Greetings Floor Dealers!
It’s no secret that box stores, online dealers, and other discounters are trying to steal your customers. Most dealers would like to put Home Depot in their crosshairs for a change. To do that you need to implement strategies that create differentiation, position you and your sales team as trusted advisors, and create a zero-resistance selling environment. In part 1 we covered several strategies that accomplish this. We continue this week with more practical strategies you can implement right away to turn the tables on the big orange giant.
Eliminate any “price shopper” magnets. This means getting rid of anything with cheap-price language like, “Our prices won’t be beat,” or “Highest quality at the lowest prices,” etc. I spoke with a dealer recently who was adamant that he wanted to command premium prices, but when I pulled up his website it said, “Free installations.” I told him that he can’t use price-shopper magnets and simultaneously expect to charge margins of 45-50% or more. I recommended that he review his outdoor store signage, window signs, showroom signage, brochures, website, display ads, and anywhere else he was promoting his business and get rid of anything that even smelled like a cheap-price offer.
Bake cookies or bread daily in your store. Get a small oven and buy pre-made dough. Whoever opens the store bakes the first batch. This makes your store smell like home, relaxes prospects, creates differentiation, and makes them feel welcome. Set the goodies out on a table and offer them to walk-ins.
Use a hand-written welcome sign. Dan, a dealer from Montana, keeps a whiteboard on an easel near the front door. When he knows a specific customer is coming in, he writes “Welcome Mary Pendergastman!” on the sign. This is a huge “wow” factor. When was the last time a business did this for you?
When a prospect leaves without making a buying decision, send them a “shock-and-awe” mailer inviting them to come back. Jerome, a dealer from Texas, sends prospects a sample packet of aspirin in a padded envelope. Inside is a letter with a headline that says, How To End The Headache Of Shopping For New Floors. It reminds the prospect of all the benefits of buying from him, including his guarantees and warranties, and includes a special offer if they return by a specific deadline.
Repeat and referral customers have much lower price-resistance than customers brought in through cold advertising because they already know you, like you, and trust you. It’s much easier to charge full margins when you’re dealing with past customers and the people they refer to you. So market to your past customers every month. These are the only people in the known universe who have proven they will buy from you, so stop ignoring them!
The best way to do this is with a monthly newsletter. It should contain 80% fun, informative, entertaining information, and only 10-20% info about flooring. Mark, a dealer from Illinois, went from nearly closing his doors to being booked out for weeks in only six months and he used a monthly newsletter as his main marketing strategy.
Also, train your sales people to ask for referrals. If you average 50 installations per month, you can easily expand that to 60 with no marketing costs by training your sales people how to effectively ask for referrals. Dave, another dealer from Texas, made over $90,000 in extra revenue in one month by doing this.
In the next installment I’m going to reveal how negative cultural “programming” is working against you and virtually guaranteeing your business won’t reach its full potential. And what to do about it.
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!