Reviving a Revenue Stream That Had Nearly Disappeared
When you make something matter people start treading it like it does
The Problem: Why We Were Hired
This furniture retailer was a high-performing, $15 million operation with a busy floor, experienced staff, and a strong reputation. On the surface, everything looked solid. But ownership brought in RBA Global because they sensed the business had stalled, margins were tightening, and profitability wasn’t scaling with revenue. When we reviewed the numbers, we saw a shocking blind spot: protection plan sales had been completely abandoned. Their best year on record? Just $56,132, barely 0.37% of total yearly revenue. For a store of this size, protection plan volume should have been at the very least $400K+, yet year after year, the category was dismissed as a “side add-on” instead of a strategic revenue pillar. The associates didn’t believe in it. The managers didn’t emphasize it. And the owners, while aware of the gap, didn’t know how to change the culture without forcing it. That’s when RBA Global stepped in.
The Solution: Our Strategy to Solve the Problem
We didn’t just introduce a new system; we reprogrammed the psychology of the sales floor.
Our first step was to make protection plans visible, valuable, and important. We didn’t position it as a “warranty.” We reframed it as the "Necessity" of every purchase, a final piece of the buying experience that made customers feel smart, safe, and satisfied.
Here’s how we did it:
Cultural Immersion: We made protection plans the heartbeat of the sales floor. Every daily huddle began and ended with protection plan stats. Associates began measuring each other’s success not by ticket size, but by how much protection they attached.
Tiered Recognition Model: We launched a visual leaderboard and reward structure that celebrated weekly milestones, not for who sold the most furniture but for who sold the most protection. Suddenly, $800 protection plans were brag-worthy. Sales became layered in pride.
Customer Language Reset: We trained staff to position plans as a logical, obvious part of every transaction, not a pushy afterthought. We gave them new scripts, transitional phrases, and visual handouts that created clarity and comfort.
Ownership Buy-In: We worked directly with management to track performance, correct weak spots, and coach leaders on how to model protection enthusiasm. Top-down belief is contagious.
The Outcome: Results After RBA Global’s Intervention
The results were explosive:
The store’s best protection plan year went from $56,132 to $629,328 a 1,021% increase.
Protection plan attachment rate grew from under 6% to over 72% within 8 months. It was now responsible for 4.2% of the yearly revenue compared to 0.37%
Staff identity shifted. Associates stopped bragging about sale size; they bragged about protection value. Saying “I just sold a $700 plan” became the new badge of honor.
Customers began asking about protection before the associate even offered it. That was a clear sign that the messaging was landing.
What started as an afterthought became a profit engine, a point of pride, and a measure of excellence.
This wasn’t a protection plan push. It was a protection plan culture.
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The Wall of Wins
As part of the visual leaderboard, we created a weekly “Wall of Wins” that showcased the top three protection plan champions, not based on sales volume, but on total protection plan dollars attached. Printed slips with handwritten notes went up in the break room every Monday. It was low-cost but high-impact. It gave associates public wins and made protection plans feel like a competition, in the best way. Recognition became oxygen.
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Language That Closed the Gap
The turning point wasn’t just tracking, it was how we talked about it. We replaced awkward, apologetic pitches with confident transitions, “With everything you’ve chosen, this is the smart coverage our clients usually go with, here’s why…” This small linguistic shift gave associates comfort and customers clarity. It removed pressure and replaced it with logic and value.
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Everyone Started Doing the Math
By month five, associates didn’t just see protection plans as extra, they saw them as strategic stacking. One rep even created a personal tracker, realizing he could earn an extra $1,600/month just by adding coverage to half of his sale. Others followed. The lightbulb had gone off, “If I’m already doing the hard part, why not maximize every deal?” The result? A sales team that finally treated protection like the business asset it is.