Barbie K, Los Angeles, CA

Hi Shelly! I meet with Alan formally once a month. I did the same for years when I was with (competitor to Management One®). About 4-5 months ago Alan approached me with a proposal from his company. I was going to sever my relationship with (competitor to Management One®) just because I felt I wasn't really getting as much as I should from their service (around $450 a month). I hadn't intended to pick up any outside support after dropping (competitor to Management One®). However, I liked what Alan had to say, and I told him I would try HIS service at least for a trial period.

As I suspected, the "value added" benefits of working with Alan have been many. He's "local" and has been INCREDIBLE at helping purchase several new computers, setting them up for us, working out ENDLESS software bugs, etc. We use (competitor to Management One®)' s CHARTER program for our POS. (One of my worst decisions--should have gone with Retail Pro as (competitor to Management One®) abandoned their system--so it is effectively "dead" with absolutely no upgrades planned.) At any rate, Alan takes a very serious and personal involvement in helping me stretch to meet significantly higher goals. (And, low and behold, we've met or EXCEEDED them!!) He's made countless suggestions on marketing (one: giving away Barbie K. "Boo!" Bucks at our downtown safe trick or treat nite... He's made suggestions on my copy for invitations and fliers, encouraged me to advertise more, to reach out to customers who haven't been in for a long time, and suggested countless events, ideas, etc.

Recently we've been discussing ways for me to better focus on manufacturers and items that are REALLY driving my business. We intend to create a number of different classes and subclasses. We discuss markdowns for all categories (are they acceptable, etc.), GRMOI data, turn rates...

All in all, I'm extremely impressed with Alan's genuine interest in my business. He really has gone way above and beyond what I initially expected from his service. As I mentioned, I originally suspected I would garner more from a relationship with him vs. (competitor to Management One®), but quite frankly Alan has completely exceeded my expectations.

You guys might want to at least give him a chance to chat with you. Obviously you know what your needs are, but I think he's helped Barbie K. a lot. Let me know if I can help any further!

Barbie Falconer
Owner