To understand why customer recognition is so powerful, let’s take a minute and put ourselves into our customer’s shoes. Cathy Consumer is a 35-year-old mother of three kids, all under the age of ten. She and her husband work full time. Cathy loves her kids and is a devoted mother, but they’re a little weak [...]
Many dealers are running on a hamster wheel faster and faster, trying to build their businesses. One month you have plenty of customers coming in and enough money to cover costs—some months you have more work than you can handle. But then a month or two later your work slows down. You're stressed about where [...]
Every interaction you, your staff, and your business has with a prospect or customer is a marketing opportunity. Like it or not - whether you pay attention to it or not - during every interaction with your company, your consumers are getting an impression of you. The only question is: What kind of impression are [...]
In Part 1 and Part 2, I outlined the ultimate floor marketing system. It consists of three simple steps: before, during and after. Before is what you do to attract new customers before they have purchased from you. During is what you do to get out of the “proposal” business, close a lot more sales [...]
In my last column, I outlined the ultimate floor marketing system which consists of three simple steps: before, during and after. Before is what you do to attract new customers before they have purchased from you. During is what you do to get out of the “proposal” business and instead close a lot more sales [...]
“How many of you communicate with your past customers on a monthly basis?” I asked dealers at a Digital Domination Boot Camp I was conducting during the Chicago Floor Covering Association’s annual Product Showcase. No one raised their hand. That is not unusual. I poll most of my audiences with that question, and at most I’ll [...]
“I remember this guy,” the dealer from Minnesota told me. I had just pointed out to him that he had a negative review on Google. “He was rude to my staff and made unreasonable demands. When we told him we couldn’t give him what he wanted he left this lousy review!” Many dealers can relate to [...]
"I don’t know where to start with my online marketing.” I was on the phone with Brad, a dealer from Texas, and he was explaining that running his business took so much of his time that he felt totally overwhelmed trying to figure out internet marketing. I’ve heard versions of this lament from many dealers, [...]
The cardinal sin of Facebook marketing — or of any marketing — is to be boring. I’ve evaluated Facebook pages for a lot of flooring dealers, and the majority of the posts I see feature photos of products, or displays, or showrooms. Sorry to break it to you folks, but if you’re making heavy use [...]
In the first two installments, I compared a floor dealership to a hot air balloon. That balloon wants to float up into the sky, but the rope is anchoring it to the ground. The rope represents the number of hours you can physically work in your business. By cutting the rope, your business can soar [...]