One of the questions on RTO Online's annual industry survey reads: "All are important, but which of the following do you believe is most important to the profitability of a rent to own company?" As of today, 191 Rent to Own professionals have responded. 68.06% said Customer Service is most important to profitability, 18.32% said Collections and only 13.61% of respondents ranked sales as most important (see chart below).

On the surface, this seems to conflict with earlier polls indicating that showed gaining new customers was the ultimate prize. When responding to the question "If you had to choose between increasing agreements per customer and increasing customer count?"; The overwhelming majority (79%) said they would choose to increase customer count. So why is Sales ranked so far below other areas of customer care?

Follow-up indicates that Sales is viewed as much easier than Customer Service. The short term, no obligation nature of the Rent to Own transaction puts all the control in the customers hands. Rent to Own removes traditional roadblocks to ending an agreement and increases "Churn" (customers moving from one RTO to the next). Customers who utilize Rent to Own regularly, do so because of the value it represents to them. Part of that value is the ability to return merchandise and go elsewhere for any reason. If you buy a new Ford, you bring it back to the dealership for service. If that service is sub-par...that's the breaks. If you're renting a Big Screen TV and see a better deal at a competitor, or are unhappy with the level of customer service, two phone calls are all that's required to A: Arrange pick-up, and B: To arrange delivery of the competitors merchandise.

As the survey reinforced, is like a three legged "Customer Care Stool." All three legs must remain strong. If one leg is weak, the whole thing collapses. The life cycle of a Rent to Own agreement will only be as long as your customer sees value.

The annual industry survey is available online and can be completed in less than 5 minutes. Only one survey response is counted per person. The survey will run through December with analysis published in January.

4) All are important, but which of the following do you believe is most important to the profitability of a rent to own company?
Sales	26	(13.61%)
Collections	35	(18.32%)
Customer service	130	(68.06%)