News from Rainmaker Consulting

Rainmaker Consulting Newsletter

Issue: # 7

April 2011

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Rainmaker's new Cash Deposits routine will make tracking and reconciling your cash easier than ever!

Cash Deposits Window

If you are using Rainmaker's Accounting software, you are going to love this new Cash Deposits routine.

Long-term clients understand the importance of matching the cash in the system to the bank deposits and as a result many use a Daily Deposit Form to write up all their cash and make a single bank deposit each day.

This new routine lets you load all the cash you've taken into the system, pick and chose the items you are taking to the bank and print the Deposit detail to attach to your receipt - No More Green Sheets! Didn't make it to the bank yesterday? No problem - you can load items from multiple dates and select those you wish to deposit.

You can also quickly look through the history of your deposits to see the amount deposited and the detail of each deposit. If one check came in for multiple invoices, you can even see the detail of those invoices on your report.

Detail of Un-deposited Funds is always maintained so you can quickly print a detailed list of any funds that have not yet been deposited.

Please contact us before using this new routine so we can help you pick a start up date for loading cash receipts (you don't want to accidently load the last 10 years). We will be happy to set you up with this new routine and show you how to start using it to make your cash management easier than ever.

Best Practices

Are you searching for excuses or opportunities?

For six months, we have highlighted retailers who have found ways to be successful during these difficult times. These retailers have managed to increase their sales, maintain or expand their retail and floorplan financing and adjust their overhead to stay at least marginally profitable (or hugely profitable in some cases) when most dealers are suffering, going out of business or howling the blues about the business climate.

How many examples are needed before owners realize they can get their dealerships profitable and fun to work in again - even in these very difficult times? It's a safe bet that we talk to more dealers every day than any other company. In these conversations we find example after example of retailers doing well today.

They all have some things in common:

FIRST - They don't see industry "image" or the economy as their problem and excuse. They spend no time talking about these as problems.

SECOND - They don't have a problem with floorplan financing and/or they do have the ability to purchase product outright - either with their own cash or with borrowed funds.

THIRD - They don't have a lack of traffic because they have adjusted their inventory to have what people are wanting to buy - new and used.

FOURTH - They have found the financing they need for their customers with lower credit scores.

If you are not profitable right now, if you have not been recovering your sales volumes this year over last, maybe you need to stop right now and start doing something differently.

There are simple keys to sales and profits in today's marketplace. If you would like to learn more about how you can adapt these techniques to your business, go to the May Training Schedule at the bottom of this Newsletter and register for any of our Free On-line Training Programs. If you would like to talk more specifically about the issues you are facing in your business, call us for a free consultation at (800) 336-0339.

Try This

Helpful Tips for Rainmaker Software Clients

The AP LookUps Routine makes it very easy to find answers to your payment questions and analyze your payment history.

This routine, located at Payables Report L, allows to you look up payables by Invoice Date Range, Payment Date Range, Vendor, Invoice Number, Amount Paid, Check # and much more.

You can look at the current period or click "include history" to see your entire history with a vendor.

Accounts Payable Lookup

Once you have identified your search criteria, you can click on any of the results and use the buttons at the bottom of this window to see the payable distribution or any other invoices that were paid with the same check.

If you had to dig for an answer and don't want to have to dig again, you can even make a memo on that payable for quick reference in the future.

Do you have the sneaking suspicion you already paid a bill? Click this routine from the payables routine and quickly see every payment you have made to that vendor.

This is an incredibly helpful tool for both owners and the accounting staff. If you'd like some help getting started with the AP LookUps Routine, give us a call at (800) 336-0339.

In This Issue

New Cash Deposits Routine Available

What do Successful Retailers have in Common?

Helpful Tips

Customer Follow-up Yields Results for this Missouri Dealer

Quick Links

Sample our Training Videos

Read Chad's Articles at MHMSM.com

Visit our Web-Site!

Dealer Spotlight

Ramsey-Jones Homes

JL Jones of Ramsey Jones Homes is a good example of a dealer who doesn't focus on industry image as his problem.

JL feels customer follow-up is key to what he has been able to sell. He has been using Prospector Pro for 10 years and mails out letters consistently. He says he is amazed how many people come in with a letter in their hand saying they just sold their other home and they are ready to buy.

If they don't have a letter, they talk about all the letters they have received and really appreciate the company's persistence. Many times people get a letter from Ramsey Jones just when everything else has fallen into place and they can finally purchase a home. Being the "first" dealer to contact these customers has increased the company's sales opportunities significantly.

He gave an example of how one couple recently called the dealership and insisted they talk to this JL Jones salesperson. JL got on the phone with them and explained that as the owner he had signed the letter saying how much he appreciated their coming to the store. But the couple said they wanted to buy from JL Jones. The letters with JL's signature had built such a sense of loyalty that the customer was insisting they work with JL. (Because JL doesn't sell he turned this over to his sales force. But what a testament to the power of good follow-up!)

JL puts pictures of the outside and inside of his homes on the Internet. Many times a customer will be on the phone and on the web-page looking at the home, asking what else the salesman can tell him or her about the home. His web-page is working well for him.

JL had a better year last year than the year before and is confident about having a decent profit as of his 6/30/11 year-end. He says it's going to be enough profit to keep his banks happy. That makes JL happy.