Driving qualified consumer traffic to your showroom
BY PETER SCHOR
Showroom specialist
Last month’s article was on how to target the professional trades, both buyers and specifiers, to build much higher traffic for your showroom. I talked a little about advertising, marketing and public relations, and creating “The Experience” way beyond the expected value-added once you get them into the showroom.
I explained to you how 30 years ago, they use to sell 50,000 computers a year. Today, they sell 75,000 computers a day! Therefore, the database of information is much deeper and more sophisticated than ever before. Every time someone joins a church, subscribes to a magazine, fills out a warranty card, buys an auto or house, takes a cruise, or fills out a drawing for a prize at the county fair, that information is recorded and is used to identify and build a market profile. Then this data is entered into a database that is sold over and over again. Many people, like myself, find it is an invasion of one’s privacy, but it is now common practice.
I have been teaching sophisticated target marketing for many years to the leading “romancing the home” franchises in bath, kitchen and a lot more. The information and techniques are constantly changing and are proven effective if they are done absolutely right. Doing it wrong is like dialing a telephone number and having the last digit wrong -- no results!
One quick example is the high-end luxury bath and kitchen remodeling industry. There are luxury bath and kitchen remodeling contractors who target consumers who purchased recent luxury resale homes that even have information such as low mortgage balances. Those with low mortgage balances are more susceptible to spend money. Many contractors target around the zip code of a luxury home in a neighborhood that they’ve already done a bathroom or kitchen, which establishes them as “the authority.” These contractors start with a very effective target postcard; followed by a personalized call (owner to owner); then a press/media type package with manufacturer literature, references and a list of happy local clientele; and then they even pick up the client in a limo for a trip to their showrooms.
Target marketing resale home consumers in your marketplace!
I highly recommend that you re-read my August column on “Target Marketing to the Professional Trades” in order for you to get the most out of this article. There are some similarities.
The ineffectiveness of target marketing is 100% due to the mistakes that are made in doing it. For many years, the multi-million-dollar educational companies such as Fred Pryor Seminars, Career Track, Padgett Thompson and others ran Target Marketing seminars in 150 cities each to teach businesses how to do this effectively.
In the last issue, I told you about INFOUSA (www.infousa.com), the $600-million list provider for “business to business.” INFOUSA is the dominant supplier of the Yellow Pages, and provides information on 210 million U.S. consumers for the resale home market. There is also a national company of grade A current consumer resale home lists called Homeowners Marketing Services, = Inc (www.homeown.org) . A recent study showed that in the first 90 days of a resale home purchase in the middle to luxury field, 55% have ordered cable or satellite TV, while 58% have spent money on their baths and kitchens. Be aware of resale home list providers that have lists older than 90 days. After that, many consumers are tapped out of money for fixing up the home.
You will need to purchase a Rand McNally Zip Code Finder or other source that shows your marketplace broken down by state, county and city in a visual map form. The next step is to go to the post office in your local trading areas to pick up the sub-zip code map (the 4-digit code after the 5-digit zip code). You need to make a definition of how far your market spans. If you are rural, it might be 90 miles, where as in the bigger or densely populated cities, it could be 30 miles. What is exceptional on resale home selection besides the zip code and sub-zip codes is that you can control the volume with altering the houses in sales dollars.
If you really want to pinpoint who you want to reach, the third step is demographics. This is the study of people’s lifestyles and habits, as well as social and consumer trends. You can find these studies at your local Chamber of Commerce offices. I would personally skip this for your purpose, as most of you know the market areas around your showroom that have the middle to upscale luxury homes. Middle to low-end consumers will bring you in Home Depot-type DIY consumers.
The mailing piece is the key to success
The success of today’s target marketing is highly dependent on the mailing piece. The piece must be high impact because if the picture doesn’t stir up immediate emotion, the consumer, like ourselves, will never read the message. Think about what happens when we get such a piece through our mail. What would make us read the message? People would rather look at a picture than read a block of words.
As an example, if you are promoting the showroom, it would be very effective to use a professional photograph of a dramatic cross-section photograph of your showroom. You will need a professional photographer with a wide lens. Every showroom was not meant to have this type of effective picture. If not, find a knock ‘em dead picture of a bathroom from your major plumbing fixture manufacturer so when people look at the picture, they immediately see the benefits.
The best public relations messages spread the feelings of good health, less anxiety, sex, happier life and safer existence. You must reach the emotion of the reader in order to get them to read the message. Be creative! One of my wholesaler showroom clients used a magnificent bathroom with two adults in the air massage tub with a glass of wine with a caption “The Fixture Gallery -- Where Dreams Begin!”
Before you make the final decision of the photo for the mailer, get the opinion of others and build a consensus. Step back and ask the question, “What would you do if you received this mailing piece?” Would it stimulate you enough to read the message?
The message itself is equally important. The message must be precise and appealing to the reader. Remember, The “wii-fm” rule -- “What’s in it for me?” This is the basis of your message. If you are showing a complete bathroom or showroom, you don’t need to list the types of products you handle. Let people use their imagination of what you have on display. Obviously, you want to use specific manufacturers that will co-op the project. If you are mailing to consumers, do not mail a product line card. Tell the consumer the services you feature, along with some brand line identification.
In last months column, I mentioned that one of the best-kept secrets is “Modern Postcards” (www.modernpostcards.com). They are the world’s largest producer of target postcards for all industries. Their website is user friendly so you can actually design your target piece just by following instructions. You send them the digital images, photos, logo, text and instructions. They lay it all out. On the site is an offer for free postcard samples, free catalogs, and a lot of information and guidance. See other postcard samples to find out the most impactful target mailers.
They highly recommend the oversized 8” x 5” postcard, which is the most popular used for distributors today. You can stay in the guidelines of the bulk mail or do something even larger that would fit a 1st class envelope. These oversized target postcards can be used to advertise new showroom lines, services and events for the showroom. They make great trade show or consumer hand-outs. The picture can remain the same, yet the message can be customized to meet the needs and values of each trade group or consumer Messages promoting open houses and special events can be very effective -- if the picture first gets the attention of the reader. Many showrooms have allowed space for personal handwritten messages by their showroom staff in reaching their target markets in slower times. Remember to have the basics on the message -- address, telephone number, days and hours open, and so forth.
Outsource mailing services
In the business to business Yellow Pages or online you will find many mailing houses for bulk mail permits or going first class. I was in a plumbing showroom in Philadelphia a few weeks ago and found a bunch of showroom people at 5:00 p.m. who were folding thousands of 8 1/2” x 11” mailers in thirds, stapling them, putting stamps on them and mailing them. They couldn’t believe it when I told them that mailing houses have machines that fold the flyers in thirds; no staple needed, as they are creased not to open; postage is put on automatically in the same process; and the cost was $4 per thousand pieces without the postage.
I hope you like this month’s column as I aim to be of genuine service. Please send me some samples of your effective target market postcards and I will send you a copy of my Pillars of Success book or my new one that was scheduled to come out September 1, Standing Knee Deep in Water and Dying of Thirst: A Guide to Life Fulfillment. You get to choose the book. If there are topics you would like me to address or showroom obstacles and challenges you may have, e-mail me.
Peter Schor, president of Dynamic Results Inc., is an educator, motivational speaker, consultant, coach and writer in our industry and many diverse others. For the past 17 years, he has conducted 100 educational programs yearly, including 34 industry conventions. Schor has great expertise in the field of showrooms and has won many industry awards. He also works with manufacturers in the field of sales, marketing and public relations. Schor can be reached at 1491 Ivy Arbor, Lincoln, CA 95648, phone 916/408-5346, fax 916/408-5899, e-mail pschor@dynamicresultsinc.com or on the web at www.dynamicresultsonline.com.