One of my favorite movies is “Field of Dreams.” Early in the movie, a whispered voice from seemingly nowhere tells Kevin Costner’s character Ray Kinsella “if you build it, they will come.” After some time, Kinsella realized the voice wanted him to build a baseball field on his property. We all know the story. Kinsella listened to the voice and did what he was told. He tore up several acres of profitable cornfields to build a baseball field, complete with lights for night games. At the end of the movie, as the camera pulls far back from the close up of the field, we see hundreds of cars in a miles-long weaving line making their way up the dirt road to the field. Indeed, he built the baseball field and the people came. Unfortunately, in the competitive world of retail DME, simply starting a business and putting an “open” sign in your window will not make people come to shop. Simply by being there, people will most definitely not come. You must drive the traffic to your store through targeted, consistent marketing and advertising.
First Things First
Successful marketing and advertising programs that drive traffic and increase sales are the result of a well-constructed marketing plan of action. It’s a way of putting in place a structured series of activities to get a predictable and wanted result. A marketing plan is more than planning to run an ad twice a week for six weeks in your local paper. It’s an all encompassing, six-month or year-long plan for success.
Providing press-ready art can save you money on design fees and pave the way for additional discounts.
As you prepare to develop your marketing plan of action, you’ll want to conduct a SWOT analysis to determine your business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Be honest with your evaluation. Take a look at your staff. Are they your biggest Strength, or your biggest Weakness? What Opportunities for business growth exist in your area? Did a new senior high rise or activity center recently open? What’s the biggest Threat to your business? Is it your location? Did a fancy new DME or big box store open within a few miles of your store? Make sure you understand this analysis before you determine your marketing objective. As you develop your marketing objectives, make certain they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time scaled. Specific—Clearly state your goal. Instead of something general such as “be more profitable,” set a goal to increase market share by a certain percentage. Measurable—Specifically stating that the firm would like to increase its market share to 30 percent provides a measure to determine whether the company is meeting objectives. Achievable—Assess your capabilities and your marketing environment to ensure the objective is achievable. Setting a goal that is unachievable is setting you and your business up for failure. Realistic—Review your resources, employees, competitors and current market share to ensure an increase in market share to 30 percent in 12 months is realistic. Timescale—Make sure the steps toward reaching your goal are planned in a 12-month or 60-month calendar of events. Now that you’ve conducted a SWOT analysis, and set SMART marketing objectives, it’s time to develop your marketing plan. Every successful plan contais eight elements.
- Product. Make sure the product you select to sell satisfies a demand in your market.
- Productivity and Quality. Is the product a good deal? Are you supplying the best product and at a fair cost?
- Place. Can your customers easily purchase from you? Is your location conducive to your business model?
- Process. What is the buying process like for your customers? Are you making it easy or difficult?
- Promotion. Are you educating customers during your promotions to get them to buy product?
- People. Are the people who work for you well trained on good customer service techniques and the product?
- Price. Sell quality over bargain basement deals.
- Physical environment. Is your showroom a pleasant, inviting and inspiring place to shop?
In addition to the eight elements of a marketing plan, you will also need to have a corresponding budget, as well as understand the organizational implications of your plan. To help keep your marketing plan of action on track, develop a marketing calendar and post it where everyone can see it every day.
Make It Happen
So now you have your plan, what components do you need to make it successful? In your store, you will need to show and stock the right product. For example, if you plan to grow your lift chair sales by 15 percent this year, then you’d better devote the proper amount of space to lift chairs and have a variety of styles, sizes and fabric choices on your showroom floor. Make sure your staff is properly educated by your manufacturing partners on the products you are selling. It’s important to know the features and their associated benefits. It’s important to remember that people buy with emotions, and they justify the cost of the purchase with facts. So if your staff is properly trained on the features (facts) and the benefits (emotions) they will be more successful and sell more products. Consider extending hours during this promotional period or hold a special event such as a health fair. One Golden dealer recently held a “scooterpalooza” event at their store on a Saturday, inviting current scooter customers to come in for a free scooter checkup and cleaning. During the event, the dealer had other products on sale that would appeal to a customer who uses a scooter on a regular basis, including scooter accessories such as baskets and colored shroud kits. Promote your special event through a direct mail campaign. Despite all of the technology available, direct mail is still the most effective means of advertising to someone who is already your client. Retirees have a lot of time on their hands every day; they will read every piece of mail that is delivered, and take action based on those that are most effective. Make sure you also have your customer’s email addresses to run an email campaign, as well as utilize your website, Facebook page and Twitter account to announce special events and sales. And never discount the effects of good old fashioned P.R. A good public relations/media relations plan can get you great free publicity. And who doesn’t like something that’s free? Get to know your local health and business reporters at your local newspapers, and radio and TV stations. Call them personally and notify them of your special event two weeks in advance and see if they will run an article in the paper, or announce the event on radio or TV. Follow up with them a few days before the event and invite them to attend.
Spread the Word
As you develop your print advertising, keep in mind the standard components of a successful campaign. Most importantly, have a clean layout. As a former editor once told me when designing an ad, “don’t put 10 pounds of sugar in a 5 pound bag.” Keep it simple, with good product photography and a clean logo. Use a clear, consistent message and incorporate a call to action to get people to walk in the door. A coupon or a sale deadline can be very effective here. When considering where you will spend your advertising dollars, be sure to consider your target audience and know what media outlet is right for you. For the 65+ audience, the best places to advertise include the local daily newspaper; church bulletins; local weekly or monthly senior publications and select radio and TV stations. Each media outlet will be able to tell you who their demographic is, and advise you on where to advertise accordingly. Once you determine your audience, focus on getting the most out of each budgeted dollar. In today’s multimedia age, media companies typically own a variety of outlets. Talk with your media sales rep about bundling services between radio, print and online to get the best possible rate. Buy in volume. Your marketing plan of action will tell you when you are going to advertise. Share this information with your sales rep to get better pricing during the six or 12 months of your marketing plan. Provide press-ready art whenever possible, which can save you substantially on design fees. Most manufacturers will offer press-ready art at no charge. When providing press ready art, and doing your own negotiating, don’t be afraid to ask for the agency rate, which can save you up to 15 percent on your advertising costs. In addition to asking for the agency rate, there are other questions you can ask that can save you money. Ask for a frequency discount if you sign an extended contract now; ask for free color on print ads; ask for web advertising to be included at no additional charge. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
Supporting Players
When planning your advertising, reach out to your manufacturers’ marketing departments. Get to know the marketing staff and your best point of contact. Ask if they have camera-ready print ads and copy for radio and TV commercial scripts. Ask to see samples of successful ad campaigns from non-competitors. Many manufacturers offer co-op advertising programs for their customers. Each year, billions of dollars are offered to retailers by manufacturers in virtually every consumer product category, including DME. Cooperative (co-op) advertising is a joint venture between a manufacturer and a retailer where the manufacturer will reimburse the retailer in part for advertising expenses. Every manufacturer has different rules for their co-op program, so be sure to consult with their marketing department first before you start advertising. The most important thing to remember when devising a marketing plan or advertising campaign is the 3-9-27 rule. Every three times you expose someone to your message, it gets missed or ignored twice! It takes nine impressions to motivate someone to take action! So do the math… you’ve got to promote your message 27 times in order to make those nine impressions to motivate just one person. Consistency is key.
