Please Bring Me the Competitor’s Advertisement

A potential customer walks in the door to buy your product but you notice she is holding an ad from one of your competitors.  Does this make you excited?  Or anxious and nervous?

We should all be excited when someone walks in our door to buy from us, especially when we see they are serious about buying.  Nothing screams “I’m serious about buying” like a shopper that has done the necessary homework and is standing at the point of sale waiting to hand over some money.  In fact, it bodes well for us that they are standing at our doorstep with the competitors ad and not vice versa.  (And it’s even better when you consider that’s your competitor’s ad dollars that were spent to get a customer in your door!)

So how do we handle situations where the customer is obviously knowledgeable about the product or savy enough to know how to negotiate and shop around?!

Simple.  We have to know our product or service and we have to know our industry.

If the product is something very unique and hard to reproduce, it’s easy to distinquish your product from the competitions’ and therefore you can focus on that during your sales pitch.  Move the conversation away from price and focus on the characteristics of your product that make people want to buy it.

Ah, but what if you’re in an industry where price sells?  Let’s face it, anyone can sell something so unique and desirable that they have to go through you.  But when you’re in an industry, say car sales, where the customer can easily walk out the door and over to another store there has to be more than just a good product.

Smile.  Being friendly and engaging customers promptly when they arrive shows that you are sincere about helping them.  They will quickly push price to the back of their minds if they perceive that the service is better at your establishment.

Be interested.  Ok, so even with your bright smile they haven’t forgotten about that lower price in the ad they’re holding.  Ask questions and listen intently to what they say and how they say it.  If that price is so good, why are they coming to you?! 

During the conversation, casually repeat some of their important points…  “so you want to find something similar to this (pointing toward the customer’s ad) but in a red or maroon color?” and then once the customer acknowledges your understanding of what they want, immediately follow it up with some comments about what you can do beyond selling the same product to them.  “I think you will find we have the same product as XYZ Company but we also want you to know….(insert your selling point here!)  i.e. we have a great customer loyalty program, we have a more liberal return and exchange policy than XYZ Co., etc.”

Have a plan in place and be ready to ask the customer for a committment.  At some point you will have to ask the customer if they will accept your price and terms.  Do whatever you can to get a sale closed before the customer walks out the door.  You don’t want the customer to have second thoughts and go back to the competition.  Present your best offer and regardless whether the customer accepts the offer or walks out the door say Thank You and be sincere. 

Saying something like “I’m sorry we couldn’t be of service this time, but we hope you will give us another shot in the future” or “Thank you for bringing in that ad, we appreciate knowing what the competition is doing and we certainly value our customers.  We would be happy to honor their price and we appreciate your loyalty.“ 

Ok, some of this can sound rather canned and insincere if not expressed properly, but you have to make your best offer and no matter what the customer’s decision, thank them for coming to you before making a purchase.  Every one of us has been in that customer’s shoes and we all enjoy being told thank you.  Sometimes your politeness and sincerity can even lead to referrals or future business with the customer despite this particuar sale not being closed. 

Why are you still sitting here reading?  Go sell something!

Thomas Goodwin is an Ohio licensed real estate agent (Realtor) and insurance agent.  He is the Founder and CEO of Northern Pine Properties, Inc., a real estate investment, development, and management company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

March Madness!

March is an exciting month if you are a college basketball fan, and there’s no reason why it can’t be an exciting month for your business, too.  Not too long ago I posted an article about setting New Year’s resolutions for your business.  Well, it’s been two full months since the year began and we’re closing in on the end of the first quarter of the 2008 calendar year.  Hopefully you made resolutions and are meeting or exceeding them!  Now it’s time to focus on the customer and work on building those relationships to grow your business!

Regardless whether you have a retail store or provide a professional service, recognize your customers and show appreciation for their business.  You could accomplish this any number of ways: a sale, giving out free samples, holding a seminar or luncheon, giving out coupons for future purchases, and giving or requesting referrals.

Create a profile of your customers.  Why do they come to you instead of your competitor?  Ask for feedback from your customers regarding what they like about your business and what things they wish were different.  Asking the customer for suggestions and feedback is a great way to build goodwill and show the customer that you value their input without having to spend a single dollar to earn that feeling of trust and appreciation.  Feedback cards or online feedback can also be a great monitoring technique when you are not there to supervise your employees.  

Focus on your customer this month and make March a mad month for your business!

Thomas Goodwin is an Ohio licensed real estate agent (Realtor) and insurance agent.  He is the Founder and CEO of Northern Pine Properties, Inc., a real estate investment, development, and management company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! (And for Free, too!)

So in my October 18th, 2007 blog article I talked about advertising exposure that claims to reach a large audience but fails to reach your target audience.  I also briefly touched on the need to have good advertising exposure, effective advertising, as it’s all about quality over quantity.

Well just to briefly revisit this topic, there is nothing wrong with a free lunch when you can find it.  Regardless how effective the exposure is, if you can find it for free, there’s nothing that you can possibly lose by taking advantage of it.  I came across a way to submit your business into a directory on the Cincinnati.com website, which is the online presence of The Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper.  You simply fill out this page with information about your business, namely what it is that you do, how to contact you, and then submit it for approval.  It costs you absolutely nothing, except your time… and if you don’t have enough time to fill out a one page submission for free advertising then your business is obviously doing well enough that you don’t need to advertise.  Or you need to manage your time better; we can do a separate blog series on time management and delegating work loads.

Another way to get free exposure for your business is to send (usually via fax) press releases to newspapers and local media outlets like radio stations.  This form of free press is best used when you have a specific item or event to promote, or it’s a special occasion for your business (like your 10th year in business, landing a big contract or order, expanding your facilities or hiring more people, moving locations, under new management, and so on).  If the message is good, and you can incorporate a few extra details about your business - ESPECIALLY if you can use the press release to draw people into your store or onto your website, then it will most likely have a positive return.  The most it will cost you is the time to create the letter that you will fax.

I welcome any additional ideas on how to promote your business for free and hope to hear some great success stories as well.

Thomas Goodwin is an Ohio licensed real estate agent (Realtor) and insurance agent.  He is the Founder and CEO of Northern Pine Properties, Inc., a real estate investment, development, and management company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Previous Articles

New Year’s Resolutions That Are NOT For You

Do You Want Fries With That?

Advertising Exposure: Too Much of Not Enough

Using Census Data to Decode Your Competition

The Negotiation: Come Ready, Leave Happy

Be Deal-dextrious! Know Both Sides Before Negotiating

Employees are Assets AND Liabilities

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