Salesmanship |
Don't stop talking: By: Bob Zagami About the author:
The economy must be great - everyone says they are very busy! According to a recent RVIA press release, in 1998 RV shipments reached a twenty-year high of 292,700 units, with a retail value of $8.4 billion. That's an average price of almost $30,000 per RV. Attendance is up at RV shows, rental companies have their phones ringing off the hook, dealers are busy and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the increased orders arriving daily. I guess we can all stop prospecting now. We can't handle any more business -- wrong. The best time to go prospecting is when business is good. We all know it is now "very" good, so why don't we see more prospecting and advertising of the RV lifestyle? It appears to be business as usual at most dealerships, despite the obvious increase in popularity of the RV lifestyle and a growing population of excellent prospects for industry-related products. Why aren't more companies increasing their prospecting efforts now that they can afford to do so? It may be that the road to prosperity, and the good times we are now enjoying, was paved with frustration, disappointment and devastation. Many companies downsized, eliminated non-revenue-generating positions and took a defensive posture toward the marketing and sales of their RV's, accessories and after-sale services. When the economy rebounded, they simply added sales staff. Many companies did not enhance other business operations designed to insure long-term success through a planned program to increase market share and expand their customer base. How does a company do this? Through an aggressive prospecting effort by dedicated employees. Their only job should be to prospect for new customers and build a database of information that can be used in good times -- and bad. As many of us know, the good times don't last forever. For those of you who have only known the good times, you must now take the appropriate steps -- when you can afford to do it -- to assure your company's success when we experience the next economic downturn. The program should be designed to compliment the successes you are now enjoying due to our economic euphoria. Here's a selection of items that you should consider so that you can take advantage of current business conditions. Direct Mail Programs People have money to spend . . . and are spending it. Many of these people have never been exposed to the RV lifestyle. If they are not spending it with us, then they are spending it with our competition. Competition in this case would be other forms of leisure travel such as hotels, airlines, cruise ships, motorcycles, marine products, and other vacation related expenditures. Now is the time to let everyone know that there is an exciting alternative and it's called an RV. Direct mail companies can assist you with design, production, list selection and mailings. This is a low cost method to get your name and business message in front of many new prospects that may never have considered renting or buying an RV. Postcard mailing deck programs are becoming very popular with direct mail companies. A deck of postcards is mailed to your list or every household in a particular town. The package may contain 50 or 100 full color postcards and represents significant cost-savings of individualized programs. A recent program I reviewed had the cost down to $0.05 per card for a 50,000-piece mailing. Would you pay $2,500 to get your name in front of 50,000 pre-qualified prospects that can well afford the RV lifestyle but who may not have any idea of the fun and excitement that awaits them? Radio Advertising I can't speak for the rest of the country, but I do know that there is very little radio advertising done in New England. Every once in awhile you will hear a short campaign but there is no long-term consistency to any radio advertisements. Major market radio stations can be expensive; however, you can find some that are very willing to negotiate and help you develop a very effective program. It's a known fact that many RV families enjoy country music. You will find the advertising rates at your local country music station to be significantly less than your major news or talk show formatted stations. The sales and marketing department will assist you with scripting, ad placement and special promotional events to compliment your ad program. You should also be able to negotiate an on-site appearance with their mobile studio on your lot to assist in getting traffic into your dealership. Don't forget the articles we have written about NASCAR fans. Find the local radio outlet that represents MRN (Motorsports Racing Network) or PRN (Performance Racing Network) and purchase ads that will run during local events, Busch Grand National races, or the premiere Winston Cup races. Cable Television One of the best-kept secrets in television advertising is the package programs that can be put together by your local cable TV company. If you have been watching any cable TV the last few years you may have noticed that some small local companies have some big television ads that play quite frequently on a variety of different programs. You may also have noticed that the same ads show up every once in awhile on major network programs on the not-so-prime-time hours on weekends. The cable companies can be quite creative and are very eager to work with local businesses to design an excellent program that will bring new prospects through your door. As with the mention above, your cable company will be able to design a program that would include ads on ESPN, ESPN2, TNN, CBS and ABC where many of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck, Busch Grand National and Winston Cup races appear every weekend. Newspaper Advertisements Despite the success of the Internet, people still read newspapers. One of the largest sections in most newspapers is the automobile classified section. If people use the paper that often to check out car dealers and special promotions, then wouldn't it seem natural for them to check the same paper for RV specials or dealer information? For some reason, that doesn't work in the Northeast. The section covering RV's in the Boston Sunday Globe is so small that most people probably miss it. This has never been a major advertising vehicle for RV dealers, but maybe it should be. And maybe it should be a lot larger than what is presently in there each week. If you don't want to consider large advertisements in newspapers, then you should consider a very small banner type ad that will simply have the name of the RV dealership with your web site address. Many companies are starting to use this type of ad to attract prospects to their web site location that will tell them about the dealership and the products and services that you can offer. Contact Management Software Last year we wrote a few articles that mentioned contact management software. If you have still not installed this type of software at your dealership then you are really falling behind your competitors who have begun to take advantage of the prospecting and database management features that will allow you to control your own destiny in good times and bad. Ask yourself two questions: How many people are listed in the master database of the computer system you are currently using at your dealership? How many prospects do you think there are in your marketing area? Years ago you could never hope to have a manual or computerized system that could provide you with the names of every prospect in any given area that you choose to sell your products in. You can today. Plain and simple. If you want all the prospects in one system on your computer, it can be done. You have to work at it, but it's not really that hard. This is the type of activity that you would never do in bad times or when you do not have extra profits to put back into your dealership. Take advantage of the current market conditions and start to develop your contact management database NOW! You can tie this activity in with a direct mail, radio or television advertising campaign. When you meet with these representatives they will show you the market statistics and demographics of your target market and audience. They can tell you how many households in each city or town, the median income, family headcount, and other information for the people you may want to be selling to. Use this information to help you build a customized database of prospects and customers that will continue to do business with your dealership. Set yourself apart from the competition and build up a data warehouse of information to sustain your business in any downturn that may come in the future. Prospecting is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week job. You never stop prospecting, especially when times are good. This is when you make the investment in your future. You have customers, your business is good, and the market is growing . . . start prospecting again. You can't do all this with your existing staff. Everyone is already too busy to do anything else. Contract this to an outside company or hire new people who will be responsible for prospecting and only prospecting. Good luck and good selling. RVN
|
Bob Zagami is the National Sales Director,
Engineering Information Solutions for Image-Max; a single-source, national provider of
document management solutions. He studies the RV industry as a hobby and has owned
trailers and motorhomes. You can reach Bob at 978-461-2143 or via e-mail 