Marketing a new business

[BlackC55]

Hello again people.

This forum is a wealth of knowlege and I am sure some of you will know more about marketing than I do.

Any suggestions on what I can do to help bring in more business for me. i am busy but not busy enough. So far I have done numerous leaflet drops and I am having two adverts in the local papers soon.

I need some inspiration!!

Thanks ion advance

Oliver

 

[gina2201]

How about an Open day?

leaflets and paper adverts as you have already done are a good start!

 

[television]

Dont forget your free entries in thomson and yellow pages. advertising in both is expensive and hardly worth while.

When I did service, I found that the 25mm in the repair section of the locals paid off better than large adds as when people want something they look in the specific column, most papers do a discount rate.

I will atart up a indie section on the other one.

I will add some more later

 

[BlackC55]

How about an Open day?

leaflets and paper adverts as you have already done are a good start!

Open day will happen but I am waiting on my star to be repaired. (biggest headache ever)

 

[prprandall51]

Not sure what line of business you are in....

 

[Dieselman]

Open day will happen but I am waiting on my star to be repaired. (biggest headache ever)

Do you know what you just said...

 

[BlackC55]

Mercedes Smart and Porsche independent specialist.

 

[BlackC55]

Do you know what you just said...

Yes. Why?

 

[prprandall51]

Random thoughts (I used to be in marketing - this doesn't mean they are all good ideas, I am just letting you know these aren't the meanderings of an idiot )

People rarely trust a "specialist" who is a specialist in more than one thing. Perhaps create multiple identities for your company for each brand. MB owners probably think Smarts are not a real MB. Porsche owners do not identify with MB drivers (who keep getting in their way and slowing them up).

Leafleting: People just throw them away. Have you tried hand delivered letters addressed (in an envelope) to "The Mercedes Benz Owner" popped through the letterbox of the houses with them on the drive (two and a half years old cars and older).

If you do leafleting, have you tried it in car parks on the appropriate vehicles only? People notice when their car has a leaflet when other don't. Does your leaflet clearly say in large letters why you have targeted their car (and apologise for the "informal" approach, while you are at it).

Have you got a strap line that explains what your core value(s) is? Is it quality, cost, fast turn-around, at-home serviceing, etc. What does make you special? Cheap is only part of it. Have you got all the key points on your literature / in your ads (MB training, star diagnostics, fancy ramps, whatever!)?

Have you got a website? It can make a small company look big and is an increasingly common place for busy people to look for services.

Have you got any competitors in the area? Have you examined their marketing to see what they are up to? Do the same exercise on companies doing the same thing outside your area (or on different makes) to look for other ideas. There's nothing wrong with copying success!

Philip

 

[BlackC55]

Website is being done as we speak.

My competitors do NO advertising at all. There is ony one farily nearby and he does mainly older MB'S etc.

My literature has all of the key points.

I target car parks etc with my leaflets. I have been doing this for a while and it really works.

Thanks for the info.

 

[comports]

Hi,

Did you say you had a website. Although your business tends to attract fairkly local trade I find it a useful tool for advertising as more and more people use it to find services.

I'm happy tohelp out if you need any advice/input here as I'm a web designer/developer by trade.

Good luck in the venture anyway.

 

[prprandall51]

(I am a ) Mercedes Smart and Porsche independent specialist.

... I'm a web designer/developer by trade.

.. I sense "synergy".

 

[BlackC55]

Hi,

Did you say you had a website. Although your business tends to attract fairkly local trade I find it a useful tool for advertising as more and more people use it to find services.

I'm happy tohelp out if you need any advice/input here as I'm a web designer/developer by trade.

Good luck in the venture anyway.

PM sent

 

[ceejaySL]

Dont forget your free entries in thomson and yellow pages. advertising in both is expensive and hardly worth while

......... dont forget the online version - Yell - and this can be done really quickly, with better responses than the paper version...........

.......perhaps the local Chamber ofCommerce - offer an incentive for members of the chamber and they will be pleased to circulate you to all of their members - generally for free!

 

[BlackC55]

Just registered on Yell.com for free.

Thanks for the tip. Should be on in 5 days

 

[league67]

I wouldn't go with cheap. Reasonable yes, but not cheap. If you are cheap you are going to attract customers whos only criteria is to get job done as cheaply as possible with them trying to 'easy jobs' and when they mess up they'll bring the rest to you. I subscribe to that its better to have less 'quality' customers then being fully booked by people who are going to moan and groan for every penny.
Also agree with previous post that you need 2 identities if you want to do both porsche and merc. I'm looking into buying 996 C2 but I for one would use only proper indy. Ie someone whos devoting his whole time to single brand. I'm sure its narrow-minded, but thats how I think and bet I'm not the only one. At the end of they day why would I go to jack-of-all-trades when there are plenty good indies arround.

Ian Walker (don't know guy from Adam),got marketing just right. Very specific target audience, and importantly that audience, without exception so far, likes him and recommends him.

For servicing, I think its word of mouth. Ask yourself would you go to someone whos recommended by people you 'know', or anywhere else.

my p2 only.

Regards Voya

Saying that if you feel confident to lower suspension (i'll supply porsche parts) on 996, I just might pop up and put some work your way.

 

[BlackC55]

I wouldn't go with cheap. Reasonable yes, but not cheap. If you are cheap you are going to attract customers whos only criteria is to get job done as cheaply as possible with them trying to 'easy jobs' and when they mess up they'll bring the rest to you. I subscribe to that its better to have less 'quality' customers then being fully booked by people who are going to moan and groan for every penny.
Also agree with previous post that you need 2 identities if you want to do both porsche and merc. I'm looking into buying 996 C2 but I for one would use only proper indy. Ie someone whos devoting his whole time to single brand. I'm sure its narrow-minded, but thats how I think and bet I'm not the only one. At the end of they day why would I go to jack-of-all-trades when there are plenty good indies arround.

Ian Walker (don't know guy from Adam),got marketing just right. Very specific target audience, and importantly that audience, without exception so far, likes him and recommends him.

For servicing, I think its word of mouth. Ask yourself would you go to someone whos recommended by people you 'know', or anywhere else.

my p2 only.

Regards Voya

Saying that if you feel confident to lower suspension (i'll supply porsche parts) on 996, I just might pop up and put some work your way.

I am sure If I can do a gearbox on a Carrera Gt your suspension should be straight forward.

Let me know when and I would be happy to help.

Thanks for the advice. I do not advertise myself as "cheap" and never would. "Cheap" means work that I do not do. I ony use high quality products/parts.

 

[league67]

Hi,

hmm , didn't suggest that you would actually use word 'cheap' on your fliers. I meant more addressing market segment with prices.

Maybe little illustration. And this is how I run my 'service dept'

most expensive competitor - 200£/h
cheapest competitor 150£/h

me - 190£/h with clear understanding why (experience, references, qualifications etc)
Above figures are for illustration purposes only.

 

[BlackC55]

Hi,

hmm , didn't suggest that you would actually use word 'cheap' on your fliers. I meant more addressing market segment with prices.

Maybe little illustration. And this is how I run my 'service dept'

most expensive competitor - 200£/h
cheapest competitor 150£/h

me - 190£/h with clear understanding why (experience, references, qualifications etc)
Above figures are for illustration purposes only.

I knew what you ment lol.

Thats a good idea from you appreciate it. Thanks

 

[pint6x]

A good way of bringing extra traffic to your website is:

Go to Google home page. click on business solutions - you can get them to bring your website up in the righthand margin whenever someone does a google search on some key words (which you specify).

You only pay Google if the person actually clicks on the link to your website. It's about 7p per click - you can set a monthly budget over which Google will not go - I have used it and specified a budget of £30 per month and I have had a significant increase in traffic to my site.

Regards

Philip