Case Study - Figuring In Initial Marketing and Sales Costs for a New Automated Truck Wash

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AppId is over the quota

Should an automated truck wash hire professional salesmen to come help sell the fleet accounts? Well, sure, nothing good in life comes free, and not many people are very good at selling fleet wash accounts, I'd say only 20 or so in the whole country, and they work for Blue Beacon, Fleetwash, and formerly for my company before retirement, plus there are vendor companies like Penske and Ryder Leasing who have kick-ass salesmen and any of those guys or gals can talk shop and sell fleet washing accounts too.

What if you, the owner of the automated truck wash has a bit of sales experience? Can you go out and sell yourself? Yes, I believe so, that is if one understands the philosophy and are halfway decent at sales and people skills, problem solving, and customer service. Plus, if the sales team has the knowledge of the process, equipment, technology, soap, and industry; do you have that knowledge, you'll need it? Also ask yourself if you know anything about the trucking industry? Have you ever driven a truck? What is your background here?

Now then, having put together Bonzai and Blitz Missions for marketing fleet accounts, putting together a full on marketing mission the way I'd do it would cost $5,000 and no I am not interested in doing that for anyone, but that is about the type of cost we are talking about here. And, to do it right would probably take a good week and a half even for me to do it, but if you pay attention you can do this yourself.

When setting up your own sales team to go out and get fleet washing contracts, you need to gather your sales people in a room, get them motivated and hyped up, and then strategically place them based on their personal personality strengths into small two-person teams. Then you need to send them out to conquer each grid of the city section by section. Literally canvassing and combing the area for every single truck and fleet vehicle that may need cleaning. They should have flyers, brochures, and they should be contacting every single delivery driver, every fleet owner, and every business they think they might score an account with.

In fact, I used to send our teams behind the grocery stores during delivery times, and they would hand out flyers to every single driver of every single company that pulled up during the day, they would give them a flyer, and convince them to take that flyer and go hand it to their dispatcher, or the owner of the company personally. It is amazing how well this works, and I'm so excited to tell you, because I know you're going to go out and get new business. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on the Truck Washing Industry. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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Turning Your Leads Into Sales

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AppId is over the quota

Do you want a fresh supply of leads coming into your business. And you would like to over come one of the most difficult things you can do. Though it is not so simple to convert a lead into sales. But here is a 2 Step formula you can use to see amazing results.

Step 1: Turning Your Leads Into Sales - No matter how great your leads are, unless you have a solid follow-up system in place, you won't convert nearly as many as you could. Once the follow-up letters are written, tested and improved - you can send these out as often as possible and you will know that you can make $X every single month as long as you are sending out a certain number of letters.

If your letter #1 converts 10% of your prospects into buyers, letter #2 converts 5%, and letter #3 converts 3% - you have 18% of your prospects that you can convert to paid clients - without a single meeting or phone call - the letters can do ALL the work. {insert video, email, autoresponder etc in place of letter - the system is the same for all}

So remember, the goal of all these exercises is to build you a business system that makes you money month in and month out. Something you can repeat, grow, or shrink, depending on how much business you need or don't need. The most powerful way to do your follow-up is through direct mail, email, audio or video.

Until now, they have put up their hand to say they are interested in your offer. You have taken down their contact information and sent them the gift offered. Now you need to get them to buy into your products and services. And a 2 Step follow-up campaign is the most powerful way to close the deal.

There isn't enough room here to properly show you how to create follow-up campaigns that work. But there is a formula which you can use throughout.

Attention - get them to read it right off the bat. The headline you use is KEY and will make or break your success with the follow-up. Some of the best formulas for headlines will be found in the magazines you read, and you had BETTER pay attention to how their write their cover headlines. Right under the headline you need to continue with the same thought you were on in the headline.

Interest - You got them to stop and read your letter. Now you need to build up their interest and show them you have something that they will want (if you have done your research, targeted the right person, and gotten them to put up their hand for more information you know they are interested). Now you have to build on that interest and further the reason for them to keep reading.

Desire - This is where you introduce to them an incredible offer that they have ever seen before. You must bundle numerous products or services together and offer them a fabulous deal on the bundle (call the bundle something different so they can never compare apples to apples with your competitors). Offer them an incredible guarantee. A price plan. Testimonials from happy clients. Proof that you deliver on your promises.

Action - The most important (yet neglected) step in the entire marketing system. Ask them to take action NOW. Give them reasons and incentives to visit or purchase right now. Give them every reason in the book to trust you. And make sure they understand what will happen if they don't take action NOW. Not exactly rocket science - but it certainly makes money on demand.

Step 2: Measuring And Testing - As mentioned previously, you need to track EVERYTHING. Noting what works, what didn't, how well it works or didn't, exactly what you did, etc. The easiest way to do this is keep a simple excel spreadsheet (or something similar) detailing everything that has happened. Then it is time to rank the results you got.

Rank it:

1 stellar success and either brought in a ton of sales, new leads, or positive comments from your customers and prospects.

2 marginally successful - broke even on profits (or small profit), got a few new leads or positive comments

3 not good results at all - lost money or time for nothing, no new leads or sales, no one even noticed you during your attempt

4 disgustingly bad - big loser, negative feedback and comments, complete waste of time for your business

Rank everything you have done in your marketing campaigns - from 1 through 4. Then separate them into 1's and 2's (the winners) - then another group of 3's and 4's (the losers). The 1's and 2's you are going to do again... the rest you will hold off for now and revisit them in 6 months or so (things change - what didn't work now may work exceptionally well in 6 months - the internet and society is on warp drive right now - never throw out your test results).

You can even go further into detail and give your honest thoughts on why some things worked and didn't. These notes you make could be worth a fortune to you in 6 or 12 months. Rather than reinventing the wheel - you may find you tested it already but forgot it didn't work - or did work.

Now write out how you can make them better, more fun, more exciting, more profitable, more enticing, more powerful, more appealing to the emotions... anything you can think of to make it better - write it down.

Post these types of results on a regular basis. Keep in marketing results binder - review monthly - or whenever you need new promotion ideas. With the above example - you would definitely want to run ALL the 1's at least one more time a year, test the 2's again - and don't bother running the 3's.

THINGS TO TEST

(only test one thing at a time or test is invalid, test must be run to exact same list or publication as initial control)

Put in columns

Free samples

Quantity discounts

Method of payments (cash, check, multiple credit card options, purchase orders, extended payments)

Method of response: phone, mail, email, web, fax, in-store

Regular envelop vs larger

Live stamps vs pre-printed

Teaser copy on envelope vs none

Window envelope vs regular

Signature in blue ink vs black

Different headlines

Handwriting in margins or spread throughout

1 page letter vs multiple page

Opening paragraph

Change the PS

Color vs black and white

Font size

Different font

Bonus bundles

Deadlines vs no deadlines

Write as if from you vs write as if from someone else (staff, spouse, client, supplier)

[NOTE: Do NOT ask your friends, family, or co-workers for their impressions on your marketing. They are the worst ones to ask. Either hire a professional, use the templates here as a foundation, or test your campaign to see the real results. Stick with the formula here - it works in the real world. Your best pals advice doesn't work in the actual world guaranteed]

Once you have a campaign that works for you-keep using it! Don't stop just because you are tired of it. Send it out to every new lead that comes in the door. If it works once - it will work again. That is the beauty of this kind of marketing. You write a direct response campaign using the principles laid out here, you test the results, you try variations of, find a winner, and keep using the winner as many times, and as often as humanly possible.

That is how fortunes are made and how small businesses become big businesses (or at least very profitable businesses, for those who want to keep it small).

A CHALLENGE TO YOU. Don't just read this post, take action on it. NOTHING good comes from inaction, especially in marketing and sales.

To your success,

Troy White

PS: Note something on the sales system here real success in this type of marketing is based on using stories. Stories are proven (Carnegie Mellon study) to outsell facts based promotions by 180%.

Don't fight the desire to crawl under a rock when asked to share your story DO IT. The more stories of your past and present experiences the more people will like and buy form you.

The simple addition of more of your back story is the simplest way to generate a following of prospects and buyers. DON'T HIDE IT!

Most entrepreneurs seem to be scared or embarrassed about their beginnings. Yet, to those who pay you for products and services, it is one of the MOST important things about you.

Don't kid yourself, you have competition out there, LOTS of them. Your buyers could choose you or one of a handful of others.

So product isn't how you differentiate yourself (and trying to win in the long run on price is a losing battle) Your STORY is how you win them over. TELL IT!

Starting with this step-by-step home study program to get it out there http://www.storysellingtips.com/

PS: Discover how to make your cash flow surge with the street smart marketing tools at my blog http://www.blog.smallbusinesscopywriter.com/

You also get one of my favorite case studies of marketing done exceptionally well, The Million Dollar Lobster Report when you sign up for updates on my blog. Discover how two young twenty-something year old brothers turned a simple lobster sale into a million dollar business in just 3 months!

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Why Defining Your Target Market Is the Fastest Way to Increase Sales and Attract Customers Who Buy

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AppId is over the quota

The purpose of a solid marketing plan is to act like a sorting and sifting machine that attracts a select group of customers who want what your business sells.This defines your "target market," and that's where you need to start. Otherwise your marketing efforts will end up attracting customers who really don't want to buy what you sell. And guess what? They'll waste your time and they won't buy anything! So to avoid wasting ad dollars on the wrong people, you must start by targeting the right people, and this article explains why.

I believe that most customers have no idea what, exactly, they really want or need. They have a "feeling" about it, or a friend told them to buy "such and such," but rarely will you meet a customer who truly knows the best way to solve their own problem. It's up to your business to provide the expertise and experience that guides them to a valuable solution, or the solution the customers really wants.

Your customers need help because we humans are goal seeking creatures, and it puts us in a position of always wanting, but not knowing how to get there. We try new things and then realize there's more to it than we imagined, so we look for help completing what we started.

For example:

Let's say your goal is to build a simple outdoor bench. You go to the hardware store and tell the clerk you need a drill and a selection of bits, bolts and nuts. (You have the wood.) The clerk hands you what you request, but when you get home, you realize the cord on the drill is too short to reach the patio and you don't have an extension. Then you realize that you bought the wrong kind of bits for the bolts you purchased.

Hmmm. What's missing in this picture?

The clerk didn't know what you had in mind and they didn't bother to find out. So you bought the products you thought were best, and none of them solved your problem. You can't really "blame" the store, but what if the clerk had given you some helpful direction that a few thoughtful questions could have supplied? How much more inclined would you be to shop at that hardware store again?

That's a hands-on example of why It's up to you, the business owner, to learn as much as you can about the people your business attracts so you can become their best problem solver. Better yet, it's up to you to attract ONLY the type of customers who have problems that your products and services are designed to solve so they know they're dealing with experts who will steer them the right way.

Effective marketing must be specific and targeted, so now it's time to get very specific about:

How your products are usefulWhat benefit they will experience (their value)Who the people are that will use them

These add up to your target market (your ideal clients.) Like all people, customers have their preferences, habits, fears and suspicions, desires and joys, problems and pain. Which of these things come into play concerning your products or services? Write them out. Now, reduce your description to the most accurate "fit."

This is information provides the fuel for your marketing and sales funnel. It's like drilling for oil. The deeper you go (the more targeted your market niche) the more likely you are to strike gold. But you cannot dig randomly. Look for indications that there's oil waiting to be discovered!

Here are some tips to help you define your Ideal Customer:

Find an image that represents your ideal customer (Or several.)

Answer these questions (Don't over think it.)

What are their hobbies, favorite foods or TV shows, preferred books, magazines, or clothing designersDo they have a family, want to get married, get into college, or lose 30 lbs.?Where do they live, what car do they drive, and what beliefs shape their lives?

So get busy and start brainstorming.

You can do as much research as you want, but the goal is to match your products to an ideal customer whose very thoughts you can read, and whose desires are reflected by your ads, sales letters, and by the brand presence you develop to attract this particular niche market. You can hire someone to do the work for you, but first be sure you can answer "How, Who, and What," plus the 3 questions above.

Marketing conveys the value you have to offer your customers. It's finding the words they want to hear that describe the results they want to get. When your message matches their desire, expect an oil gushl!

When you target your market, your business will experience incredible marketing power that produces sales easily and consistently. A little research and planning makes all the difference in the long run. Trust me, if you don't know what your customers really want and what motivates them to buy, now is a good time to find out!

Betsy Shulman loves to help business owners grow their businesses and increase their sales with simple marketing and selling solutions. That's why she uses a common sense approach that positions your business products so they attract targeted customers who are ready to buy. It doesn't need to be complicated! Her free Sales Action Guide: "How to Make Selling Easy" is filled with ready-to-apply selling tips. So be sure to visit http://www.rightmindmarketing.com/ and pick up your Free copy!

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