Finding the Right People
NMG has proven that it can not only successfully bring merchandise into members’ stores, but it can also help bring the people to sell it, as well. Kelly says human resources was typically something that most members didn’t have the time or patience to deal with.

“Many dealers didn’t have a proper process for hiring and interviewing and checking the background of their employees,” he says.

National chains, on the other hand, often have the ability to hire a third party to provide drug screening, psychological profiling and other services to assist them in the hiring process. To level the playing field, NMG started The Hiring Connection as a service to its members. Through The Hiring Connection, members have access to background screening and employee assessment.

Kelly says that these services are available to members online through its MemberNet intranet site. The group provides these services at a rate more “favorable” to independent retailers than they would be able to get on their own.

Salesman Boot Camp
Once those employees have been successfully vetted and hired, NMG continues to support their development through training programs. These programs are provided through MemberNet, and feature the industry’s longest-running video and Web-based product training program, Knowledge Surfing TV.

In addition, NMG also offers a series of Web-based selling skills programs, The MASTERS Method. These training programs are offered free of charge to members, and are available for them to access at any time.

“We’ve just spent a lot of time and effort in our training process, and that’s another thing that the independent retailer doesn’t have access to from the vendor world,” Kirk says.

In The Same Web
MemberNet was launched by NMG five years ago and since then it has become more than just a source of information for members. NMG continues to add new services and customizable elements to MemberNet, giving members a tool they can access 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We have this very powerful communication system that we have been improving on for the last 15 years,” Kelly says.

MemberNet is an essential component of the service NMG gives its members. More than 90 percent of all communication between the group and members is done through MemberNet, and members can use it to customize many of the services they receive.

“We’re continuing to expand off of that through services such as our price tag program, where members can print off their own price tags,” Kirk says. That system, named Data Tag, uses NMG’s custom database of more than 100 brands and 15,000 models to print out either price tags or fact tags.

The tags can also be customized to include rates and terms specifically for rent-to-own dealers. The group says Data Tag lets retailers re-tag merchandise quickly and easily, and also frees up employees from spending an afternoon consulting a price book and drawing up new price tags. NMG offers Data Tag to its members free of charge.

Alongside MemberNet, NMG also has VendorNet, where vendors and manufacturers can communicate with independent retailers. Information available through VendorNet can include new product specifications and marketing material.

Internet Connections
NMG uses the Internet to help independent retailers reach out to customers, as well. Thanks to a partnership with Retail Network Services Group LLC, proprietors of BrandsDirect.com, customers can shop independent retailers without the need for retailers’ own Web site.

Customers shopping on BrandsDirect.com can choose the make and model of the appliances or home electronics they are looking for and find an independent retailer nearby that sells them.

BrandsDirect.com says this places independent retailers on the same footing as the national players when it comes to Internet presence.

“In partnership with the largest national network of local home appliance and electronics stores, BrandsDirect combines smartly designed, online shopping services with trustworthy national and local retailing,” it says.

“We work to ensure that customers can shop from the largest inventory selection accompanied by helpful and courteous service online and a familiar, friendly professional in their neighborhood stores.”

NMG has streamlined the online shopping process by incorporating all of the information about the many products on the site in a standardized format.

Working Both Ways
There’s little doubt that NMG provides a very useful service for its independent retailers. However, Kelly says, the group also provides an advantage to vendors, as well. The rise of the big box store has changed the dynamics on both sides of the equation, and NMG offers manufacturers just as much relief.

Consolidation and the emergence of large national chains have worked to reduce the number of retailers vendors deal with, making it harder for them to connect with independent retailers and reach their  respective markets.

“The vendor world has continually reduced their sales forces as the big-boxes have expanded,” Kelly explains.

This puts independent retailers and vendors at a disadvantage because vendors have less time and attention to give to retailers. “The independent retailer is really getting less and less service from the vendor world, and that’s where we fill in the gap.”

Making the connection between vendors and independent retailers is only part of the solution NMG represents for vendors. The group also serves as a conduit of information between the two that helps vendors and manufacturers keep up with product demands.

“Many suppliers do not run on a weekly or a monthly basis,” Kelly says. “You’ve got to have a plan. You can’t just holler up tomorrow, ‘I need 18 washing machines.’”

Armed with intimate knowledge of the merchandise needs of its members, NMG can offer vendors and manufacturers detailed forecasts and volume targets. This information gives vendors a chance to plan ahead, making sure that the supply line between them and retailers is interrupted as little as possible.

At the same time, Kelly says, NMG works in concert with manufacturers to analyze their product lines and determine which ones they should concentrate on to provide the best value. He says the group assists vendors determine “core models” that serve as the backbone in most retailers’ showrooms.

NMG also analyzes a vendor’s marketing strategy and works with them to find additional terms that will help sell more products, such as free delivery.

“The goals of the retailer and the vendor are the same," Kelly says, "so NMG works to ensure that both sides are moving in the same direction.”