The Deadliest Catch

Greetings Floor Dealers!

Are Your “Marketing Pots” Ready For The Recovery?

I’m a huge fan of The Deadliest Catch.  I think I’ve watched just about every season.  They’ve done such an amazing job producing this show that you feel like you know these boat captains and their crews personally.  Like millions of other fans, we were truly saddened when Captain Phil Harris passed away in February 2010.   I hesitate to call it a ‘reality’ show because most shows using that word are anything but real.  The Deadliest Catch is actually an extremely well-filmed-and-produced, seasons-long documentary.  It’s one of a handful of shows (out of the thousands of worthless shows endlessly spewing out their drivel 24/7 on 500 channels) that I actually recommend.

One of the most gripping elements to the show is how fanatical the boat captains are about getting their crab pots into the water, and doing everything in their power to make sure nothing gets in the way of soaking and hauling these steel traps that are the heart of their livelihood.  There are some lessons here for floor dealers.

You hear all over the news that we are finally experiencing a recovery, albeit a slow one, from the recession.   (Unless, that is, you live in the People’s Republic of California like I used to.  Our tax-and-spend, hyper-regulatory legislators are working overtime to engineer a way to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory and delay our recovery as long as possible.)

(Okay, Jim.  Deep breath.  Happy thoughts.)

Anyway, I want you to be ready as the economy rebounds.  Don’t just take it for granted that you’ll automatically get plenty of sales during better market conditions.  That’s the kind of ‘bad thinking’ that caused so many floor dealers to get caught with their pants down when the economy tanked this last time.  It was a bloodbath as legions of them got cut down in the streets, many of them closing their doors forever.

Instead, I want you to experience your ‘Deadliest Catch’ of business: deadly to your competitors, that is.  So here are seven secrets from The Deadliest Catch to ensure your business gets the maximum benefit as the economy recovers.

Deadliest Catch Secret #1: Crab boat captains get their pots ready before the fishing season begins.

The reason is obvious: every hour they spend preparing/repairing pots during the season is an hour they aren’t catching crab!

That is probably the most important secret for you to implement.  You need to get your ‘marketing pots‘ ready right now.  Don’t wait until there are herds of prospects ‘shopping‘ around your town for flooring to begin implementing your marketing strategies.  You’ll lose a ton of business to other dealers. Totally unnecessary!

Deadliest Catch Secret #2: The captain’s number one priority is keeping their crab pots working.  

The captains go absolutely nuts if they have to stop crabbing because of an equipment problem.  They make it their absolute, number-one priority to keep those pots soaking and catching crab.

Make it your number one priority to keep your marketing pots ‘soaking‘ and catching clients.  You need to have the same intensity about your marketing as a crab boat captain has about fishing.

You’ll never, ever hear a crab boat captain say, “Oh, I’ve been meaning to get my pots in the water, but I’ve been too busy.”

Deadliest Catch Secret #3: Captains don’t tolerate crew members who cost them crab.

Since the captain’s number-one priority is catching crab, woe to the crew member who throws a monkey-wrench into the operation.  Any crew member who foolishly displays a bad attitude, laziness, incompetence, or an unwillingness to follow the captain’s crab-catching system, is very quickly going to be the recipient of a level of wrath rarely seen this side of Marine basic training.  Crab boat captains simply do not tolerate crap from their crew!

(How are crab boat captains and cheap toilet paper alike?  They’re rough, tough and don’t take shit off nobody!)

And that’s how it should be, because a crew member who mucks up the operation causes all the other crew members to work harder for less money.  Permitting a crew member to cause a loss to the ship is simply unfair to everyone involved.

If a member of your team won’t do the Design Audit^TM consistently, won’t follow the referral program to a “T,” won’t follow the scripts, complains, etc., etc., etc., they are costing you money.  Keeping this person on your payroll acts as an “anchor” to your business.  It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to the rest of your team, or your company.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you yell, scream and curse out an insolent team member.  Address the problem with them and calmly let them know in no uncertain terms that they either shape up or ship out.  If they don’t shape up, get rid of them.  Fast.

Deadliest Catch Secret #4: Captains use as many pots as their ship can possibly carry.  

The more pots they use, the more money they make.  Their entire operation—their entire focus—is based around maximizing the number of pots they have soaking.  All the equipment, crew, radios, safety equipment, EVERYTHING exists to support soaking as many pots as possible.

You need to use as many pots as your business can carry.  The more pots you use, the more money you make.  Your entire operation—your entire focus—should be based around maximizing the number of pots you have soaking.  All the equipment, employees, installation crews, inventory, trucks, phones, computers, EVERYTHING exists to support soaking as many “marketing pots” as possible.

Some pots catch more than others.  Some pots have good catches, others don’t.  It all depends on location and timing … and the quality of the pots!  (Which is why as a Flooring Success Systems member: you have access to the best ‘marketing pots’ in the industry!)  That’s why multiple pots are better than one.  What if that one pot you rely on for a majority of your business stops producing?

Deadliest Catch Secret #5: Smart crab boat captains “test” and “track” fishing grounds.  

A common scene, especially at the beginning of the season, is Sig Hansen or the Hillstrand brothers poring over sea charts, trying to decide where the most productive crabbing is likely to be found this year.  All of the captains have fishing logs and sea charts that go back for years; and from these they attempt to divine where they next big haul is likely to be.

Once they decide on a destination, they rarely drop all of their pots at that spot.  They’ll drop a few as a test, then move to another likely area and drop a few more test pots.  Only when they begin to catch a lot of crab will they drop all their pots.

You should track all of your marketing.  If you’re not currently tracking, a very simple way to get started is to use the marketing tracking sheets provided in my system.  (They’re on the arsenal CD and on the Platinum members-only site.)  This is the only way you’ll know which of your pots are producing.

When testing a new direct mail marketing strategy, don’t roll it out to your entire market area until you do a test first.  Drop 500-1,000 pieces and see what happens.  Only when you get good results should you do a roll-out.

And boat captains never, ever, ever follow the advertising advice parroted by ad reps.  When they pull up a string of blanks, you’ll never hear the captain say, “Well, the crabs have got to see your pots at least 7 times on average before they’ll respond.  Dump ‘em back in, boys!”

Deadliest Catch Secret #6: Good crab fisherman use a carefully targeted approach.  

That ties in closely with the last secret.  Captains never just scatter their pots willy-nilly all over the sea floor.  No.  They do their homework and use a specific kind of bait in a specific location in order to catch a specific species of fish.  It’s a laser-like approach.

Your marketing should do the same.  A specific bait (offer/message) in a specific location (past clients, target farm, referrals, potential joint venture partners, etc.) to a specific species of fish (your ideal client: the affluent, doctors, high-end homes, people with excellent credit, etc.).

Crab boat captains never, ever follow the advice of advertising reps who say, “You’ve just got to get your name out there.”  You’ll never hear the captain say, “Drop ‘em anywhere boys.  The important thing is we get our pots out there.”

Deadliest Catch Secret #7: When the fishing gets bad, boat captains do whatever it takes to get back on the crab.

A common theme on The Deadliest Catch is desperate boat captains frantically trying to find productive fishing grounds when a spot that was producing suddenly stops.  What you’ll never see the captain do is stick around an unproductive area and “wait” and “hope” for things to get better.  Nope.  They pull up stakes and head out.  Yeah, they’ll moan and curse and complain about bad fishing, but they never let that stop them from taking immediate, decisive action to correct the problem.  And they’ll change tactics/locations as many times as they have to in order to find crab again.

Boat captains are so maniacal about getting back on the crab, they’ll sometimes take extreme risks, like dropping their pots near an oncoming ice flow, or sailing through hurricane-like winds, braving 30-40 foot seas.  Two mottos that you may not hear them say, but which they absolutely live by:

Whatever it takes.  Just do it.  

You need to be maniacal about getting back on the crab.  If you run into a slow patch, don’t just wait and hope for things to get better.  Do like the crab fisherman do and take immediate, decisive action.  Begin testing new marketing methods and new places to drop your “marketing pots.”  The “100+ Ways To Get One New Client” report is a great place to get ideas.  We send this out quarterly in the Ideal Business, Ideal Lifestyle newsletter.  You should keep the most current issue of “100+ Ways” pinned to the wall next to your desk for easy reference.

Whatever it takes.  Just do it.

Seven Marketing Pots Essential For Producing Your “Deadliest Catch”

As discussed, you should have as many pots in the water as possible.  In fact, you should work hard at creating a ‘pot‘ culture at your store.  (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. ☺)

Here are the “Big Seven” Flooring Success System marketing pots you should have soaking at all times.  Once these are in place, make it a goal to add one or two new pots per month.  By the end of the year, you can have two dozen pots or more, all bringing you money, month-in-and-month-out.

Neighborhood Advisor^TM

This is the number one marketing pot you should have in place.  If you’re not sending out the Neighborhood Advisor^TM each and every month to your past clients, get this pot soaking before any others.  Assuming a database of 1,000 past clients, you are leaving at least $200,000 in annual revenue on the table by keeping this pot out of the water.

Referral Program
Make sure you and your sales team are following the System and scripts exactly.  Study module 4 of the Rapid Launch and “Sales Team Training Vols. I & II” audios.  (They can be found on the Platinum Members only site.)  Assuming you are doing 30 installations a month with an average ticket of $3,000, you can realistically expect to gain an extra $30,000/mo in additional referral revenue by following the program exactly as outlined.

Design Audit^TM
Again, make sure your sales team is following the exact System and scripts.  Module 5 & 6 of the Rapid Launch, and “Sales Team Training Vols. I & II” audios cover this in detail.  Let’s say you have 5 people doing sales at your store.  By using the Design Audit^TM exactly as outlined, each member of your team should be able to close at least 2 extra sales per month.  10 extra sales means $30,000/mo in additional revenue with ZERO marketing costs.

I recommend holding a weekly 30-minute training session with your team and dedicate this time to drilling them on the Referral Program and the Design Audit^TM.

Joint Ventures
The Joint Ventures (JV) module (Platinum) outlines a system that can realistically bring you $200,000, $400,000 or more in additional revenue at virtually no marketing costs. If you have 20 JV partners, each sending you a paltry 4 sales per year, that’s 80 additional sales.  Assuming a $3,000 average ticket, that’s an extra $240,000 in annual revenue.

Shock and Awe
Every time someone walks out of your store without making a decision to purchase, that’s like a giant crab escaping your pot.  The shock-and-awe reels them back in.  If you ‘saved‘ just 2 sales per week ($3,000 average ticket) that’s an extra $24,000 per month in “bonus” revenue.  Selby Marketing can automate the entire shock-and-awe program for you.  Contact my friend Rich Selby at 585-377-0750.  

Direct Response Website
Most flooring websites are basically electronic brochures.  Your website needs to incorporate direct response mechanisms like The Consumer’s Guide To Floor Covering, the Design Audit^TM, Testimonials, the 100% Iron-Clad Triple Guarantee, Neighborhood Advisor^TM, contests, etc.  AND you must have good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to the site.  Good SEO paired with a NON-direct response site is no good.  A great direct-response site that gets no traffic is no good either.  You’ve got to have both in place.

A great direct response site works like a 24-hour-per day, 7-day-per-week salesperson, making sales on weekends, while you’re on vacation, even while you sleep.

Platinum Member, Joe Hemphill went from $240,000/yr. in revenue to over $800,000 in just 18 months using a direct response website as his primary tool.

Free Recorded Consumer Awareness Message & Testimonial Hotline
Like the website, these also function like 24/7 sales people working tirelessly to sift, sort and screen prospects and clients.  Module 8 of the Rapid Launch program gives you step-by-step instructions on how you can get this set up quickly.

 

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.
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