Greetings Flooring Dealers!

Reason #1:  They aren’t interested. 

Your job as a marketer is identify people who have some level of interest in buying flooring, and get them to buy from you vs. anyone else.  Your job is not to attempt to engineer interest in people that have none.  Therefore, if someone is truly not interested in buying flooring, they are not your ideal client, so don’t worry about them.

However, if someone walks into your store it’s a VERY safe bet that they have some level of interest.  Therefore if they don’t buy right then, it’s important that you continue to market to them until a buying decision is made, which could be 6 months or more.  A great way to do this is with a client newsletter.

Reason #2: They can’t afford it.

If someone truly can’t afford your product or service, then they are not your ideal client.  Don’t try to sell to them.  However, this is rarely the reason.  Oh, they’ll say “it’s too expensive,” or “I can’t afford it,” but it’s usually not the case.  Usually it’s reason number three…

Reason #3: They don’t believe you. 

When someone doesn’t buy from you because it’s “too expensive,” or because they say “we can get it cheaper elsewhere,” it’s almost always because they don’t believe you.  In other words, they don’t believe that the dollars they spend justifies the value they get in return.  Your job as a marketer is to build value in the minds of your prospects and clients.  Several ways to build value are…

  • Written testimonials
  • Audio testimonials
  • Video testimonials
  • Strong warranties and replacement guarantees
  • Carefully engineered sales process
  • Fun/entertaining/consistent follow up when a prospect leaves without buying (i.e. unusual mailers, phone calls from sales person, newsletter, email tips, consumer education, etc.)

The more you tell, the more you sell

Imagine sending your sales person into a selling situation and limiting how many words they were allowed to say.  Imagine saying to your sales rep, “Listen Rupert, Susan Padowski is going to be here in a few minutes to look at samples.  She is interested in putting down hardwood throughout her entire 6,000 square foot home.  It’s really important that you close this sale, but here’s the thing: you can only say 50 words to her.  Once you’ve said 50 words you have to shut up.”

Ludicrous.

Yet that is exactly what many floor dealers do with their marketing.  Remember that marketing is salesmanship in print.  If you wouldn’t put a word limit on your sales person, why would you do it with your marketing?

Ad reps perpetuate the myth that you should have a lot of “white space” in your ads.  That nobody will read a wordy ad.  That if you use too many words you’ll bore your prospect.

This is totally wrong.  Someone who has zero interest in your product won’t read four words, but who cares?  They aren’t going to buy from you anyway.   But someone who is interested will read four pages.  I’ve successfully used 36-page sales letters that were sent to highly qualified, targeted prospects who were interested in what I was selling.

Always remember:  the more you tell, the more you sell… as long as you’re not boring.  If you’re boring, all bets are off.  The best way to not be boring is to fill your ads and letters with benefits, benefits, benefits.

 

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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