Greetings Floor Dealers!
I’m a big believer in tradition: family traditions, national traditions, holiday traditions and so forth. But when it comes to marketing, I absolutely detest tradition. Not because there is anything inherently evil about it. No. It’s much simpler than that. I detest traditional advertising because it doesn’t work!
“Traditional thinking” in advertising usually gets it’s foot in the door in the early days of a small business because of some quirks in human nature. Those quirks are: we like to fit in, we DON’T want to appear foolish, and when we aren’t sure what to do, we look at what others are doing. Here’s what I mean:
We’ve all seen that scene in a movie where a clueless person (usually a man) goes to a fancy dinner party . When the first course is served, our hero—unsure of what utensil to use—nervously looks around at what everyone else is using, then copies them.
Have you ever arrived to a class or seminar, and during the registration time looked around at what all the other students were doing to get an idea of what YOU were supposed to do?
I remember back when I was 7 years old, taking swimming lessons at the local Boy’s Club. The instructor would have us line up and take turns swimming to the other end of the pool and back, doing whichever stroke we happened to be working on that day. I was not always good at listening, so when it came time to line up, I would always, always, always make sure I was NOT the first in line. That way I could watch what stroke the other kids were doing. Then when it was my turn I knew what stroke to do.
When a flooring dealer first goes into business, they follow the same pattern. They look around at what all the OTHER flooring dealers are doing and copy them. Especially the advertising being done by other dealers. The problem with this is that all the other dealers have copied other dealers, and those dealers have copied other dealers. And ALL of them are copying the advertising methods of big corporations. Which means: image advertising.
Image advertising is all about building name recognition. Brand name building. When you see Coke plastering it’s name and logo all over creation, that’s Coke’s attempt to burn their identity into the consciousness of every consumer in the world. They are hoping that the next time someone buys a soft drink, or orders a soda at a restaurant, that that brand consciousness will translate into sales.
You—as a small business owner—lack the two things that Coke has to make this strategy work: 1) Years to patiently wait for “name recognition” to build up sufficiently to translate into sales, and 2) The deeeeeeeep pockets required to finance this kind of scheme.
Another problem is “image” advertising never gives any solid, compelling reason for someone to use you instead of each and every one of your competitors. At best it becomes a price game. And competing on price is a dead-end street. Why? Because if the only selling proposition you have to offer is low price, what happens when someone comes along and offers a lower price? You have nowhere to go but down.
Finally, image advertising is all about getting your name “out there.” How many times have you heard or said, “Hey, we need to get our name out there”? This is very nice thought I suppose, except for one teensy-tiny problem: getting your name “out there” doesn’t make you any money. The ONLY thing that makes you any money is getting your client IN HERE (your store).
I’ve talked to many floor dealers, and a question I always ask them is, “How much did you spend on advertising last year?” The answer can range from zero, to hundreds-of-thousands of dollars. Then I ask them what percentage of their business came from advertising (versus repeat and referral business), and they either a) don’t know, or b) it’s a small fraction of their income, usually 20% at most.
So this highlights two major problems of traditional advertising: first, it’s very difficult to track where the business came from, and second the results are spotty at best.
Emotional direct-response marketing is, of course, what I teach and what you are learning. It’s designed to give your clients and potential clients solid, compelling reasons to call you RIGHT NOW and pay your prices. It educates them on the benefits of using your services versus each of your competitors. It does NOT rely on slick, glossy, 4-color ads, so it’s also much less expensive than traditional ads. It’s also very easy to track.
As part of my Inner Circle Club you have access to newsletters, inserts, connect campaigns, consumer education programs, auto-pilot marketing, and many other marketing strategies that are designed to compel clients to use your services immediately.
When you’re trying to generate business, it’s very, very easy to run yet another image ad in the paper, or send out yet another “cookie cutter” mailer. Easier and harder. Easier because, well…it’s the path of least resistance, especially if you’re used to doing this kind of advertising. Harder because it’s a supreme bummer to watch your money go swirling down the toilet with very little to show for it.
I recommend that you go on a 6-month direct marketing diet, and eliminate all “image” advertising that cannot be held accountable for its results. This will purge the “toxic” advertising habits that plague your business and waste your money.
To Tons Of Customers!
Jim Augustus Armstrong is The “Coach”
Jim Augustus Armstrong is the President of Flooring Success Systems, a program that equips dealers to double their profits, cut their work hours in half and beat the boxes! Many dealers have totally transformed their businesses and their lives for the better after joining Flooring Success Systems.
See what real, live dealers are saying!