Garage door industry magazine for garage door dealers, garage door manufacturers, garage door distributors, garage door installers, loading docks, garage door operators and openers, gates, and tools for the door industry.
Issue link: https://idoi.epubxp.com/i/105596
SALES&MARKETING; by Michael Cody, Vice President of DAI Why it doesn't work (and what to do instead) IF your son told you that he wanted to get into a told l business that was easy to grow, didn't have a lot of competition and was simple to manage, you might think it a bit idealistic, but no doubt you'd wish him the best of luck. But if he told you that he was planning to get into the overhead door industry, you'd probably sit him down for a talk about the business facts of life and what you face in business every day. The business climate is only getting tougher. Rising fuel prices, slumping real estate marketing and escalating costs (among other factors) mean that it is harder than ever to be successful today. In reality, the challenge really comes down to the increasing difficulty in gaining new clients in a consistent and cost effective way. There are two related marketing and advertising challenges along this bumpy road. First, advertising mediums that worked well in the past are less effective and new media channels are constantly being created with the digital age. Secondly, these changes mean that there's no more room in the budget for "spaghetti marketing." Who can afford to throw spaghetti (advertising dollars) against the wall just to see if anything sticks? The outcome is that you quickly run out of spaghetti and end up with nothing to eat. Case Example: Town & Country Overhead Door Michigan's Town & Country Overhead Door faced these same marketing issues. "There is so much uncertainty out there that its hard to keep up with so many rapid changes," according to Claude Jones, Town & Country's owner. "We're constantly struggling to find the right balance of between 30 International Door & Operator Industryª managing our new business development exp expenses, and earning a good Return-on-Investment in gaining new customers." In the past, Claude built his business mainly through advertising in local yellow page directories. Once the leading source of new businesses, declining usage has meant fewer calls and fewer clients. What's worse, the expense of these directories has marched in the opposite direction. With an annual cost of more than $300,000, yellow pages were Claude's single largest company expense and consumed more than 90 percent of the marketing budget. The local yellow page sales agents consistently reassured Claude that he was getting "special discounts" and "the best deal possible." Despite this, he felt overcharged and believed that the medium was too expensive for the results it produced. However other advertising that they had tried–such as direct mail, coupons, and newspapers –didn't consistently produce the volume of new customers needed. Continued on page 33