A
Primer On Marketing
Part 4 - Promotion
by A. Michael Baker - Printed in Specialty Automotive Magazine
So you've got all the right stuff now. You're stocking all the right products, everything is priced to sell with rational profit margins, your store is a showplace, and your new e-commerce site is on the net. There is still one thing missing. It is time for the fourth component of marketing - promotion.
They
Can't Come and Buy It if They Don't Know You're There Selling What They
Want
The promotion part of marketing consists of two sub-categories; communications
(advertising and public relations) and personal selling. This first part
will concentrate on communications while we reserve selling techniques
for the second part. Getting customers is kind of like getting a date.
Well you're not going out tonight if you don't ask. Yeah, we could write
a book (lots of people have); but we will stick to some simple, proven
guidelines that will bring you business and simplify the often bewildering
choice of methods and venues for advertising.
The
World Champion of Marketing Communications
The single most effective form of advertising is out of you direct control;
you can only nudge it in the right direction. That ad champ is "word of
mouth", one consumer talking to another. Every happy customer, every guy
you stayed late for to get him his part when he got off of work, every
every beginner you patiently explain air filter installation to is a walking,
talking salesman for your store. Build the kind of store we wrote about
in the last column and consumers will ask their buddies, "Have you been
to (fill in your name here)? You've got to check out that place." Stock
the right parts. One guy will say "I'm trying to find a chrome muffler
bearing." And someone will pop up with "Have you tried (fill in your name
here.) They carry everything." Help the technically challenged and they
will tell all their friends that you're an expert who likes to help. Make
'em happy and they will hang your decal in their windows to provide you
with hundreds of rolling billboards. Even Bill Gates doesn't have enough
money to buy the basic value in word of mouth advertising.
Make those same customers unhappy and they will cut your business off
at its knees. Word of mouth is a two-edged sword. It can make or break
you. Marketing people often say that every unhappy customer tells five
to ten people about his problems while happy customers only tell two or
three. Whatever these numbers actually are, every disatisfied customer
will make an effort to get back at you by keeping his friends and family
out of your store. Avoiding this problem is straight forward. Touch all
four bases by handling the first three P's of marketing then providing
great customer service and you've got a home run in the best method of
marketing communications there is.
Public
Relations - Cheap and Effective
Public relations
means publicity - stories in the news media about your, your store, your
products, your services, or your events. It is very effective and it's
the cheapest thing you can do. Publicity is free, requiring only some
effort on your part.
Unless you have a close buddy at the newspaper or the TV station, your
story will have to have news value in the opinion of the editor making
the decision on running it. You might get a mention in the local paper
for a new store opening or remodeling, an event such as autograph signings
by a nationally known racer, or special promotions like contests. Make
friends with the newspapers' local editor (often called the city editor),
sports editor, and business editor. When you have something you think
might be newsworthy, call and tell them you have a story that their readers
might be interested in. Television stations also have news editors who
decide what stories will be covered.
Remember TV is a visual medium. The best way to get TV coverage is to
have a nationally know racer park his display car and his bottom at your
store for a day of autograph signing. Be sure to keep the racer late if
the story runs on the noon or early evening news. When people see the
story, they will rush down to be involved. If a racer you want to visit
is sponsored by the manufacturer of a line you carry, enlist the help
of the manufacturer's local rep. Putting a car on display and signing
autographs is typically part of the sponsorship deal. All you have to
do is ask.
Find other stories with visual appeal, such as outrageous contests. We've
all seen stunts like roller coaster marathons get coverage. How about
something like a burnout contest, with a free set of tires to the winner.
Get creative. Get wild. The more outrageous, the better. Just keep your
promotions safe and sane.
Advertising
The standard tactic for retail advertising is almost too simple for words.
Look at the ads of the mail order companies: a picture, a very brief or
nonexistent description, a price, and everything as small as possible
so they can list the entire contents of their warehouse on one page. Okay,
maybe not quite that small. It's effective. If you're going to run local,
regional, or national mail order ads, you should so some of this too.
Just remember, not every potential customer understands exactly what an
MSD 6AL is, or if it can be put on their car! Try adding some longer product
descriptions sometimes.
Yellow pages are a necessary evil. You can't measure what they do for
you, but they are still your most common advertising contact with local
customers and potential customers. I buy a lot of stuff from a local parts
store in our little mountain village. After 14 years of doing business
with him, I still can't remember his phone number. The first thing I do
is whip open the Yellow Pages. Don't get crazy with Yellow Page ads; just
create a nice small- to medium-size ad that tells the folks what you do,
when you're open, how to get to your shop, and what your phone number
is - in big numbers.
Forget the local newspapers and TV stations*. While you're sucking up
to the editors for news coverage, their ad salespeople are going to be
all over you. Don't do it unless you can get at least half the cost paid
by manufacturer's co-op advertising programs. The problem with newspapers
and TV is that too many of their readers and viewers are not potential
customers. It doesn't make sense to pay for advertising to 250,000 people
when only 5,000 of them would even consider buying your products.
Here's a multi-million dollar secret you can have for free: local radio.
I did some test marketing with local radio that drove sales crazy! And
Harry Eberlin (Super Shops) once created a fortune by advertising on radio
in Southern California. But you need to be careful. First, you need to
understand the demographics of your customers - especially their age,
gender, race, and musical tastes. Survey your customers to find out what
stations they listen to. Ask the racetrack managers what stations they
advertise on. Finally, have your commercials professionally recorded with
a high-energy announcer, and don't forget to ask the manufacturers for
co-op money.
Tips
For Great Marketing Communications
If you want to communicate effectively, you have to write just the way
you speak. To check out how your copy works, read it out loud. Don't get
wordy; just write what you would say if the customer were standing on
the other side of the counter.
Don't think about features and benefits; it is always benefits and features!
Say "this won't break 10 laps into the main because it's hydroformed chrome
moly," not "this is hydroformed chrome moly so it won't break 10 laps
into the main." It is a subtle difference, but it's the difference between
great advertising and merely adequate advertising. Always tell the consumer
what they're going to get from the product and then back up your benefit
claims with product features; they buy the benefits the products provide.
Finally, arm yourself with education. Start by reading Tested Advertising
Methods by John Caples. It's older than dirt, but people haven't changed.
The ads his success was based on are from another era, but the concepts
remain the same. Then get Positioning by Trout and Ries. Pay close
attention to them as you build the image of your business.
Study what successful retail advertisers have been doing over the years.
Don't worry about what your competitors did last month. I roll on the
floor laughing when I flop with a new concept and then see my competitors
copying it. When someone is doing the same basic thing month after month,
year after year, it's making money for them day after day. Try copying
that. Then make it better.
*This does not include cable TV. Today you can get some very reasonably priced ads on programs that are targeted right to your customers.
Personal
Selling
Now we're going to wrap things up with the last half of the last P, Promotion.
It's time to talk about salesmanship.
Hey, but I thought sales was marketing.
Personal
selling is at the end of the chain. It is the culmination of the marketing
process. You've got the most desirable product mix in town at reasonable
prices in a cool store that every racer, enthusiast, and wannabe wants
to come visit. Your ads have let them all know that your store has it
all. Now it's time to get the money. This is where all your hard work
and preparation pay off.
Let's dispense with the stereotypical bad salespeople right up front.
Everybody knows the types; the high pressure guy who pushes until the
buyer breaks or walks, the doofus who knows less than the average mushroom
about automotive parts and accessories, and the hustler who cons the customers
without thinking of the customer service problems that are created. If
you or your salespeople fall into any of these categories, you better
hope that you can keep moving your store to find a new set of suckers.
You are doomed in the long term - as you probably should be.
Customer
Oriented Selling Without The Psychobabble
I started my marketing career by selling Gumout Carburetor Cleaner (thank
you for everything Ralph, wherever you are) in 1970 and found a nifty
little book on salesmanship that same year; "Guideposts for Effective
Salesmanship" by Robert R. Blake and Jane Srygley Mouton. It remains,
for me at least, the most useful book on selling I've found. Running a
very close second is Percy Whiting's classic "The 5 Great Rules of Selling"
which includes the chapter title champion of all time, "They found out
I couldn't sell, so they made me Sales Manager." My copy of the Whiting
book came from my Dad's Dale Carnegie Sales Course some 40 odd years ago.
"Guideposts..." was written more than 30 years ago and "The 5 Great Rules
of Selling" was written more than 50 years ago. But great selling techniques
are timeless. Get these books and read them; study and practice what they
preach. I'll give you a little bit here; but you have to read the books
to get it all.
My approach to selling goes by a variety of names depending upon which
"Guru" is on the best seller list with a new "pop" 60 second course in
salesmanship. I just call it customer oriented selling because that is
just what it is. My job as a salesman, counterman, or clerk is to help
that customer get what they want and need, cheerfully and efficiently.
You
Are The Guru
When I worked for performance manufacturers I loved to make jobber calls
and work the WD's jobber shows. Heck, I learned a lot more about our consumers
and how our industry really works from Countermen and speed shop owners
than I ever did anywhere else. During my career I've visited hundreds
of performance stores and warehouses. Through my observations of and product
training with thousands of countermen and phone sales people I came to
the conclusion that out industry does a better job of consultive, customer
oriented selling than any other industry I've come into contact with.
You and I both know that looking for a knowledgeable salesperson in any
of the chain electronics or computer stores is a joke. Look in any speed
shop and you will probably find someone with the knowledge to help you
buy something that will actually meet your needs! Performance automotive
salespeople are generally technically knowledgeable enthusiasts. Your
customers rely on you for expert advise and guidance in planning their
vehicle project and purchasing the right parts for their unique needs.
Most of you have a hunger for product knowledge that pushes you to keep
learning. Most of you have an enthusiastic interest that keeps you on
top of the trends. This is why you are the Guru; and this is the essence
of customer oriented selling.
Improving
Your "Guruship"
You read the magazines. You talk to the racers. You study the catalogs.
Now what? The best way to get useful product information is straight from
the source. Call the manufacturers and find out who their sale rep is
in your area. Then call that sales rep and ask for a product seminar.
Every good rep will be happy to come visit and provide product training.
Often you can even get someone direct from the manufacturer to come in
for training. Put the pressure on them if you have to. Some people at
the manufacturing level tend to forget that consumers and retail salespeople
are what actually put the food on their tables. Remind them that you are
dedicated to selling their line and how much more you can sell with a
little training. Before they come, study the literature and write down
questions you want to ask. Think about situations with customers where
you needed more information and write these questions down. Prepare yourself
to suck everything out of their brains you an get.
Never
Be Afraid To Say, "I don't know, but I will find out."
Most people have a pretty good built-in BS detector. You know that the
sales guy at that big chain electronics store is blowing smoke when you
ask him to compare the benefits of one DVD player versus another. Don't
ever follow his lead. Your customers will respect you when you tell them
that you don't something. Develop good phone relationships with the tech
people at the manufacturing companies. Make friends, remember names, and
never forget to say thank you. They love to help and they are usually
bursting with information to give you. Imagine this scene. Your customer
asks you a question and you say "I don't know, but let's find out." You
pick up the phone, call the manufacturer, and ask for a tech person by
name. After asking the question, the tech person needs a little clarification
so you ask the customer and give the extra detail to the tech. You can
even put the consumer on the phone with the tech. Both your customer and
you get an accurate answer so the sales process can proceed. Your customer
not only has the straight skinny on his problem; he has a new found respect
for you. You didn't blow smoke. Your connected with a "pal" at the manufacturer.
And you made it all happen right then when he wanted it.
I've stood at the counter of many very successful speed shops and watched
this process work wonders. If your not doing stuff like this, try it.
You won't believe the results.
Manners,
Attitude, and Relationships Are Keys to Success
Yeah, the love of your life burnt the toast this morning, your insurance
agent called to tell you about the new rate increase, and your dog bit
the neighbor. It doesn't matter. Your customer expects a smile, a friendly
attitude, and thank you when he's done. You have to learn to let your
personal problems fade right into the background and have fun with your
customers. Surly attitudes and impersonal service will kill you in the
long run.
Don't forget to build your customer relationships. Make a real effort
to remember their names. Seek out contact in social situations. When you
see a good customer in the grocery store, smile and say hi. Walk through
the pits and stop to talk with the racers who buy from you. Take time
at the car show to look at your customer's car and complement them on
what a great job they did, even if it wasn't so totally terrific. Look
closely and you will always find something to pay a complement on.
Put
It All Together
Study the books and maybe take a Dale Carnegie course in human relations
or sales. Work hard to improve your technical knowledge. Always be aware
of your attitude and put the effort into building relationships. And,
finally, never forget to pull your boss aside and say, "You know I'm selling
twice as much this year as I did last year. Let's talk about my salary."
