Greetings Floor Dealers!

Recently I was having a terrible time falling asleep, and after a week of insomnia I went bleary-eyed to my doctor to get help.

“Doctor, I’ve tried sleeping pills, reading, watching the weather channel, counting rolls of carpet, but nothing works,” I told him, desperation in my voice.   “I’ve barely slept in seven days.  Can you help me?”

He stroked his chin and gazed out the window, as if struggling to make a decision.  Finally he said, “I can prescribe a treatment that will virtually guarantee that you will fall asleep.  But,” he held up a cautionary finger, “I only use it in extreme cases, and I must warn you to be very careful.  Do not drive while  using this treatment.  And make sure you are lying down because it works almost instantly.”

“I’ll try anything, Doc.  What is it?”

He opened a drawer, removed a manila envelope and handed it to me.  “Remember, be careful.”

I opened the envelope and began pulling out scraps of paper that turned out to be advertisements for flooring.  As I thumbed through the ads I felt my eyes grow heavy.  My head swam, then suddenly everything went dark.

The sharp odor of smelling salts jolted me awake, and next thing I knew the doctor was helping me off the floor.

“What happened?” I asked.

“You fell asleep,” he replied.  “A long time ago I discovered that most flooring advertisements are an excellent cure for insomnia.”

“Why?”  I asked.

“Because they’re so boring,” he replied.  “They can make CSPAN seem like a Bruce Willis action movie by comparison.”

“Oh thank you, doctor,” I said, throwing my arms around him, tears of gratitude filling my eyes.  “Thank you, thank you!”

What a relief to have a guaranteed cure for my insomnia!  However, because my business is helping floor dealers increase the size of their bank accounts through effective marketing, I couldn’t help but be alarmed that so many dealers are throwing away their money on ads and websites that put their prospects to sleep. I knew it was my duty to take action, which is why I’m writing this article.

The cardinal sin of advertising is being boring.  If your ads are boring, then they won’t hold your prospect’s attention and compel them to take the desired action.  Here are some common ways dealers bore prospects with their ads and websites:

  • Using ads and websites that look the same as everyone else’s.  Most dealers use the Name, Rank and Serial Number formula: their business name at the top, a list of products (sometimes with teaser prices), and contact information.  These ads and websites may have cosmetic differences (different colors, different graphics, etc.)  but they mostly say the same thing and mostly look the same.  (Boring.)
  • They don’t answer the unspoken question on every prospect’s mind: Why should I do business with you versus every competitive option available to me, including doing nothing?
  • They contain no Unique Selling Proposition. Instead, they mostly contain slogans which are meaningless to the prospect, like “Number One In Customer Satisfaction,” or “Serving the Tri-State Area For 267 Years,” or “We’ll Floor You With Our Service.”  (Zzzzzz.)
  • They don’t educate the prospect.
  • The offers are weak, copy-cat, “me-too” offers.  You seldom see anything the prospect would find compelling, interesting, fun, different, or engaging.

Here’s an exercise: pull up your website and any ads you’ve run in the past six months.  Using the list above as a gauge, would a prospect would find your advertising compelling or boring?  Be honest; it’s your business and your ad dollars that are at stake.  If your advertising is on the boring end of the spectrum—and you are courageous enough to admit it—then you can take meaningful action to correct this problem.   If that describes you, then stay tuned!  In the next installment, I’m going to reveal strategies to transform your advertising from boring to exciting!

 

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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