Season's Greetings from all of us at Auto Marketing Profits.
What is that ringing sound you hear? It is the sound of cash registers everywhere ringing up sales thanks to Santa Claus.
Just because Santa's old, overweight, long-haired and unshaven and dresses funny, don't overlook his business acumen. Santa is a marketing and sales generating expert and you can become one, too, if you follow his proven methods.
It is true that Santa is mythical - but ask anyone what Santa does or who he is and you will quickly find out that everyone you ask knows exactly about him.
Let us have a look at why he is a marketing genius:
Uniqueness
Be it that red suit, way different way of transportation or his big belly laugh - Santa is simply one of a kind.
Free Publicity
He seems to be a master of receiving free presss being mentioned all over the media during winter - with many movies, books and songs being written about him.
Customer Focused
Santa is not focused on himself and does not talk about how long he has been in business or how much he works and what a workload he has. Rather - he only looks to learn what the everyone else wants.
Giving Away Something For Free
While most gifts in homes are from the family or close relatives, in most house's with youngsters there are many gifts that have the name Santa on them.
How can your Dealership grab some ideas from Santa?
1) Clarify how your Dealership is unique and what seperates you from your local competitors.
2) Grab the media's attention during the holidays but also all year long.
3) Ask your previous customers and leads what they want and look to provide some services / inventory that fits their exact need and want.
4) Give something away for free - articles, free reports, a workshop for women.
5) Know what you are selling - yes, you do know about your vehicles and Dealership but start selling your customers on achieving their exact dream or hope and deliver to them results they can achieve.
It does not matter if you celebrate Christmas - but start marketing like Santa and you will be seeing more happy customers and leads at your store.
From our families to yours; may you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. - See you in 2012!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tip # 3 - Push Your Customer's Emotional Hot Buttons
Grabbing your Dealership customer's hot buttons is where research really pays off. Kowing where to push those buttons needs to be known first if you wish to get any results.
This is where research really pays off. Because in order to push those buttons, you need to first know what they are.
A salesman approached him and soon discovered the man’s dilemma.
“Tell me what you like best about the Camaro,” said the salesman.
“It’s a fast car. I like it for its speed.”
After some more discussion, the salesman learned the man had just started dating a cute college cheerleader. So what did the salesman do?
Simple. He changed his pitch accordingly, to push the hot buttons he knew would help advance the sale. He told the man about how impressed his new girlfriend would be when he came home with this car! He placed the mental image in the man’s mind of he and his girlfriend cruising to the beach in the Camaro. How all of his friends will be envious when they see him riding around with a beautiful girl in a beautiful car.
And suddenly the man saw it. He got it. And the salesman recognized this and piled it on even more. Before you know it, the man wrote a nice fat check to the Chevy dealership, because he was sold!
The salesman found those hot buttons and pushed them like never before until the man realized he wanted the Camaro more than he wanted his money.
Yes, he did. But subconsciously, what he really desired was a car that would impress his girlfriend, his friends, and in his mind make them love him more! In his mind he equated speed with thrill. Not because he wanted an endless supply of speeding tickets, but because he thought that thrill would make him more attractive, more likeable.
Perhaps the man didn’t even realize this fact himself. But the salesman sure did. And he knew which emotional hot buttons to press to get the sale.
Well, a good salesman knows how to ask the kinds of questions that will tell him which buttons to press on the fly. When you’re writing copy, you don’t have that luxury. It’s therefore very important to know upfront the wants, needs, and desires of your prospects for that very reason. If you haven’t done your homework, your prospect is going to decide that he’d rather keep his money than buy your product. Remember, copywriting is salesmanship in print!
It’s been said many times: People don’t like to be sold.
But they do like to buy.
And they buy based on emotion first and foremost. Then they justify their decision with logic, even after they are already sold emotionally. So be sure to back up your emotional pitch with logic to nurture that justification at the end.
And while we’re on the subject, let’s talk a moment about perceived “hype” in a sales letter. A lot of more “conservative” advertisers have decided that they don’t like hype, because they consider hype to be old news, been-there-and-done-that, my customers won’t fall for hype, it’s not believable anymore.
What they should realize is that hype itself does not sell well. Some less experienced copywriters often try to compensate for their lack of research or not fully understanding their target market or the product itself by adding tons of adjectives and adverbs and exclamation points and big bold type.
Whew! If you do your job right, it’s just not needed.
That’s not to say some adverbs or adjectives don’t have their place…only if they’re used sparingly, and only if they advance the sale.
But I think you’d agree that backing up your copy with proof and believability will go a lot farther in convincing your prospects than “power words” alone. I say power words, because there are certain adverbs and adjectives that have been proven to make a difference when they’re included. This by itself is not hype. But repeated too often, they become less effective, and they take away (at least in your prospect’s mind) from the proof.
Stay tuned for our next post and tip to assist your Car Dealership. Be sure to have a peak at our
This is where research really pays off. Because in order to push those buttons, you need to first know what they are.
Listen to this story first, and I’ll tell you what I mean: Once upon a time a young man walked into a Chevrolet dealer’s showroom to check out a Chevy Camaro. He had the money, and he was ready to make a buying decision. But he couldn’t decide if he wanted to buy the Camaro or the Ford Mustang up the road at the Ford dealer.
A salesman approached him and soon discovered the man’s dilemma.
“Tell me what you like best about the Camaro,” said the salesman.
“It’s a fast car. I like it for its speed.”
After some more discussion, the salesman learned the man had just started dating a cute college cheerleader. So what did the salesman do?
Simple. He changed his pitch accordingly, to push the hot buttons he knew would help advance the sale. He told the man about how impressed his new girlfriend would be when he came home with this car! He placed the mental image in the man’s mind of he and his girlfriend cruising to the beach in the Camaro. How all of his friends will be envious when they see him riding around with a beautiful girl in a beautiful car.
And suddenly the man saw it. He got it. And the salesman recognized this and piled it on even more. Before you know it, the man wrote a nice fat check to the Chevy dealership, because he was sold!
The salesman found those hot buttons and pushed them like never before until the man realized he wanted the Camaro more than he wanted his money.
I know what you’re thinking…the man said he liked the car because it was fast, didn’t he?
Yes, he did. But subconsciously, what he really desired was a car that would impress his girlfriend, his friends, and in his mind make them love him more! In his mind he equated speed with thrill. Not because he wanted an endless supply of speeding tickets, but because he thought that thrill would make him more attractive, more likeable.
Perhaps the man didn’t even realize this fact himself. But the salesman sure did. And he knew which emotional hot buttons to press to get the sale.
Now, where does the research pay off?
Well, a good salesman knows how to ask the kinds of questions that will tell him which buttons to press on the fly. When you’re writing copy, you don’t have that luxury. It’s therefore very important to know upfront the wants, needs, and desires of your prospects for that very reason. If you haven’t done your homework, your prospect is going to decide that he’d rather keep his money than buy your product. Remember, copywriting is salesmanship in print!
It’s been said many times: People don’t like to be sold.
But they do like to buy.
And they buy based on emotion first and foremost. Then they justify their decision with logic, even after they are already sold emotionally. So be sure to back up your emotional pitch with logic to nurture that justification at the end.
And while we’re on the subject, let’s talk a moment about perceived “hype” in a sales letter. A lot of more “conservative” advertisers have decided that they don’t like hype, because they consider hype to be old news, been-there-and-done-that, my customers won’t fall for hype, it’s not believable anymore.
What they should realize is that hype itself does not sell well. Some less experienced copywriters often try to compensate for their lack of research or not fully understanding their target market or the product itself by adding tons of adjectives and adverbs and exclamation points and big bold type.
Whew! If you do your job right, it’s just not needed.
That’s not to say some adverbs or adjectives don’t have their place…only if they’re used sparingly, and only if they advance the sale.
But I think you’d agree that backing up your copy with proof and believability will go a lot farther in convincing your prospects than “power words” alone. I say power words, because there are certain adverbs and adjectives that have been proven to make a difference when they’re included. This by itself is not hype. But repeated too often, they become less effective, and they take away (at least in your prospect’s mind) from the proof.
Stay tuned for our next post and tip to assist your Car Dealership. Be sure to have a peak at our
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tip # 2 - Emphasize Benefits of Your Dealers & Vehicles, Not Features
Does what I wrote make sense to you? What exactly are features? They are descriptions of what qualities a product possesses.
Here are a few examples:
These examples are simply made up - use your own imagination to see how YOUR Dealership showcases only Features... And now turn those into Benefits.
Looking for other ways to increase sales and profits? Be sure to ask for your FREE PREVIEW of our great book:
"52 Free / Low Cost Marketing Strategies Guaranteed to Attract New Customers & Clients Into Your Auto Dealership In Any Economy".
Here are a few examples:
· The XYZ car delivers 55 miles per gallon in the city.
· Our ladder’s frame is made from a lightweight durable steel alloy.
· Our glue is protected by a patent.
· This database has a built-in data-mining system.
And what are benefits? They are what the actual features mean to your prospects:
· Lightweight durable steel-alloy frame means you’ll be able to take it with you with ease, and use it in places most other ladders can’t go, while still supporting up to 800 pounds. No more backaches lugging around that heavy ladder. And it’ll last for 150 years, so you’ll never need to buy another ladder again!
· Patent-protected glue ensures you can use it on wood, plastic, metal, ceramic, glass, and tile…without messy cleanup and without ever having to re-glue it again—guaranteed!
· You can instantly see the “big picture” hidden in your data, and pull the most arcane statistics on demand. Watch your business do a “180” in no time flat, when you instantly know why it’s failing in the first place! It’s all done with our built-in data-mining system that’s so easy to use, my twelve year-old son used it successfully right out of the box.
By the way, did you notice in the list of features where I wrote “steel alloy?” But in the benefits I wrote “steel-alloy” (with a hyphen). Not sure off-hand which one is correct, but I know which one I’d use.
Here’s why: you are not writing to impress your English teacher or win any awards. The only award you’re after is your copy beating the control (control being the best-selling copy so far), so take some liberty in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. You want it to be read and acted upon, not read and admired!
But—back to benefits…
If you were selling an expensive watch, you wouldn’t tell your reader that the face is 2 inches in diameter and the band is made of leather.
You show him how the extra-large face will tell him the time at a glance. No sir! He won’t have to squint and look foolish to everyone around him trying to read this magnificent timepiece. And how about the way he’ll project success and charisma when he wears the beautiful gold watch with its handcrafted custom leather band? How his lover will find him irresistible when he’s all dressed up to go out, wearing the watch. Or how the watch’s status and beauty will attract the ladies.
Incidentally, did you notice how I brought up not squinting as a benefit? Does that sound like a silly benefit? Not if you are selling to affluent baby boomers suffering from degrading vision. They probably hate it when someone they’re trying to impress sees them squint in order to read something. It’s all part of their inner desire, which you need to discover. And which even they may not know about. That is, until you show them a better way.
The point is to address the benefits of the product, not its features. And when you do that, you’re focusing on your reader and his interests, his desires. The trick is to highlight those specific benefits (and word them correctly) that push your reader’s emotional hot buttons.
Now for your challenge - Take 10 minutes to yourself and start coming of ways that your Dealership, staff and inventory can benefit your customer.
Job well done!
Looking for other ways to increase sales and profits? Be sure to ask for your FREE PREVIEW of our great book:
"52 Free / Low Cost Marketing Strategies Guaranteed to Attract New Customers & Clients Into Your Auto Dealership In Any Economy".
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