A news item that caught our attention today concerns Rent-A-Center, whose stock price hit a 52-week high. We tip our hats to a company whose forward-thinking and visionary ways have made it a leader in the highly competitive rent-to-own industry.
True to its commitment to invest in people, technology and processes, Rent-A-Center took another big step this year to make information management a priority, embracing Master Data Management (MDM) as a key initiative. Its MDM program enables all Rent-a-Center employees to access shared data that help them better manage customers, from identifying risky accounts to upselling to monitoring the changes in their customers’ lives that could drive future rentals.
No longer siloed within a single store, Rent-A-Center’s master customer data delivers a single version of truth for each of its customers. The data is built in a scalable, shareable manner; it is clean, and duplicate records are reconciled. Providing access to a singular, real-time view of the customer means that employees can spot sales opportunities—as well as threats—when they matter. Keeping in mind that this industry serves those with limited access to cash and credit required for big ticket purchases like home electronics and furniture, and it becomes clear that having consistent and accurate customer information throughout the organization is an imperative. So, when a customer who ran out on his last Rent-A-Center contract tries to open a new account in the next town, the salesperson can take the right action, armed with a definitive view of the customer.
This singular customer view also displays the person’s rental patterns and preferences, making it that much easier to offer the right products at the right time to effectively extend the life of each contract, a key profitability driver. As Rent-A-Center’s senior director of information technology and data management, John Gideon, puts it, “this is about taking all customer-facing employees—in sales, collections and re-activations—and giving them more tools to drive cross-sell, strengthen upsell and bolster collection. It’s about making our store staff more productive.”
We encourage you to learn more about RAC’s MDM initiative. And congrats, Rent-A-Center, on your latest share price milestone!
