Greetings Floor Dealers!
This series is about the mindset and strategies used by dealers who build $5 Million businesses with gross margins of 45% or more.
In Part 1 of this series we covered the mindset necessary to be a 5/45 dealer, so in this installment I’m going to cover some practical strategies you can implement right away.
I presented two seminars at Surfaces in January and I asked both audiences how many were marketing to their past clients on a monthly basis. Out of 300 attendees only about 10 dealers answered yes. Besides making you a ton of money, marketing to your past customers will create huge differentiation from your competitors.
I teach dealers to use a printed, snail-mailed newsletter. Make it 80% fun, informative, general-interest information, with only 10% to 20% about flooring. Some emotional triggers that will make your newsletter more effective include a trivia contest; acknowledging new and returning customers; promoting your referral program; acknowledging customers who sent you referrals; and a customer of the month article. Black printing on colored paper works extremely well because it looks more personal than something slick and glossy.
Mark, a dealer from Chicago, went from nearly closing his doors to six months later being booked out for several weeks. He implemented a number of strategies to make this happen, but a monthly past-customer newsletter was his main marketing method.
Create a weekly e-letter as a supplement to (not replacement of) your printed newsletter. It should contain a single, fun, general-interest article that has nothing to do with flooring, about 150-200 words. At the end include a short blurb about your flooring business.
Next, develop a robust referral marketing system. Compared with cold walk-ins, repeat and referred customers are easier to close, easier to command premium prices, and just easier to work with. As a dealer, you’re doing anywhere from dozens to hundreds of installations per month. This represents a huge marketing opportunity to get instant referrals.
Visit each home after the installation, surprise your customer with a gift basket, inspect their flooring, and then ask for referrals. I recommend creating a referral form that describes the benefits of your referral program, such as a reward for any referral who becomes a customer, an offer to send a gift certificate for your store to anyone they refer, and explains how they will be doing their friends and relatives a huge favor by referring a dealer they can trust. On the form include spaces for their referrals. For this to be most effective, ask for the referrals in person. If your installer simply leaves a referral form behind, very few people will fill it out and mail it in.
If each sales person generates two extra referrals per week (a conservative number), and your average ticket is $3,000, that’s an extra $312,000 annually per sales person!
You should also develop referral relationships with Realtors, designers, remodeling contractors, carpet cleaners and anyone else who can refer your business. To establish these relationships I teach a 3-step process:
- Send them a letter introducing yourself and your business.
- Two, phone them to schedule an in-person appointment, such as coffee or lunch.
- Three, meet with them.
You can also establish relationships by joining networking groups, attending Chamber events, etc. Once the relationship is established:
- nurture the relationship by putting them on your newsletter list and call or meet with your referral partners every month or two.
- Leave business cards at their place of business.
- Bring lunch or other goodies periodically for them and their staff.
If you have 20 businesses each sending you four referrals per year (a very conservative number) that’s an extra 80 sales per year. With an average ticket of $3,000, that’s $240,000 in revenue with no marketing costs. Want even more revenue? Add another 10 referral partners. Millions of dollars in revenue can be generated using just this strategy.
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!