Articles

Back

It's Time for a Cabin Fever Reliever

Rod Stuckey | 03/01/2019

March 20th is just around the corner and I’m beyond ready for the first day of Spring. Going on 25 years in the Powersports Industry and I still get grumpy with the cold, dark, wet, days of winter and the inherent seasonality of this business. Powersports customers truly are solar powered, and Cabin Fever is a real thing.

This year, March has five Saturdays in the month and that only happens a few times a year. In my dealership days I loved those months because I knew I had roughly 20% more opportunity to have a record-breaking month and/or smoke the numbers from the same month last year. 

With that in mind… what are your plans to give your past, present, and future customers a compelling reason to shed the winter doldrums and get out of the house and have a little fun this spring? 

 

What’s more fun than being invited to and attending a party with likeminded people who share similar interests?!

And speaking of fun, have you ever considered - that’s exactly what you’re selling?

 

Most dealerships start thinking about selling with the product features and benefits at the forefront of their strategy, as opposed to the deeper desires of what the customer is truly looking to accomplish.  

The real secret to selling (with better margins than your competitor’s) is to uncover your prospect’s motivation for shopping.
In other words, why are they buying?

When you dig into a buyer’s motive (in our industry), the majority of sales happen because the customer is looking to escape the day-to-day grind and have some fun. I know you can use an ATV or UTV for work, but that’s still a fun and exciting tool to have on any job site.

The benefits of selling results <i.e. Fun> versus just selling the product can be - higher closing ratios, increased margins, more referrals, etc.

The challenge with focusing on the product - year, make, model, color, etc. – is that when comparing apples to apples there is very little opportunity to illustrate the advantages of doing business with you versus your competitors. This is a commoditized approach, just as pizza is pizza. 

 

Once the consumer is 100% product focused their natural instinct is to next focus on how good of a price they can get on the chosen product. 

This is what made Domino’s Pizza founder, Tom Monaghan’s, original unique selling proposition (USP) so brilliant. He didn’t sell pizza. He sold a fresh hot meal delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed. 

 

This is exactly what his target audience was looking for at the time, as meal delivery options were minimal.

When you de-commoditize your products by bundling them with the additional values offered at your place of business, you then begin to distance yourself from your competitors.This is one of the many reasons why I’m such a huge believer in events. 

 

Events allow you to separate you and your team from your competitors by selling the results of what your customers are really looking for – a good time, and a reason to visit your dealership.

So now is the time, if you don’t already have a Cabin Fever Reliever Event, St. Patrick’s Day, or a Spring has Sprung shindig planned; It’s time to get after it. 

Dealers that don’t believe in, or regularly execute, events usually have one of the following perspectives. 

“They’re too much work.” Well, events do require effort. But, anything worthwhile does. As Thomas Edison famously said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

A simple event planning checklist and a meeting with your team can have you well on your way. And the cool thing about events is that when you begin to have them regularly you develop systems and the team gets trained and your events become more and more scalable.I’ve also had plenty of dealers tell me: “Events are too expensive, and I don’t have the parking and staff anyway.”

When I first started having a BIG annual event at my Dealership I thought it was suppose to be a mini KISS concert with a band and 2,000 people there. I thought I needed to promote it via Radio and TV and have some celebrities on site signing autographs and stunt riders doing tricks in the parking lot. 

 

No. No. No. I was totally missing the point. Those types of shindigs aren’t practical and do cost too much and are impossible to staff for and have parking. 

Eventually, I learned that having small boutique style monthly events that were marketed with affordable media were not only manageable but gave my monthly marketing a purpose. It was part of a bigger plan to “touch” my buying base 52 to 104 times per year which would keep my existing customers loyal and have them send referrals as well as provide me with a compelling message to say to new blood. 

 

And lastly, I’ve heard, “I’ve done events before and we didn’t sell anymore units than a regular Saturday”.

While it’s nice to have a record-breaking day, that’s just not always going to happen. There are too many factors including, but not limited to, the weather, timing, inventory, etc. that impact the sales the day of the event. Let’s just say you promote your event via direct mail, email, and social media to 10,000 people of which 2,000 view it. Of the 2,000, you get 100 to swing by over the course of the day. Guess what the other 1,900 think? “I’m missing out, I wish I didn’t have prior obligations, but I appreciate the invite and hope to make it to the next one.”

 

You’ve not only created a pipeline of future sales from those who’ve responded to your marketing, but you’ve also created future bank from those who haven’t responded. 

Now is the time to make hay because the sun is about to shine.  Don’t make excuses. Instead, make the choice to take action and get that Cabin Fever Reliever prescription to your customers and make this March your best ever!

 

Contact us today at www.psmmarketing.com/sharp-shooter-program or at 877-242-4472 for more information on our done for you Sharp Shooter campaigns. 


Firestorm Marketing

Tel: (877) 242-4472
Int: (770) 692-1750
Text: (770) 692-1750

 

Questions?