hi everyone,
Need a bit of help on creative for a spray in bedliner company. He is an acquaintance of mine from my car sales days...i worked on him for the last 12 weeks and finally convinced him to do a 2 week buy.
I know I need his "offer" to be strong...and I need his "message" to be strong....
I am taking production director out to meet him tomorrow and kick some ideas around.
Just wondering if anyone has done anything with a company such as this.
He wants to push his bedliners and how much better they are than the regular drop in bedliners that come with most trucks...
thanks in advance.
He is a franchise owner and owns all of our state....main site is Linex.com
There are only 2 main companies here in town that do this....equally priced.....main customer is the person who just bought a new/used pickup....
Tom - We've done a couple spots for Line-X clients. I've put the copy online. 2 :30's and a :60. If you'd like to use them for your client, or just as idea starters, please feel free. If we might help further, don't hesitate to be in touch!
Neil
Tom:
A two-week buy sounds an awful lot like a "test." A few considerations worth reviewing with your client, so you both are in agreement before you pull the trigger...
What are your client's goals for this buy? Has he told you, specifically, what must happen in order for him to call his advertising buy a success? How will he measure success? Are his expectations reasonable in view of the investment? A short campaign usually isn't about "branding" a business, but rather about making quick sales. To force prospects out of their comfort zones and get them to buy when WE want them to, rather than when they're ready to buy, requires an offer that is--quite literally--irresistible. Is his offer irresistible - so attractive that listeners will want to drop what they're doing and take him up on it right now?
Earlier this month, RSC member Julie Irving posted on an ad campaign that left the client disappointed. Better to ask the right questions before the ads run, and give yourself (and your client) every possible advantage. Here's a link to Julie's post and several good comments in response.
Good luck with your promotion, Tom!
Great Response Rod...and exactly what I've been thinking with almost everyone that I have been pitching since I started....my problem is I want their campaign to work not only so they will buy more from me but also because I genuinely care about them...all of them. I have been in their shoes.
That's the problem I'm running into.....I am trying to generate new local direct business and am running into tons of folks that have a small amount of money to spend but want to spend it.
I have read lots and lots about having this scenario. I know they should dominate a day part or dominate a day of the week....and spend that money the best way you can. Unfortunately that is still tough with some of their budgets.
Back to Linex
His expectations for success are a little different than mine
I think I need to go help him reset them. I have set up a meeting with him again today to go over the contract and set the expectations. I always underpromise in my life and overdeliver. Selling cars, selling sprinklers...and now selling ads. I worry that his expectations are a little high also and I don't want to disappoint him.
He says he has a gross profit of $200 per "bedliner".
He is spending $800 over the course of these 2 weeks.
He thinks he needs to sell 6 bedliners to make it worth it.....I think he needs to get 6-10 opportunities to sell bedliners to make it a success.
He wants to do about 10% off as his offer......I want him to offer more off....and I dislike percentages.
His normal price is $499
He wants to do it for $449
He does them all the time for dealerships for $399
I want him to do them for $375 for the 2 weeks he is on the air...
He thinks his gross profit is $200 when he sells for $499
See my issue?
When I sold them for him at the dealership he allowed us to sell them for $399 and was happy to have the business..so happy he spiffed us $25 to do it, essentially selling them for $374....
My thought was this.....advertise a $375 price.
If they want options charge for them.....over the bed rail, color match, UV protection...sell them the options and make up the margins there.
If they just want the $375 price, they get under the rail, basic spray in bedliner. In and out, quick and easy, another satisfied customer.
Thoughts on my convoluted post?
thank you Neil for your suggested scripts....
Tom,
You're on the right track. You've done your homework. Now being upfront with the client about your concerns is the best way to open a long-term relationship, based on trust, empathy, honesty...and not simply a desire to make a quick buck. Good for you!
Offering the "lowest price ever" ($374 net) is easy, but I'm not sure it's wise. First, your listeners don't know what kind of a value this represents. So, the price means less to them than it does to you. How much time would you have to spend explaining the mathematics to them - and even after you did, would they believe you? Besides, it might create problems with his dealer clients, who are worth more to him than an individual customer.
That said, he might get away with selling them for the dealer price (not lower) as a special promotion. First you need to establish a value benchmark. Does his bedliner add $499 in value to the re-sale price of the truck? Is it competitively priced at $499? "We've sold hundreds of bedliners at $499. But for 2 weeks only, we're offering YOU our Fleet price—$399, the same price the truck dealerships pay! All we ask is that you tell a friend how much you like your new bedliner."
2) Instead of lowering the price, he could ADD something to the transaction: a free accessory that's normally priced at $____...a meal-for-two at the restaurant across the street while they're installing the bedliner...etc.
Just a couple ideas to consider...
Tom,
I sold a jingle to Rhino Lingings West some years back (attached.0
Perhaps your client might like to have a jingle produced ... It's a great, great idea!
Jim Reilly
American Music Concepts
P 732 604 8625
Tom,
Here's the jingle.
Jingle Jim
Well I have a story!
Background....I got scared and almost told him to hold off on advertising until he had enough money to do it a little stronger....but I didn't, instead i concentrated his schedule on overnights.....and saturdays....and as close to morning drive as I could w/out hitting it...with the idea being that he would get lots of frequency with the military commuters around town.
I worked my a** off on the script...I wrote two scripts, got a little pushback from prod....and got them produced, and everyone loved them. In fact LINEX corporate was consulted with by my client and they loved them too...and sent me emails saying just that.
The schedule started Monday 3 days ago. 11 commercials have aired thus far, most of them from 2am to 4am...with 1 per day from 5am to 6am and 1 per day from 9pm to 10pm.
My client emailed me today.....one sentence. "How many bedliners do I have to sell to pay for this crap?"
Panic.....fear.....more panic....I didn't want to call him so I emailed him to buy some time as I was in a meeting....I said "4"
1 excruciating hour later he sent me a reply and said:
"#4 just pulled out of the bay and I have 1 scheduled for tomorrow!"
I called him when I came out of my meeting....asked him if I read it right, and congratulated him on his success and asked him how he knew the buyers were our listeners and he said:
"they told me w/out me asking because of the discount we only offered your listeners!" Plus I've taken your advice you gave me during our first meeting and started asking everyone that walks in or calls us on the phone! I have another bedliner scheduled next week which will take me into profit land.
"I have spent thousands of dollars over the years and this is by far, even now 3 days in, the best money I have ever spent, I guess radio works!"
So, thank you for all the advice, some of it not in this thread that I have read, and the links given. Special thanks to Mr. Rolando and all his You Tube videos.....thanks for creating this site. Today was my birthday and this was by far the best bday present I could have even imagined!
By the way....we only did a 7% discount but talked about discount in term of dollars...he says all of them are asking if they get the $50 off since they heard it on the radio!
This place rocks!
Thanks for following up & sharing your story. Tom,
Happy Birthday - and congratulations on your successful launch with the new client. Sounds as though you thought it through and made great choices. Would you be willing to upload your Linex spots here and share them with us? Love to hear them.
One thing you might want to suggest to your client, if he's not already doing so: he should consider giving each of his new customers one or more referral cards to give to their friends. For instance, the card might entitle the person who receives it to a cash discount off a new bedliner (maybe the same $50 as the radio offer) and there would be a place on the back for that person to name the friend who gave him the card ("Whom may we thank for this referral?") When the bedliner client gets a card back, he rewards the customer who passed it along to his friend (store credit, a free dinner, etc.). Happy customers make great ambassadors, and this referral technique is actually one way for your client to extend the value of his radio buy with you. I can show you some examples of referral cards, if you like. I know a couple of dentists who've built lucrative practices using this system.
Anyhow, congratulations again, Tom. Great story!
-Rod
