amtab find Rent2Own? I mean, you're talking about 15 years ago, there was a whole we were different back then, and I know that we don't have the uh the digital footprint we probably want yet, but we're definitely going in that direction. You know, when you say those many years ago, we really weren't online like we should have been. How did Amtab either change that or see that as a we could help you, this is how we're gonna do it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, again, I wasn't there, but from uh, you know, attending those trade shows, the story I hear, uh, Mark Williams was like the point man, to be honest. Okay. Him and Patrick paired up. Mark expressed his his frustration with all those logins we talked about. I was like, hey, I I I'm having uh I I'm not getting any sleep trying to navigate how to how to buying anxiety.
SPEAKER_00I just want to get it bought and done. You know what I mean? Like I don't want I don't want to log into Amazon three times, okay? I just want to get it done. I could I totally understand that. I really do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so so Patrick simply pitched to Mark, hey, if we work together, get all the vendors you care to source from onto one site. Is that interesting for you? And he said, yeah. And they uh rent one was you know monumental in in getting the the name of
RTO Workflows And Store Kiosks
SPEAKER_01AMP out there. Um we could probably thank a lot of the networking to those early days with Rent One and Countryside. Um and two very big dealers.
SPEAKER_00I I agree. Like two very big dealers in your RTO space, you probably pick two of the two some of the best to get that done.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and uh you know when I I uh came on board, it was I had kind of mixed feelings about it. I went to my first RTO uh trade show, and as a new employee, my task was, and I know you've been to these shows quite a quite a bit, um, was to go and slap these amp stickers on every vendor uh that was on our platform. And I stopped and looked around and it was like the entire floor is green. It's like I felt like I missed the boat. It's like, oh, we've already we've already done it. I wasn't part of that initial uh networking. Um so I think Patrick and Jesse did great on the amp side. Um, but really a lot of credit goes towards Rent One and Countryside, getting excitement from the vendors uh to get everybody on board for the platform.
SPEAKER_00So talking about, you know, talking about coming up through the through the ranks and through the things, you've seen it you know change from then to now through either stories or when you did come on to now. Ampedad came on, and what we would use it for is to kind of look up, we would go to you know, either O'Rourke, we would go to Ashley, whatever the case is, we would whenever they were on, whoever's on at that time, we take a look, we get it ordered. What's different between the AMP tab that when I started you know looking at it 10, 12, whatever years ago versus the one now? Why would somebody say, okay, that's still the place to go? It's still where I want to get the product in and ordered through. Like what changes have have happened in the last 10 years where you can say this is this, this, and this is making us the place to go at the moment?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Uh um the journey, I this I was there for this, the evolution. I know.
SPEAKER_00I saw this. I did this.
SPEAKER_01I I saw uh probably what you saw 12 years ago when I first started. I was like, okay, I get it. Everyone has you know a unique catalog to shop from. Uh as long as you have a buyer login, you you can access these these companies separately. Um and you know, we we were like, how do we expand AMP further into retail? Um our first thought was the kiosk. You know, there were there's another there was another company out there, WonderSign, I think they're called Wonder now, doing kiosk. I was like, that's a great idea. Does AMP have a version of this? Um so we just we started to design the kiosk, and then just because of how problem solving goes, we're like, okay, we have a kiosk, but now we need to get all the vendors in one place, right? Uh we have separate catalogs right now. How do we get into an individual catalog? Um so we designed what we called an AMP feed, uh, which makes a universal template for the data, has all the taxonomy lineup. We we create a garbage mapping. So if if you call it dining rooms and you and over here you call it dining sets, we can call it the same thing, the dining area, right? Um so getting the the vendors on the same taxonomy for filtering was huge. Uh getting all of the vendors' data to line up in the same uh square, as it were, for the the product uh layout for dimensions and whatnot into one catalog was a big evolution. And then working with uh like Chip Guy was monumental for order workflow stuff. So we built this one big catalog that's got 30,000 SKUs in it now. It's that's a different challenge on approving orders and slowing down the stores who got excited, like, oh, I can I'm Amazon shopping now, right? In AMP. So setting up approval rules, as soon as you place an order, it's gonna go to your regional manager. As soon as the regional manager approves it, it's gonna go to the CSR at the home. Office to create a PO. And as soon as it has a PO, it'll go to the head decision maker. If they hit the go button, it'll go to the vendor. So really locking down the order approval process where minimums are now respected. We have store budget tracking now. So the store can see, oh, I've spent my allotment for the month or whatnot. So just a lot of a lot of feedback, a lot of iterations to be sure the orders that are sent from the store to the home office and then to the vendor are accurate. And they can act on them.
SPEAKER_00We put that in there, Anthony. We're going to stop you from you can't buy it anymore. We need to put that on there. You were banned from buying. So here's the deal, man. You're talking about some names that I I've I've worked with. I love Casper Fop. He's a great guy. He was on the show. I love what he does. Have you ever thought about working? And I don't know if this is it, are they like considered competition? Is WonderSide considered competition? Or is it something that, you know, hey, they already have the Wonder Science in the store. Do you mind putting AmpTab on it? Or is it, no, that's like I'm going to go to Apple and say I'm going to put an Android app on there. Like, no, that's not you ain't doing that. That's not going to happen.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a it's a good question. It I think we're not directly competing just because of how we've handled our business models. Um R kiosk is a website you can put on any device. So you can throw it on your laptop, um, you can put it on a TV. I believe that, if I'm right, uh Wondersign was more interested in pairing it with the hardware itself, and there were like long-term contracts associated to the actual screen, um, and then they locked it down in that regard. Um we just saw it as an extension of our platform we already had. Like, hey, you got a website with us, it's free. Do you want to also have that same catalog look like a touch screen that you can go up and and peruse with your customer? Um, and then for the RTO specifically, if you want to you know have a curated RTO experience, um, it's just using our same technology in a different way. So we weren't really, at least in my mind, we weren't competing directly with with WonderSign.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, you know, it it again, like you said, uh, you know, mentioning names, uh, I actually worked with ChipGuy for a couple years just very recently. So it's nice to know that he was a part of that situation and helped you out as much as he could. But uh I, you know, I'm I'm curious. Amtab describes itself as like this omni-channel platform from an R2 dealer who's you know basically, let's say running uh one store out of a spreadsheet, you know, what does getting started with Amtab actually look like? And and what is a learning curve, right? I I started this up, I've been doing Renton my whole life, but I've got one store. I'm literally having to go from management to learning how to do the back end, which is not an easy feat, right? So now somebody says, you know, and I'm I'm just throwing a name out there, but Mike calls me up, says, I'm from Amtab, and you should be on there because I have one login instead of 30. And somebody goes, that's a great idea. What is what does it take to get to be on Amtab? And then what kind of learning curve is from that moment?
SPEAKER_01The learning curve is different depending on who you are, as far as retail or the vendor or RTO. Um, our general onboardings are about two weeks to six weeks, and that's just how fancy do you want to be? Uh, do you want to set up integrations with your ERP system? Then that may extend that timeline. Um for a vendor, it it can be as simple as taking a spreadsheet in Excel and hitting upload, and you've got your products listed on the website. For a retailer, um we don't want you to do any work if we can help it. We want you to tell us the rules, like here's our markup, here's uh my filtering, I don't want to see any products above a thousand dollars, I don't want to see lamps from this particular company, or this vendor can should only be shown to stores in Texas. Like we can build formulas for you so that all you have to do is log in and see the products you care to see. Um now it doesn't mean you can't go into the data and play around. Uh all the names I've mentioned and more, they like to do that. They like to hand pick products they want to promote.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I guarantee it. I guarantee it for sure.
SPEAKER_01Um But it we it I I believe
One Catalog With Order Guardrails
SPEAKER_01I built a culture here at AMP that we lead first with customer support. So if we're not uh giving you quick solutions, workarounds, or training on the spot, then we're kind of failing at our job. Um we don't want you to feel like, okay, you bought the product, good luck. That that's that doesn't exist here at AMP.
SPEAKER_00So somebody comes in, they get it, you you you tell them we're gonna walk you through the process, gonna make it a little bit easier. Once we get all dialed in, it's gonna be easier ordering. What does it take to get AmpTab? Is it a one-time I bought in and I get to use this for the year, 10 years, I got a monthly subscription? Like, how does it work to stay dialed in and and have somebody come to you and say, hey, I'm gonna sit with you for a couple weeks? You know, is it is it a down payment up front to cover those costs and then a lower subscription monthly or something like that? How does that work?
SPEAKER_01Um, we we we have a couple different approaches depending on your goal. Um, we don't do any contracts and we do have a setup fee, but that's related to how complex do you need this to be. Um and and I'm talking talking sp more specifically towards our vendors. You know, we want exclusive products per customer, you know, per price, um, which we support, but that takes coding to do. So you're employing an engineer to to do that during onboarding, essentially. Um for the retailer, it's pretty low. It's it's about a hundred bucks a month per store. Um and you can start and stop anytime. You could pay up front for a slight discount if you want to pay for the year, great. Um, but if you just want to go month to month, that's fine with us too.
SPEAKER_00Okay. I mean, that you know, it's it's it's just a question I have because I know that some dealers have by the time they finally get to own their store, they've been in the big they've been in the game for a while. And listen, I have some people that I know that can go to Chat GPT on their phone and get things done within 20 seconds, and I know guys who are still looking for the yellow pages when they dial somebody on their rotary phone. It's not the same, they're just not built the same, as I'm telling you, man. It's not the same. So um, so I I was looking at it, and I said something about like this this dial-in ability. There is, you know, on one screw, there's skew, there's almost 55 million possible combinations to make that, right? So, how does it actually fit an RTO dealer uh on the floor with a customer in front of them? How does that not get overwhelming, right? So you you know, you want to have the right things for the right people, but when you have somebody that can change the fabric and the height and you know, maybe a couple of options, now I'm trying to show them on my tablet and we are getting paralysis by analysis, and all I want them to do is is order the product. You know, how do you fight that when you have somebody coming in and wanting something now, but you have you can literally tailor this 55 million ways? How does that work?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that uh I believe uh what you're touching on are uh kind of a subset of our vendors that do made to order. Uh and that 55 million example, that's one of our higher end, uh, I believe that comes from Moss Studio, where they're very like nice pillows, like $500 pillows is is the the the kind of Anthony.
SPEAKER_00It's a pillow for $500. I just want you to know that you're not getting the whole sofa. You're getting the best pillow ever, man. That's a super agronomic pillow. I'd I could tell you right now. I want to see it. I don't want to look at it too long because it might charge me. I just want to see it one good time. Flashed a picture one time. If it just sounds expensive. Okay, so then really those options are for people who are really dialed in at a really high level. So somebody in RTO level is not really gonna see that much. So we're we're not gonna have that much interaction as far as through AMP tab with somebody that's coming in, and we lose them to going, I don't know which one I want because he has 75 options, and I think I'm just gonna go home and think about it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and to be honest, I I've I've worked with all of our RTO dealers in AMP as as far as the chains are concerned, and their catalogs are very curated. The vendor sets the special skews to the side, um, so you wouldn't see anything as complex as uh the Moss Studio Pillow. Um it just it doesn't make sense for that that's not right, right? Um and and more so, I I've learned in the RTO space, it's more common to have set SKUs where like a buy all button, hey, this is the best package designed for a store like yours. Um so trying to remove that paralysis of I don't know, does this thing go with this thing? Uh part of the same collection, I guess it does. Yep, you hit this button, it'll include the table and the four chairs, you're good to go.
SPEAKER_00Nice. You know, a question that I have, because you know, again, we're we're gonna go back to this, but um, you know, AMP integrates with quite a few programs, right? I I've seen QuickBooks, I've seen NetSuite, I've seen Freedom, and you know, probably a dozen other ones. My concern is for some of the RTO guys, and we talked about it just now uh a couple minutes ago. Some of them are are a little bit dated in what they have. They're okay. It it I'm not gonna fix it because it's not broken. Um, and some of the RTO dealers that are running out there, they have a little bit of older software, some back office software that's not up to date. How does AMP plug into what they already have?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we're we're pretty uh simplistic, to be honest, uh, in that regard. Uh we only have a couple options, and it gives you the the most simple version of it, which is if you hit this special link, it'll download an Excel file. So if your program can import an Excel file on your end, and vice versa, then you're good to go. Um, some folks that want to have a more sophisticated connection, they can do that. Uh, but it all happens outside of AMP. So it really we we offer free consultation. We have a on-staff integration engineer, Stanley, that we pair you up with him. Um he's worked with uh all of our clients that are interested in integration for the last seven years. So he's he he's been around the block as far as that that connection is concerned.
SPEAKER_00Um Stanley, we called you out. We're gonna give you a call now. Just want you to know by the end of the show, we're gonna put your number out on the thing and we're gonna get we're gonna get calls directly to you.
SPEAKER_01We're not paying overtime, Stanley. Sorry.
SPEAKER_00Turn your phone off, turn your phone off. But you know, so but more than likely, uh as so then basically it's something that's configured outside of the computer software that they're in, and then as they pull it in, it's already there. It's not something that has to build inside their, you know, their back uh I want to say, you know, a program in the back door, you just kind of sitting back there at often side, and you got one program here, and that one's just eating up your RAM and your memory in the back, and it's like, oh my god, this is killing me. This is something that when you get into it, it's already configured, ready to go, and the dealer doesn't have to kind of worry about whether it's new software, I'm still running Windows 7, it w it should still come up.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Yeah. And the most common way I've I've heard it introduced to folks is uh can your current program generate a report? Um, and can your current port uh ERP system import uh an Excel file? So if you can do those two things, uh we offer the if you can think of like an email inbox, we offer the inbox for you to email. Um, and we can send you back an email on your end. So hopefully uh it it uh works with their system, but again, we're we always have that free consultation.
SPEAKER_00Simplistic terms. I I like that. Uh you know, talking about simplistic is we're gonna go, we're gonna the pendulum has swung. We're going from people who have Windows 7 when we're talking about AI is on the scene. It is everywhere. It's literally on my phone. If it ever took over, Skynet would kill me first. But you know, now that it's on the scene, is AMP doing anything with AY AI? Is it is it integrating? Is it part of the system? Or is that uh is there a plan to introduce that to AMP tab and all of the you know programs that you offer?
SPEAKER_01There's nothing officially in our pipeline today. Um, it is something I know our engineers have been playing with as an aid uh in in their day-to-day work. Um and it it is something we've we've kind of whiteboarded or playing with, you know, uh enhancing product romance and searches using AI. Like if we have an AI that can read all of your data locally uh in your catalog, hey, I'm looking for a red chair that
Onboarding, Pricing, And Support
SPEAKER_01looks like it belongs in a cottage, right? It can help narrow down your data using those uh more descriptive searches. Um and other use cases like that. I don't think we're gonna uh enter a space where AI takes over the program. Uh it'll be more of a aid to the user for things that could be typing and and manually looking for.
SPEAKER_00So a powered search, basically.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's it. Now I'm gonna go on Amtab and it's gonna do like like the Gemini does. It pops up and tries to squeeze into my answers. Like, dude, I didn't ask that. So uh, you know, technology adoption in the RTO industry has traditionally been a little bit slower than it should be. I'm not gonna lie, I definitely feel that in a lot of regards. Um, you know, slower than mainstream retail, anyways, from where you sit, you know, working with dealers every day, is that changing? Are you seeing that change now? Like, hey, we have come so far off the beaten path that we actually have to upgrade, we have to get better at what we do, or you come across Windows 7s every day.
SPEAKER_01It's it's funny. I I kind of always saw the RTO space as more aggressive compared to our wholesale side of the business, where they're they're looking for, you know, where can I get my advantage today? And and maybe that's just approach or or that's you know, negotiating differently. Um and as as far as all of our clients, the a theme I've seen is more comfort around that API integration we were just uh discussing, where they want to connect. They want their ERP system, their QuickBooks connected to AMP so that uh the moment they update a price in QuickBooks, it updates in AMP. And the moment somebody places an order in AMP, it arrives in QuickBooks. Um because you know, along with this surge in AAI is this surge for uh real-time updates, um, which is only as real time as the update is, right? Um as opposed to waiting for somebody to go into a spreadsheet or manually type in their updates, they just want all their systems talking so that when the buyer hits that place order button, it's against an inventory quantity that exists this second as opposed to last week, right? And when I started with AMP, nobody was talking about integration. Nobody. You might have your your high-end brand like Coaster of America, um, is like, yeah, we have eight warehouses to manage, we have to be integrated. But beyond that, it was it was too much of a scary word. It meant we're gonna hire some specialist for $30,000 to design this integration. Um, that's just not needed anymore. And more uh the trend is headed towards real-time data, and that's only possible with that connection.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, uh, you know, some of these guys into their to their effort is like, hey, I've got this program. It doesn't need to do any more. It does exactly what I need it to do. It gives me the reports that I need. I can take care of payroll and everything. I can order what I need to. What's the point in getting something new and shiny if this has been doing me so good for so long? And I can literally, I know every aspect of this program from beginning to end, right? So, you know, I don't know if it's if that's the reason why sometimes the adoption takes a little bit longer, or it's like there's there's no there's no reason, right? My truck's got 150,000 miles, it's gonna go for another 150. Ain't no reason to buy anything else. So, you know, I I definitely understand it from both sides of, you know, both sides of the ball game. Um, you know, I I read, and I don't know, and you tell me, I read that Amtab actually doesn't have a huge, you know, there's not like a hundred thousand people sitting around anywhere, you know, and everybody's gonna get laid off in the next couple days. Like it's a small crew. You guys are tight-knit, you keep everything kind of everybody's working full-time, 100%, but it's not like there's a a thousand people working for you. There's there's actually a relatively small number. Um, yeah, how does how does that number factor into the fact that if you're growing or if things are happening, that how do you scale that if you have a very tight crew?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a great question. Uh we are a tight crew. Uh we we we fluctuate around 15 people, which surprises most. And it's it's just the nature of software. You know, we don't have to worry about warehouses, we don't have to worry about uh physical products. We just have to be able to handle the inbound, right? Um and at this point, we're all experts in our field. Our tight knit crew has been around six plus years, uh if not longer, right? So it's um we we will grow when uh we reach a certain uh breaking point, as it were, with you know, oh, we've got too many clients with too many questions that we need to we need to do.
SPEAKER_00That's a good problem, Anthony. I got I got too many people here, and I need more. I need more. Totally understand that. I I totally understand that. Um, you know, the RTO industry right now is dealing with uh with some scrutiny in some different areas, some different states, like you know, New York and stuff like that. Um also the buy now pay later market is kind of dealing with some stuff and some least to own options. Uh it does that affect AMP tab in any way? Is there is is does that, you know, are you in those markets and does it affect it uh as you're in them and what's going on?
SPEAKER_01It doesn't affect us directly. Um, but you know, any disturbance in the force uh trickles its way over to AMP, uh whether it's it's tariff talks or uh backed up containers uh across the sea there. Um you know, as our if our clients are having trouble doing business, you know, software notoriously is the easiest thing to cut back on, right? It's like, oh it's it's a subscription, we can hit pause on it, or we'll come back later, or we'll start doing things on paper again, right? Um so we we are very sensitive to any uh negative changes in in our clients' industries. Um we were we we built uh pretty goodwill during the COVID years where we we muted people's billings for a couple couple months. We're like we understand things are hard. Um we can stomach no revenue coming in uh for a stretch just so that you guys can uh get organized uh during during uncertain times. And and that's something uh I know there's there's uh a ton of people out there know that they can reach out to me directly to my cell phone and be like, hey, is there something we can work out during this time period? And more often than not, it's it's yes, we will work with you.
SPEAKER_00Well, I definitely have a love-hate relationship with my Netflix bill. Uh we have separated a couple of times, but we seem to manage to get back together all the time. So I definitely understand. It's actually nice to hear that you were able to do that for some people because I can tell you right now, we went through it during those COVID years. There was a lot going on, you know. Um, we came out of it really, really well, and then we're paying, I think everybody's paying the price for everything, you know. It's more money flow, and then all of a sudden everything just starts changing. And I don't even want to talk about gas prices. Um my goodness, you know it. Um, are there any product categories and vendor relationships that you're working to bring to the platform that RTO dealers specifically have been asking for that don't aren't currently on there now?
SPEAKER_01Not that I'm aware of. Do you have any secrets?
SPEAKER_00Well, the reason I'm asking you is because I'm trying to find the next big thing right now that I feel like it's we've we've taken a slowdown, right? So going into it, it it used to be every year you would have a shiny new Elmo, or there was something that was going on. And you know, in the past few years, it would, you know, it became it was laptops, then it was game systems, then it was uh, you know, the the the PS5s and the
Integrations, Real-Time Data, AI
SPEAKER_00PS5s, and but there is no new PS5 that's gonna be in a in a decent realm, right? They're talking about the new PS5s hitting four figures, they're talking about the new Xboxes hitting four figures, you know, even the the Nintendo came with a price increase, whether it was from tariffs or they want to make the new chips, they want to make it, you know, an agradable, whatever the case is. You know, stream is is getting there, but it's it's you know not as prevalent as we would like to. So Steambox and all those. Um, you know, we had a time when the bicycles came in, you know, the e-bikes and and the scooters, that was a thing. These past two years, I haven't seen the new shiny toy. You know, even the new, you know, even the new gaming rigs that came in, you know, and they're they're coming in with bigger screens and they're coming with more memory, and the video card is absolutely amazing, and you know, it's got uh SSD and uh, you know, and then it goes into the NVMe. I haven't seen anything, right? It it's it's either you have something that just has a little bit more tweaking on the specs, or you got what you got. Now, listen, I would love to say that all those were in in the furniture-related business, but I mean, nowadays there's a tablet on your refrigerator and you can Bluetooth to your washer and dryer. That's probably the extent of what I've seen that it's really changing. I mean, I think the only big great thing I've seen is that some people can do their washing and their drying in the same appliance. It's a great space saver, but I haven't I haven't exactly had to hold my doors back from that. And I'm wondering, you know, with all these innovations that have come up in these last 12 months, I haven't seen anything that's coming down a pipe where I'm going, that's what we need to have. And I'm curious, is there anything that dealers are saying, hey, you know, this looks like it's coming down the pipe. Are you guys gonna get this? Is this something that's gonna be integrated into my my purchasing uh portal so that I can buy this? Or are you just looking at it like we are going, I I don't know what it is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I I share the same perspective. I I feel like everyone's been holding their breath for the last two years, making safe purchases. Uh vendors are producing a lot of very uh typical type of SKUs, like the safe, the safe sofa.
SPEAKER_00Um, I think that's what he's saying, Anthony. They're going with the safe bet right now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, people uh will order a hundred of these. You know, it's not too outrageous, so we'll we'll lean into that production. Um, there was a diff definitely uh a shift on the buying side of I'm not looking for anything uh unique or out. I just need what's in stock. So there's a huge shift into what is the inventory levels. What can I get in my stores in the next week or two rather than what's what's going to be the exciting product that may drive new business, right? And you know, as far as technology, there's this whole everything's getting AI in the name of it, right? This is now headphones with AI. Don't really explain what the AI does, but it's got an AI chip in it. And we can raise it.
SPEAKER_00You know, I because I I think what I've seen is truly the next new shiny toy is something that's cheaper than it was. You know, it's going back for a few years and dialing back the price a little bit. That's what I've seen it to be. Like, you know, everything has gone up. And whether it's, you know, gas that makes the delivery charges a little bit more, whether it's coming across the water, you know, the prices on that are just getting a little bit higher, whether it's a tariff here or a tariff there, or if you know, it can't make it through this area because of whatever's going on. You know, as you look at it, you know, my idea is what I've seen is I just think everybody's looking for a break. Not necessarily a new toy, but listen, if I can get you that product for a couple dollars cheaper because we were able to make that happen, it gets a little easier. I think the problem is I don't think anybody has that silver bullet in their gun just yet. Um, and I don't know if, you know, if we're gonna bring manufacturing back in into the States, I don't know if that's ever gonna change the price. It might change the availability, but I mean we build it probably more expensive than anybody else. So hopefully it lasts, but I don't think that's gonna solve the problem of the dollar bill. And so, you know, I think that's that's something that a lot of dealers are looking for. It's like, hey, you know, if it is gonna be something that you have on your on your lineup, what's the best deal? Now I don't know if you can go in there and say, hey, find me the cheapest washer and dryer or the most economical set that makes sense as a group, but you know, that's what I'm thinking. Hey everyone, it's Pete Chow here from the R2 Show podcast, and I want to tell you about a company that's making a real difference in the rent-to-owned space, WoW brands. I've seen firsthand how they approach marketing. Let me tell you, it's not just about ads. WoW brands build complete digital ecosystems designed specifically for the rent-to-owned industry. Their e-commerce and lead generation strategies are built to bring in qualified leads. And did I mention that they are actively working with the rent-town industry while also being members of April and Trib? Listen, these folks are passionate problem solvers. They don't just slap something together, they design, build, and scale the kind of digital retail tools your business needs and your customers actually want. So if you're serious about growing, reach out to WildBrands at WoWBrands.com. I trust them, and I think you will too. I mean, in in your opinion, five years from now, what does the ideal RTO store look like through the lens of AMPAB? What where do you guys integrate? Where are you guys going to be on a store level in five years?
SPEAKER_01Um Well, uh, I know what we are aiming to do. So the big dream of AMP is to be vertically integrated from top to bottom. And you know, going one direction, that means we're connected not only to the manufacturer, but also the factory. So they they're keeping track of their parts, and as soon as orders come through, it's sending notification to the factory. On the opposite end of that spectrum is we're connected to the consumer side. So if they bring in a product to their home, how do we connect to you for support from that store if you're doing some kind of return or refund or even recycling, helping manage that information? Um and a lot of that starts with uh our our next big project, which is designing redesigning our web tools. So a new website designed specifically for the buyer with new technology that's uh geared towards promotion for marketing, um, highlighting anything like discount codes to entice shopping and drive uh that interaction further. Um and we're lucky enough that we're already on mobile devices thanks to our iPad app, but extending that to your your phone as well. So taking that new website, making it mobile friendly, and having that information on the go in your pocket. Um so once we do that in the retail store, you could have uh retail associates walking around, whether that's on their phone or on an iPad, uh having all those same powerful tools at their fingertips.
SPEAKER_00So there's something that I want to know. Okay, this this relates to you directly. If you had a magic wand and you can say, This is what I would like to see either from the RTO side or for the AMP side. So, you like you know, let's say, I mean, I would love to be, you know, Joe Rogan right now, and if I can make that magic wand, make that happen, right? As you, as my costa, if you had this ability, you had one way with this magical pen, uh, and you could do either something in the RTO side that would that would help benefit either you or them or both, or amp tab side. You say, you know what, I just I have this idea the guys won't be like, they ain't listening to me. But no, I'm I'm just I'm being facetious. But you know, is there it what would that be? Do you have an like is there something that goes across your mind and say, you know what, this this is something I would love to see come into what we do within the next two, three, four years?
SPEAKER_01Um it it would circle around data. And maybe that's the the nerdy side of me, but our program is only as good as the data you put into it. It it's an empty canvas, you know, it's just a bunch of empty boxes until a vendor uploads that spreadsheet. Um and the quality of that data is so massively important for the buyer, right? If you're not standing next to them, then they have to educate themselves on that buying decision with what's in front of them on the screen. And when you get into a a space where you're shopping from a mixed catalog, like on Amazon, um, and you were to search for, you know, um my little pony lunch boxes, and then a bunch of these other items show up that are unrelated uh to your search, that's a problem. And that's a problem that exists for Amazon today. So if I could wave a magic wand and and make something better, it's to create a AMP taxonomy that is enforced across the board across all our vendors so that it doesn't matter who you're shopping with, you're gonna get the right results when you search and filter. Um and and just product romance and descriptions and volumes and everything you need uh across the board.
SPEAKER_00You know, you know you talk about Amazon a
Industry Pressure And Staying Flexible
SPEAKER_00lot. I got a suggestion. You know my suggestion would be take it or leave it, but if you do it, you have to somehow put on like the RTO show suggestion box here. They they're the ones that created this. You know what I think would be great on Amtab is you know, if every time I go into an Amazon box, and I and this could be good or bad, I don't even know if this is good or bad. Every time that I go into Amazon, what's the first thing I look at? I search for a name and then I look for the likes. Who likes it? How many stars did they get? Give me a rundown of why you like it or why you don't like it. And sometimes, you know, I get a product that you know it only has like three and a half stars because I'm looking at it and they're like, oh, I just didn't really like it. The color was off. But, you know, some of them make a difference. Like, hey, I got this in and it broke in like three minutes, literally. I was opening the box, it shot out, it fell, nobody wants to give me my money back. I can't, you know, I can't get a hold of anybody. I'm emailing them 10 times a day, nobody answers. You know, the thought of being able to say, hey, this product or this, and not necessarily on the on the end of AmpTab because you're not selling your own product, but you know, let's say, again, uh Whirlpool, uh, you know, Climatic, whatever, you know, they they're doing their own thing, GE, and have something that says, hey, you know what, I've got some great service, it was amazing. I ordered this, it was right, and it came in exactly the way I ordered it. Or, you know, I'm gonna give them three stars. It was here on time, but the product's not looking that good, came in with a scratch. You know, I have three items that out of 20 that came in with a dent, you know, it it they they said it was this and the picture looked great, you know, but they have the filters on. Get get it in the same, oh god, that's send that one back. She's I'm not going out with that one. So, you know, just saying I from a thought process, if you guys can do it, I'm just saying if you can add some stars on there or a likes, a thumbs up, you know, because Netflix doesn't like anybody saying they don't like it, but you know, thumbs up, thumbs down, and in a little comment about what what the product has. I don't know, just a thought process there. Uh, that one is a free of charge. I just want you to know that I would not charge you for that.
SPEAKER_01We are on our way there. We do have a filter for more most purchased already. Um, so that that's available. Uh it's it's one of those things where that's an amazing idea. We would definitely implement it, but it'd probably be a case-by-case basis on something a vendor would have to opt into. Because I'm sure there's some vendors out there like, I don't really want to have bad reviews on my products.
SPEAKER_00Uh no, I 100%. Yeah, I 100% agree with that. The only reason I say that is because, you know, if you're if it it in my thought process is if you're bold enough to put five uh scooters next to it, I'm again, I'm going just referencing point, and you're gonna be one of the five, you know that they're gonna look at everybody's specs, they're gonna look at how long it lasts, they're gonna look at the battery life, they're gonna look at the build, they're gonna look at the warranty and say, Well, you know what, you're only offering six months, these guys are offering a year. How long does it take to get in? If I order this today and it takes two weeks, but this guy might be a little bit more, but I'm getting it tomorrow. I get that sale because if my customer's waiting two months, two weeks, whatever the case is, they might not be interested then, right? You know, I might get that down payment, they don't come back. Look, I ain't got it. It's been a week. Give me a moment to be back, I'm gonna get it somewhere else. You know, um, tire life, does the do the brakes actually stop the vehicle, right? And and so my thought is, you know, if if you're gonna do that, um, I would like to see that up the game, right? If you have something that's coming in and it's constantly getting one and two stars, maybe that means you pull it off the shelf and make sure you get a better product out there. Maybe it's a it's a way to tell other dealers, hey man, this sells really good, but be careful on the warranty end. Or it has a great warranty, like you know, certain things have great warranties because they they have a tendency of falling apart, right? So, you know, just a thought process out there. Um again, that was my two cents.
SPEAKER_01But you know, if it works, I'm not I'm not buying it. So right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, this got one review in 10 years. I'm not buying that, bro. Nobody's bought this, I'm not buying it. But you know, coming into the end, I mean, you know, I always want to know how can we get this right for the RTO dealers? How do we make this right for the RTO space? If an RTO dealer is listening right now, which they will be, uh, and they're interested taking, you know, what's the first step? How do they reach out? What does getting started look like with Amtab?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it you just gotta shoot us an email. Uh, you can visit our website, amptab.com, our email and phone number right there on the screen, also a contact us button. Um that'll go to our our support desk where our whole team is watching, and you get routed to me or one of the other members of the team, and we jump on a Zoom call like this. Um we never just blanket statement, here's what it costs to sign up. Uh, we want to talk first. We want to see what's what are your goals, how do we get there? What are you working with today? Um, because a lot of times you don't need in 95% of our platform. You have a singular goal, um, and and that's what we aim for, and we give you an accurate quote from there.
SPEAKER_00Got a question because I I actually don't know this. Is there a customer-facing part of the program, right? I know that our dealers will go in and they'll buy and they'll look at it and say, these are the lead times, this is how long it takes to get here, this is how much it costs. If I maybe if I bundle it together, I get six, I get whatever the case is. Is there a customer-facing side of that where they, you know, we can uh you know, possibly hit a button or hit a setting where it doesn't show our pricing in the sense that, you know, everybody buys wholesale and sells it for whatever they they they have to to make their margins. But a customer facing say, I can turn that off and I can give it to
The Future: Mobile Tools And Clean Data
SPEAKER_00my customer, and they can literally go through the the whole am tab, I guess whatever that dealer has allowed to show, and go, I like this, I like this, I like this, without actually placing the order, you know, maybe they hit something that goes into a checkout or whatever the case is, and then the dealer gets is that something that's available?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Yeah, there's if you tap on your cart, there's a no price option. Um, so you can hide all the pricing information. Or you could take it a step further and switch it to an MSRP price or a marked up retail price if there are numbers you want to display. Um, but it's all available to you right in the program.
SPEAKER_00I was trying for another idea, but he got me. No, that's great. So last question, uh, and I and I wanted just, you know, if an RTO dealer could only do one thing differently after hearing this conversation, what would it be?
SPEAKER_01Well, if you're not doing it already, uh give your feedback. Like and I'm being sincere, our entire platform was built on client feedback. Every every box, every widget you see on there, it came from one of our users. It it really did. Um and it's it's something that we actually spend most of our time doing, I know at least my time doing, is we we have many different user types with different goals. They sell different kinds of products, and the you know, I'm a sales rep or an I'm an admin in the office, or I'm running a retail store using the same website or app. So all these different perspectives and goals. So we have a long list of things that that we want to do and get to. Uh, and it's made the platform as great as it is today by just working through those conversations together. So if if you're ever confused or frustrated, talk to us. You know, we we may have 10 different ways to solve that frustration already. And if it doesn't exist, we'll build it for you.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So then uh if if that's the case, how would they get your feedback? How do what is there a different is there like feedback at amptab.com. How does it how do they get it to you so that they know they're getting it to the right people that are going to dial in and try to take care of it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right on our website, that contact us button, again, we'll go to our entire team. I I know that sounds uh like a marketing thing, but it's true. We all have uh logins to the same inbox um through our support ticketing system. So if you if you reach out from our website, uh you'll have attention of all of us here. And then we'll respond to you Monday through Friday on the West Coast time uh with thank you for your feedback. We've got it captured for you. We'll keep you updated as we make progress. Or oh, it got greenlit, it'll be ready for you in a month. And uh I like that.
SPEAKER_00Sounds like you're ready to go. Well, listen, guys, I would tell you if you don't have AmTat, give it a try. Check it out. I can't tell you that they're gonna have the stars on there just yet, but if they do, it was this guy right here. I would tell you guys I appreciate you stopping in today. Make sure that you go to the website again. It's www.drtoshowpodcast.com, buy some swag, subscribe to the newsletter. You're gonna see this everywhere you want to be on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn, YouTube
How To Start And Share Feedback
SPEAKER_00where you're gonna see this, and I'm gonna tell you guys I appreciate it. Mike Costa, I'm glad that you were here. I'm glad that you talked to us about Amtab and told us a lot of things that I really didn't know, kind of get into the little bit of nitty-gritty. Thank you so much for being on the show. And I'm gonna tell you guys, as always, get your collections low to get your sales high. Have a great one.
