If I showed you a way to make a dollar, would you give me back a quarter?

I got the store owner to give me the names of 3 of his most influential clients. The first one I contacted was a lawyer and I explained to him that his friend in the jewellery store wanted to offer his clients a great gift. I then showed the lawyer a letter that I had written to 'his' clients that expressed his 'Thanks' for their past patronage. The letter further went on to say that the lawyer was expressing his 'Thanks' with a special $50.00 gift certificate at ABC Jewels.

The lawyer wins because he is actually thanking his clients by sending out the gift certificates. The jeweller wins because he gets an endorsement from an influential third party and gets access to many new customers.

Given the large markup in the jewellery business, the jeweller was only spending between $15 and $20 to acquire a new customer and the majority of the purchases were considerably larger than $50 - often resulting in a profitable sale! The jeweller understands the 'lifetime value of a customer' concept and he knows that these new clients will spend thousands of dollars in his store in the next few years. He is building his mailing list and plans on selling to these customers again and again.

This first promotion was just a test and it was very sucessful. We are working with the jewellers accountant now.

Jim

Wow!
Another of many great ideas that can be only found here.
So many times I come here and find, besides all the great ideas, something that is so timely to my own situation.
I have a situation that I came here to ask about and this thread is so related.
I won't hijack this one but will post a new one.
Thank you.
Larry Foster

You could do a mailing for any business. Start a part of direct mail for the business.

This is similar to the Mike Enlow jv information here:

http://www.enlow.com/jv.html

Originally Posted by Jim Bettke

I got the store owner to give me the names of 3 of his most influential clients. The first one I contacted was a lawyer and I explained to him that his friend in the jewellery store wanted to offer his clients a great gift. I then showed the lawyer a letter that I had written to 'his' clients that expressed his 'Thanks' for their past patronage. The letter further went on to say that the lawyer was expressing his 'Thanks' with a special $50.00 gift certificate at ABC Jewels.

The lawyer wins because he is actually thanking his clients by sending out the gift certificates. The jeweller wins because he gets an endorsement from an influential third party and gets access to many new customers.

Given the large markup in the jewellery business, the jeweller was only spending between $15 and $20 to acquire a new customer and the majority of the purchases were considerably larger than $50 - often resulting in a profitable sale! The jeweller understands the 'lifetime value of a customer' concept and he knows that these new clients will spend thousands of dollars in his store in the next few years. He is building his mailing list and plans on selling to these customers again and again.

This first promotion was just a test and it was very sucessful. We are working with the jewellers accountant now.

Jim

what I was going to give my employer, the school owner. An ad and booklet to give free, "Forging Ahead in Business" I did not give him all the information. But gave him a report in beautiful note book that the bastard kept. When he dies I think the business will die. He is not the biggest school in the area but rather the smallest. I could have made him number #1 or at least #2. But he had tunnel vision. Most people just don't get it. I forgot how it was said in Joe and the Vacano.

I originally posted this on the "previous" SOWPUB, but it's so appropriate for this thread, since it's a true story!


In light of the recent thread about businesses in small towns, I feel this story of one in a larger city may shed some light on the marketing and promotional gap that?s so common with most businesses.


Part 1

The extraordinary details of this are perfect to overly emphasize a common mindset of small business owners.

In addition to promoting a variety of products and services, I?ve owned restaurants and an appliance business. I?ve learned what works, what doesn?t and why and know what customers respond to and why.

It was October 2003 when I stopped into a gas station for gas. While there, I noticed that their service repair area, that had been closed, had some people there.
Since one of my trucks needed some repair work, I inquired about if they were open now for auto repair.

I was met by ?Pete? and ?John? ? two friendly guys who showed all the enthusiasm and excitement of new business owners with high expectations. They had over 30 years combined experience and had just recently left a large auto dealership, where they had been mechanics.

They wanted to go into business for themselves, since they were well qualified in auto repair. They were given a great opportunity by the station owner to work for themselves with little financial investment, if they would agree to pay a percentage of their business take.

They had just opened for business that day. I asked them what types of vehicles they worked on and was told ?almost anything?.

I told them about a problem with my truck and they said: ?Bring it in? and I did.

They diagnosed the problem that required some engine work and gave me a written estimate. I told them to go ahead. I got a call the next day and was told that since they were replacing the timing gear and belt, that if I wanted to buy a new water pump and bring it to them, they would install that instead of the old one that had been removed in the repair process. The idea was to have a new water pump installed without any additional labor charge, since the old one would be replaced as part of the job anyway. I bought a new water pump at an auto parts store and brought it to them.



The next day I got a call to come and pick up my truck, since it was fixed. They did a great job and when I was presented with the bill, I was surprised to see that the final cost was over $50 LESS than what I had been quoted!!! Apparently, something quoted was not necessary. Needless to say, I was amazed! Auto mechanics who knew what they were doing, suggested a future moneysaving idea and charged me less than what was quoted.

Could this really be true? Yes, it was! I have several vehicles and to have honest, competent mechanics, conveniently located for service was very exiting to me. I could see several possibilities for their business promotion and had a little meeting with them.

I explained that they were in a unique situation and that I knew about business promotion and told them about some of my ideas. They were wide-eyed and excited with the possibilities. I really wanted them to stay around for my own repair work and I wanted to see them thrive. I even suggested that they build their business and have something that could be sold in a few years for quite a lot of money.

They had so many things going for them, but only I could see what they were.

The first thing in their favor was that they were located on one of the busiest corners in the city ? maybe even the busiest. It is a big, light controlled intersection where stopped traffic sits for minutes waiting for the light change cycle. The service station is very visible and very popular since it offers the lowest gas prices in town. Even though the gas station is highly visible from the street, the repair shop is not.

Part 2

I created flyer for them that emphasized honest, friendly repair and on the reverse side there was information about how to increase a car's gas mileage. I showed it to the guys and they loved it! I told them that I would have 1000 printed for them and offered to pass out 500 to the neighborhood, while leaving the remainder for them to hand out at the shop. This, in exchange for some simple maintenance work on another vehicle of mine - they agreed.

From time to time, I would stop in to see how the guys were doing. They said that things were slow, but they knew it would take time to develop a clientele. The gas station was constantly busy with people buying gas. I noticed their stack of fliers on the counter was not any shorter than the last time I was there. I ask about that and was told that "no one was taking them."

I explained that no body would and they needed to be pro-active about handing them out. I then took a handful and went to the gas islands. I handed them out to the gas patrons and simply said: "Hi, just want to let you know that we're open now for expert auto service and repair". I did this for about 30 minutes and the response I got was very favorable with smiles and "thanks for letting them know". Most of those people didn?t even know the repair shop was there!

The first week of December, I stopped in again to say "hi". I was told that things were still slow and I noticed the stack of fliers was the same as the last time I was in there, a couple of week's prior. "John" was in the service bay working on a car, while "Pete" was in the front office. I took some fliers and invited him to join me in passing them out. He smiled, but declined. I again went out to the gas islands and handed them out with the same response of "thanks for letting us know".

I then mentioned to the guys that if they would take some fliers to other near-by non-competing auto service like body shops, window tinting, transmission, auto stereo, etc. and offer a flier or business card exchange their business info handed out in exchange for the others, that good exposure could be gained.

I got smiles and nods, but no other response.

There was a large, free standing sign at the edge of their lot that squarely faced stopped traffic waiting for the green light. This sign was from previous auto repair. It was 4 feet wide and 8 feet long with usable sign space on both sides. It was old, ugly and looked very worn, but it was there. This was early December. I suggested to the guys that this was a great opportunity for exposure and that I would look into having some vinyl slip-over panels made.

I called around and found a sign company that would make a very nice looking slip over panel with whatever ad copy we wanted for only $85. I excitedly reported back what I found (that was a great price for something of that size) and also suggested to string that sign with flashing Christmas lights to gain attention.

The copy I suggested was:

"Merry Christmas from your new auto service center

NOW OPEN for friendly, honest auto service, Always at a Nice Savings!

Stop in to say hi and received a FREE tire rotation as our Christmas gift to you!"

Their response was: "Gee, $85", I don't think we can afford that right now, since things are kind of slow!!!?

By March, 2004 they were still struggling.

Just behind them and 2 miles up the hill, was a large developing neighborhood. It was about 3 years old consisting of over 1000 homes and condos. The population was about 2500 at that time and the development was only 40% complete with building constantly going on. That's 2500 people - most with cars.

What made this development such a local business owner's dream is the association newspaper. It isn't the typical homeowner association newsletter it is a bonafide newspaper. It is the size of a newspaper, with many pages of what's going on, articles and display ads of local businesses. The cost for a 4 X 6 inch display ad, in full color, is only $60 a month and they are very professional in appearance. Smaller and larger ads are also available - even for just $35 for a 2 X 3 inch display ad.

There's a variety of businesses in there, but NO AUTO REPAIR!

I had placed ads for peephole viewer installations and that led to contracts with builders.

I showed the guys a copy of the paper and explained that this was a gold mine for them, just waiting to be tapped! I told them that I would do the ad for them for free and could get it submitted after the deadline, since I knew some of the administrative people. I also explained how viable it is to get the word out to new homeowners about local services - ESPECIALLY AUTO SERVICE. They said they would think it over. But, that's as far as it went.

I also suggested to take their flyers and distribute them door to door to all those new and constantly new moving-in-residents who would love to know about local auto service, just down the hill.

BLANK STARE!


(the most unbelieveable part)

Christmas came and went in 2004 with that same ugly sign there, going to waste.

A few weeks ago, I went to the shop for some work on one of my cars and noticed a sign on the front door that said: "No payment of gas here - see outside attendant".

The repair shop is separate from the gas station, but purchasers of gas think that's where they go to pay, instead of the little booth outside.

I asked about the sign and was told that people were "constantly coming in" - in an attempt to pay for gas. They were coming in all day long and were "disturbing them."

I even witnessed that while I was there. I suggested they give out flyers to all those potential customers and let them know that there was expert auto service there now. Also, to offer some get acquainted specials.

But by now, they were pretty disgusted with this whole thing of slow business and were more concerned with an effective sign that would keep a steady stream of potential customers away!!!

Last Monday, I stopped to buy gas and noticed that only "Pete" was there. I went to say "hi" and asked about where "John" was. "Oh, John is no longer here - he got a job at a dealer, since things were so slow for us. But, now, without him here, I'll make more money!"

What a shame, but this is not so uncommon other than these guys had so much going for them, but ignored it all.

Two friendly, likeable, honest, competent mechanics who committed business suicide for lack of the most essential skill of bringing them in and bringing them back.

Michael Gerber's, "The E-Myth Revisited" was right.

Lawrence

All of these tragedies are CAUSED by the most common and deadliest marketing myth of all...

Build it and they will come
Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.
Be a magnet.

What I call The Three B's.

That sneaky little marketing myth is hiding in the brains of 90% or all biz owners.

They may not know it's there, but it IS there!

I call it sneaky because it comes DISGUISED in many forms.

The disguise we're talking about here is...

"If my product/service is good, it will sell --- If my product/service is NOT good, it will NOT sell."

It's just another version of The Three B's.

If you let The Three B's invade your mind -- or if you ALLOW them to remain in your mind (they are probably already there to begin with), you will absolutely KILL your biz's chances for survival!!!

But it's tricky because that myth will SNEAK in there, diguised in many different forms.

Cheers!

-- TW

I think they did not market well. They had a great business but you can build the greatest mouse trap and someone once did but they are not in business because they did not market.

Today I put 4 articles on the net, maybe 6. I am promoting every day now. I know I got to get some money and market offline. That is more effective. Ask any guru.

Originally Posted by Joetrevison

I know I got to get some money and market offline. That is more effective. Ask any guru.

I am so glad to hear you say that.

I always rant about how limited the web + internet are when it comes to marketing. No one ever believes me... even when I back up my talk with facts that cannot be discounted.

People think the web is the be all + end all of marketing, when in fact, it has crippling limitations that make it PALE in comparison to offline methods!

The quicker people fall OUT of love with the web (as a way to market things), the quicker they will be on a path to REAL riches.

Cheers!

-- TW