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Ask Tory: What is the Best Way to Increase My Web Leads?

Tory Hornsby | 05/30/2017

 

With any website related subject I like to start by asking, “What is the main purpose of your website?”

 

Most think the purpose of their website is to be an online brochure, or to be a glorified phone book where folks can find your phone number, address, and basic information about your dealership. Others would say it’s a virtual storefront where customers and prospects go to research the products they’re interested in. While all of the above mentioned may transpire on your website, none are its primary objective. 

 

The main purpose of your website must be to identify website visitors and generate leads.  All other functions are secondary. 

 

There are 3 primary ways you can identify more visitors and get more leads to follow-up with: 

 

1. Increase traffic to your website. The more traffic/visitors coming into the top of the funnel, the more opportunity it creates at the bottom.  The following are some ways to boost website traffic:

 

- SEM/PPC: Pay Per Click (i.e. Google AdWords) is a great way to attract folks who are searching for the products you sell. For instance, when someone who lives close to your dealership does a Google search for a “2017 Honda Recon” or for a “Harley Street Glide”… if you sell the product being searched for, you want to be as close to the top of the first page of the search results as possible. If you’re not doing PPC at some level, you’re missing a lot of opportunity. 


- Facebook Website Clicks Campaign: In the past, I’ve not been impressed with the thought of Facebook advertising. Unlike SEM/PPC where folks are actively searching for a want/need, a person is on Facebook to waste time and snoop into other people’s lives. However, the results our Digital Marketing Department is achieving are impressive to say the least. We’re getting more clicks/traffic and more conversions for less ad spend, ultimately driving more traffic to websites and creating a compelling ROI for our clients.

 

- Firestorm Email: The purpose of email has long been perceived as another way to create TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness) and build loyalty with customers. While it is good for those things, Powersports Marketing is revolutionizing the way dealers think about email. We’ve built the Firestorm Email System to not only make it easy to send a custom-built email full of incredible done-for-you graphics, but also to make ‘increasing website traffic’ the primary purpose of sending an email.  Every email theme gives users the ability to quickly add links to get more folks to your website. While that sounds rudimentary, once you’ve seen our Firestorm Email System you’ll get it. 

 

Tia, who writes an article on page 5, recently showed me some research she did for one of our clients. They had 6,151 website sessions in March, and 12.43% of their website traffic came from the Firestorm Email System.  Want a 12% increase in your traffic (or more)?  Call 877-242-4472 for a demo of our Firestorm Email System. 

 

2. Increase conversion ratios. The average dealership gets around 4,000 website visitors with a 1%-3% conversion rate, meaning between 40 to 120 visitors on any given month will fill out a form and identify who they are. We recommend a conversion point to be on every page of your website. While I don’t think you should utilize all of these because it’s overwhelming and feels gimmicky, here are some common conversion points: Quote Request, Schedule a Demo Ride, Parts Request, Service Request, Finance Pre-Approval, Trade Evaluation, Internet Value Package, Free Premium (T-shirt, etc.), Free Report, Join Email Newsletter, etc. 

 

Improving your conversion rate will make a big difference, but still 90% or more of your website visitors will be anonymous (unidentified), which leads us to number 3.

 

3. Utilize Firestorm Onboarding: Onboarding is a new technology that identifies some of the customers who are looking at new and used inventory, but who don’t fill out a web form.  

 

Imagine knowing that your customer, “Joe Smith,” has been on your website 5 different times over the past 2 weeks and that he’s looking at different variations of the same make and model, and yesterday he viewed 3 bikes that are in your inventory right now. If you had that data, it could make a big difference, couldn’t it?  

 

That’s what Onboarding does.  Every morning we send select members of your team an email that notifies you of who was looking at new and used inventory on your website yesterday, so your sales staff can see what they were looking at and follow up with them via email and/or phone call. 

 

Onboarding has helped our clients begin to sell additional units every month that they wouldn’t have otherwise even known about. 

 

To start fulfilling the main purpose of your website, or for more information on any of the topics above, give us a call at 1-877-242-4472.

 

- Tory

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Ask Tory: Our dealership only holds one or two events per year, is this enough?

Tory Hornsby | 05/08/2017

 

As most know, we got our start on the dealer’s side of the fence. Rod, CEO of Powersports Marketing, owned a 4-store dealer group in the Atlanta metro area, and most of our leadership team (myself included) was involved in the operations of those stores. 

 

I’ll never forget a valuable lesson I learned from Rod around the year 2000 after Dealer Expo in Indy. Rod required all of our dealership staff who attended any dealer meetings to attend the seminars that were being offered, and he practiced what he preached. This particular year, the late John Wyckoff, author of Mind Your Own Business, was one of the instructors and Rod attended his seminar. 

 

John Wyckoff had asked a room full of dealers to raise their hand if they had held an event at their dealership during the spring or summer of the previous year. Most dealers raised their hand. Then, he asked how many of those events were successful, leading to an increase of traffic and sales. Again, most dealers raised their hand. He then asked the room who had held more than one event in that calendar year. Only a few dealers raised their hand. 

 

John Wyckoff was on to something. Most dealers in our industry know that events are one of the best ways (if not the very best way) to drive floor traffic, but most will only do 1 or 2 each year.  In the before-mentioned seminar, John Wyckoff asked why the dealers didn’t do more than one event. The reason?  Because having an event at the dealership is a lot work, and it’s especially tough on the Dealer Principal and/or GM.

 

This is a bit of a ‘Catch 22’ though. When a dealer only holds 1 - 2 events per year there’s no routine. No routine means a lack of systems and processes. When there’s no system in place, chaos ensues. That chaos equals a bunch of hard work and headaches for the Dealer Principal who then decides he doesn’t want to sign up for his own butt-whooping again. 

 

Dealers who decide to conduct monthly events, however, develop the appropriate systems, which make their events much easier to conduct. SYSTEM is an acronym for Save Yourself Stress Time Energy & Money. And, while systems are never perfect to begin with, the headaches decrease rapidly as a routine is developed.

 

Shortly after Rod attended this seminar, our 4 stores started holding an event every single month. One system we developed was an Event Planning Checklist. Yes, a checklist is a system! The GM of each store was responsible for using this checklist to assign tasks to their staff and ensure no details were overlooked. If you’d like a PDF of this Event Planning checklist, call 1-877-242-4472 and ask for me, or tell the PSM team member who answers that you’d like us to email a copy to you.

 

Events are also a paramount piece of the Predictable Growth System. For those who don’t remember what the Predictable Growth System is, there are 2 parts to it:

 

1. We Grow Your Active Customers – An active customer is defined as someone who has spent money with your dealership within the last 12 months. 

 

We grow active customers in two ways. First, we focus on reactivating inactive/lost customers who haven’t spent money with you in the last 12 months. Second, we get new customers through the door by focusing on the people who live in your market area, ride what you sell, buy what you sell, but have never purchased something from you.

 

Increasing the number of active customers who do business with you each year grows your business.

 

2. We Increase Your Average Customer Value – This is the amount of money your average customer spends with you each year.  

 

When enthusiasts visit your dealership, they’re like kids in a candy store. Many of them can’t help themselves but to make a purchase. So, when you increase the amount of times a person visits your dealership each year, they end up buying more parts, more accessories, more gear, they service their unit more often, and they shorten their trade cycle. 

 

I’ll explain the Predictable Growth System for a dealership that had 2,500 active customers in 2016 and did $5,000,000 in total sales, meaning their average customer is worth $2,000 each. 

 

1. Grow Active Customers by 10% or 2,500 grows to 2,750.

 

2. Increase Avg. Customer Value by 10% or $2,000 increases to $2,200.

 

3. 2,750 customers multiplied by $2,200 avg. value = $6,050,000 in total sales. That’s over $1,000,000 in growth (over 20%).

 

We CAN grow your dealership predictably through marketing an event each month. We’ll give the enthusiasts in your area (both customers and new prospects) a reason to visit your store every month and grow your active customers. When enthusiasts visit your dealership frequently it increases the amount of money they spend with you each year. 

 

Sound too good to be true?  It’s not. Call me and I’ll give you all the details: 

877-242-4472

 

- Tory

 

 

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Ask Tory: A dealer in my 20-group stops marketing during the busy season; is this something I should consider?

Tory Hornsby | 04/04/2017

Good news… winter is over and spring is here! That means you’re about to be busier than a one-legged cat trying to bury a mouse on a frozen pond, if you’re not already. This is the time of the year when it can be tough to get things done. The late Ed Lemco called it “getting caught in the swirl”. It’s when the ‘important’ things you should be doing end up getting sidelined for the ‘urgent’ things that are happening all around you.

 

It takes incredible discipline to simultaneously work ‘in’ the business (doing the urgent things) and ‘on’ the business (creating and following your vision/values, improving, training, following a well thought out marketing plan, etc.) when it gets busy, but you have to make ‘working on it’ a priority. 

 

In the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey devotes one of the habits specifically to time management. Habit 3: Put First Things First

 

He writes about how all the ‘things to do’ that come up on a daily basis can be divided into 4 Quadrants that differentiate between activities that are important and those that are urgent.

 

Important: Activities that lead to the achievement of your goals, both professional & personal.

 

Urgent: Activities that demand immediate attention, but are often not associated with the achievement of your goals, or are related to someone else’s goals.


The 4 Quadrants

1. Important & Urgent 

2. Important, but Not Urgent

3. Not Important, but Urgent

4. Not Important & Not Urgent

 

Following is more detail on each of the four. As the things to do pile up on you each day, I challenge you to decide which quadrant they fall into so you can start taking better control of your time.

 

Quadrant 1 – Important & Urgent – Things that fall into this quadrant include putting out fires, crises that arise, other pressing problems, and things/projects that are deadline-driven. If you’re not careful, this quadrant will occupy your time and leave little to nothing left for Quadrant 2.

 

Quadrant 2 – Important, but Not Urgent – Prevention, improving capabilities, team building, your culture, finding new opportunities, planning, recreation, exercising, and marketing. This Quadrant is where your focus & time should be spent, but it’s tough to live in this quadrant because it’s not Urgent. It doesn’t jump out and demand attention. 


Quadrant 3 – Urgent, but Not Important – Interruptions, some meetings, some calls/texts/emails, immediate pressing matters, popular activities.  This quadrant is tricky because the activities feel Urgent, they need to be done Right Now! Therefore, you want to jump on it and get it done. This quadrant can give you a false sense of accomplishment. You may have accomplished something, but the only problem is that it wasn’t Important, so you likely were wasting your time. 

 

Quadrant 4 – Not Important & Not Urgent – Trivial/busy work, time wasters (like constantly checking Facebook, YouTube, or playing games), some calls/texts/emails, etc. The endless amount of distractions around you every day fall into this Quadrant. Avoid them at all costs.

 

As you probably noticed, your marketing plan falls into Quadrant 2 – it’s extremely important, but it’s often not urgent. Especially during the busy season. But, as the old farming quote goes, “you have to make hay while the sun is shining.” 


The good, direct-response marketing you do right now, when it’s busy, will not only generate more opportunities for your team and profit for the dealership each month, it will also carryover in to the slower season and makes those months better as well. In other words, you can make your peak months even higher and your low months better too.

 

So, no, you shouldn’t consider turning off your marketing during the busy season. Instead, learn to live in Quadrant 2 for all things business, especially your marketing. Simply put, there is no higher valued and rewarded skill in this great country than the ability to get your product sold.


PSM can drive QUALIFIED traffic to your store, generate leads who raise their hands and tell you what they want to buy in New & Used Sales, Parts & Accessories, Apparel, and Service. This level of lead generation provides a positive ROI on what you spend. Hands down, every time.  And it’s even better in the Bull Market we have right now. Consumer confidence is super high and enthusiasts are spending money. 


If your focus is of the ‘digital sort’, PSM can drive traffic to your website with a more holistic approach than just SEM/PPC. We can increase your web leads/conversions, grow your online reviews, and even email you every morning a list of the customers who were looking at inventory on your website yesterday. 


Call 1-877-242-4472 for more info. Ask for me - I’m happy to help.


- Tory

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Ask Tory: Why Should I Come to the Spring Marketing Boot Camp?

Tory Hornsby | 02/14/2017

 

Here at Powersports Marketing, we’ve focused on the 4 Fundamental Components of Marketing for over a decade now:

 

1. Right Audience

 

2. Right Media (that will reach that audience)

 

3. Right Message (Direct Response instead of Branding)

 

4. Right Timing

 

Generating new riders falls into category #1, the Right Audience. To generate ‘new’ riders, it means you must focus your marketing efforts on getting folks who don’t ride to change their mind and start riding. I’ll bluntly state that this is a bad idea because marketing doesn’t create hobbyists and never will. The best analogy to prove my point here is golf. No one starts playing golf because of marketing or advertising no matter how good the ad(s) is. If you play golf you can think of the person who got you to play the first time. 

 

Likewise, no one starts riding because of marketing/advertising either. Just like golf (and more other hobbies), it’s always the influence of another person, usually a friend or family member. 

 

I suspect that the original question, while the subject of new riders is mentioned, is really looking for growth in their dealership and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if that growth comes from new riders or those who already ride.  For instance, let’s say you could grow by 30% in 2017 but the growth all came from existing riders – would you turn it down?  Of course not.

 

Who you’re marketing to (your audience/the list) controls whether you’ll get responses or not, and whether an ROI will be generated or not.  The right audience for a powersports/motorcycle dealer is people who ride motorcycles. Hands down, no question. Marketing may not create new hobbyists, but it will get hobbyists to buy more products, more quickly. Marketing can also get the riders in your area who aren’t customers to respond and begin buying from you.

 

We are in a niche industry where only 3% to 6% of people in America ride motorcycles. That means more than 94% of people in your area don’t ride and probably will never ride. If I were running your dealership, the way I’d grow is to uncover the people closest to the dealership who fit into one of the following 2 groups: 

 

1. Past customers – I say it all the time, the single most likely person to spend money with you is the person who already has. The fact is the majority of your sales this year will come from past customers, and you can sell them even more with good marketing.

 

2. Conquest prospects - These are people who live in your backyard, ride what you sell, buy what you sell, but they’ve never purchased anything from you.  Essentially, these are your competitor’s customers and other orphan owners in your market area. Consistent marketing to this group will generate a response and create ‘new’ customers. You have to be consistent though. 

We call these 2 groups of people your Buying Base and they represent where 99% of your business will come from in 2017.  Once this group is identified you need to go after them. Ideally, you’d reach out to your entire Buying Base every month and invite them into the dealership. However, if your budget will not allow for this we can utilize your specific budget to target the best, closest customers and prospects in your market area – and in doing so we always generate a positive ROI.

 

Powersports Marketing will increase the frequency of visits from past and present customers while acquiring new customers, driving leads and good traffic through the doors every single month.

 

Want to know what your Buying Base looks like for no cost?  Call 1-877-242-4472 and ask for a Free Data Analysis. 

 

-Tory

 

 

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Ask Tory: I Want My Marketing to Generate New Riders in 2017– What’s the Best Way to do This?

Tory Hornsby | 01/12/2017

 

Here at Powersports Marketing, we’ve focused on the 4 Fundamental Components of Marketing for over a decade now:

 

1. Right Audience

 

2. Right Media (that will reach that audience)

 

3. Right Message (Direct Response instead of Branding)

 

4. Right Timing

 

Generating new riders falls into category #1, the Right Audience. To generate ‘new’ riders, it means you must focus your marketing efforts on getting folks who don’t ride to change their mind and start riding. I’ll bluntly state that this is a bad idea because marketing doesn’t create hobbyists and never will. The best analogy to prove my point here is golf. No one starts playing golf because of marketing or advertising no matter how good the ad(s) is. If you play golf you can think of the person who got you to play the first time. 

 

Likewise, no one starts riding because of marketing/advertising either. Just like golf (and more other hobbies), it’s always the influence of another person, usually a friend or family member. 

 

I suspect that the original question, while the subject of new riders is mentioned, is really looking for growth in their dealership and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if that growth comes from new riders or those who already ride.  For instance, let’s say you could grow by 30% in 2017 but the growth all came from existing riders – would you turn it down?  Of course not.

 

Who you’re marketing to (your audience/the list) controls whether you’ll get responses or not, and whether an ROI will be generated or not.  The right audience for a powersports/motorcycle dealer is people who ride motorcycles. Hands down, no question. Marketing may not create new hobbyists, but it will get hobbyists to buy more products, more quickly. Marketing can also get the riders in your area who aren’t customers to respond and begin buying from you.

 

We are in a niche industry where only 3% to 6% of people in America ride motorcycles. That means more than 94% of people in your area don’t ride and probably will never ride. If I were running your dealership, the way I’d grow is to uncover the people closest to the dealership who fit into one of the following 2 groups: 

 

1. Past customers – I say it all the time, the single most likely person to spend money with you is the person who already has. The fact is the majority of your sales this year will come from past customers, and you can sell them even more with good marketing.

 

2. Conquest prospects - These are people who live in your backyard, ride what you sell, buy what you sell, but they’ve never purchased anything from you.  Essentially, these are your competitor’s customers and other orphan owners in your market area. Consistent marketing to this group will generate a response and create ‘new’ customers. You have to be consistent though. 

 

We call these 2 groups of people your Buying Base and they represent where 99% of your business will come from in 2017.  Once this group is identified you need to go after them. Ideally, you’d reach out to your entire Buying Base every month and invite them into the dealership. However, if your budget will not allow for this we can utilize your specific budget to target the best, closest customers and prospects in your market area – and in doing so we always generate a positive ROI.

 

Powersports Marketing will increase the frequency of visits from past and present customers while acquiring new customers, driving leads and good traffic through the doors every single month.

 

Want to know what your Buying Base looks like for no cost?  Call 1-877-242-4472 and ask for a Free Data Analysis. 

 

-Tory

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Ask Tory: Other Than Marketing More Effectively, How Do I Grow My Dealership and Take My Sales to the Next Level in 2017?

Tory Hornsby | 12/15/2016

 

If you cut through the clutter of your dealership, there are only 4 ways to grow your business.  

 

1. Improve Your Closing Ratio 

 

2. Raise Your Average Value per Customer 

 

3. Generate New Customers

 

4. Increase Visits/Purchases from Your Existing Customers

 

The first 2 are a matter of training, the second 2 are driven by marketing. 

 

I often write about 3. Generating New Customers and 4. Increasing Purchases from Your Existing Customers through our Sharp Shooter event based marketing program, and the Local Web Dominator digital marketing program. If you haven’t given them a try at this point, what’s holding you back?  Call 1-877-242-4472 and get started with the industry’s most quantifiable and ROI generating advertising.

 

In this article, however, I want to focus on the first 2 ways to grow your business in a more indirect manner than usual. As I previously mentioned, 1. Improving Closing Ratio and 2. Raising Your Average Value per Customer are both a matter of training. The following are strategies to get more from your team than you ever have, while improving the culture of your dealership. 

 

EVERYONE IS IN SALES

 

Every person who could ever talk to or work with a customer is in Sales. Even your grumpy Office Manager. 

 

The attitude that everyone is in Sales raises the ante on what’s expected out of your staff, and one thing I’ve learned over my years of managing is that people tend to adapt and fulfill what’s expected of them.  Change your culture to one where the wants and needs of every prospect and customer is the chief responsibility of ALL of your staff members. 

 

INVEST IN YOUR TEAM

 

In most dealerships, the investment in training is small or non-existent. Training is a journey, not a destination. You can get more from your top-performers, the average salespeople, and those in the bottom third. Although it is important that your training isn’t dumbed-down to be catered to your new guys or those at the bottom of the list,

good, steady training has a way of turning some poor performers into average, and ultimately top performers.  While it’s difficult and time-consuming, it’s the best way to of getting more out of your team. 

 

At Powersports Marketing, we spend 45 minutes to 1 hour in training EVERY DAY. Yes, you read that right. Every. Single. Day. We cover everything from product knowledge and looking at the numbers to role playing how to handle objections. It’s a big investment of time and money, and it’s a big part of our growth. It will be for you, too. 

 

SALESPEOPLE SHOULD SELL

 

Your salespeople should be spending as much of their work hours as possible…… selling. Not cleaning bathrooms, sweeping the floor, cold prospecting, stuffing envelopes, filling out forms, reading the newspaper, playing on their phones, etc. They should be selling.

 

This means relieving them of as much of everything else as you can.

 

For instance, prospecting should be replaced with marketing, and the manual labor of prospecting replaced with media. Prospects can be found or created, brought forward, asked for their information (including what they’re most interested in) and more. 

 

As I wrote about a few issues ago, you also want your salespeople selling to the best and highest value, highest probability prospects—not just anyone, the most affluent customers in your market area. Putting good salespeople in front of poor prospects (including those who don’t ride) is simply not smart. There’s a better way. Call us and ask about our Sharp Shooter and Local Web Dominator programs– both of which focus on the best audience, use the right media to reach that audience with a message that get a great response and is quantifiable. 1-877-242-4472

 

ACCOUNTABILITY

 

“If the guy is selling and making things happen, I don’t care what he’s doing or how he’s doing it.” 

I’ve heard that from dealer principals and other business owners a lot.  Steve Forbes even said it on TV about the advertising reps that work for Forbes magazine. Steve Forbes may be incredible with money, but he’s off his rocker regarding this.

 

This is why 90 percent of the prospects that leave a dealership are never contacted again. This is why the sales process doesn’t get followed. This is why leads aren’t appropriately called and followed-up with. And Lord help you if your salesperson makes enough money to be happy by the third week of the month ‘cuz they’ll stop pushing and working hard – they’ll put it on cruise control for the rest of the month. No calling the prospects who visited but didn’t buy during the first visit. The opportunity just dies. 

 

You just can’t leave your staff on their own to decide how they’ll use (or waste) the company’s resources and opportunities.

 

You can’t leave them alone with ‘how’ they do it either. Your dealership’s reputation and long-term sustainability and equity are all put at risk by every spoken, written, emailed, facebooked, snapchatted, or tweeted word, and especially by every action of your representatives.

 

Listen to their calls, watch them as they work with customers so you can coach them to be the ambassador of your dealership you expect. Continue to inspect what you expect. Staff members who are given a good opportunity and want to excel will respond reasonably well to accountability if it’s aim is to help them improve. It’s best if the people who resist and resent this kind of accountability find their happiness elsewhere. 

 

For more information or questions regarding the 4 Ways to Grow Your Dealership, give me a call at 1-877-242-4472.

 

- Tory 

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Ask Tory: What is a 13th Month?

Tory Hornsby | 11/28/2016

 

Merry Christmas!  Can you believe it’s the most wonderful time of the year already? I tell ya, the more gray you get in your hair (or for some, the more hair you lose) the faster the year just seems to fly by. 

 

Of course, part of Christmas seeming to get here faster is because companies are putting out their Christmas decorations and products earlier and earlier every year. In fact, this year I began to see Christmas trees and lights in stores before Halloween was even here.  

 

You ever wondered why the big retail stores start Christmas so early?

 

The reason is found in the math. The fact is that Americans spend 70% of their discretionary dollars between Halloween and New Year’s Day. If a family has $2000 in discretionary funds each year, $1,400 of that amount on average is spent during this time of year. (Discretionary money is what’s left over after the bills are paid and all responsibilities have been taken care of; it’s the money that a person or family can spend at their ‘discretion’. )

 

The majority, if not all, of our industry’s sales in every department in the dealership come from discretionary dollars. We’re a big toy store. 

 

Many of our clients have done the math: 70% of discretionary dollars are spent in November and December & most of their business comes from discretionary dollars. This means they can’t back off their marketing too much during these two months. They understand they have the power, through good marketing, to sway shoppers to spend some of those dollars getting the powersports enthusiasts on their list, and themselves, a Christmas present they’d really like.

 

There are lots of reasons to give people a reason to shop with you this time of year… Black Friday, Chrome Saturday, Cyber Monday (you can actually drive traffic into the store with this), 12 Days of Christmas, or a single Christmas event on a Saturday in December (12/3, 12/10, 12/17, or 12/24).

 

Have you ever heard of the 13th Month? 

 

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is referred to as the 13th Month because retailers will often do a month’s worth of business during that single week. People are spending their gift cards and Christmas cash. They’re returning the gifts they didn’t want so they can buy something they like. 

 

A popular campaign we’ve implemented for dealers during the 13th Month is ‘What Santa Forgot’. The focus is ‘Get What You Really Wanted for Christmas!’ This campaign can also be done the first or second week of January. 

 

Before doing business with us, some of our clients had stopped their marketing in November and December. They had tried everything to compete with the big box retailers and failed. Nothing seemed to work.

 

The truth is you can’t compete with the millions of dollars being spent on TV, Radio, Newspaper and other mass media. You’re just a drop in the ocean.

 

You can, however, target the enthusiasts in your market area (both past customers and conquest riders) with a Sharp Shooter campaign that gets traffic in your store and generates leads for every department. This gives your staff people to work with (and sell to) and leads to follow-up with. 

 

I’ve heard from dealers that October and November to date have been soft. We experienced this with the big election in 2008, when there was lots of uncertainty as Obama was elected. This year, we’ve experienced something similar with another big election, but it’s over. 

 

In 2008, business picked up in December and 2009 was a good year. Trump will be our next president. The general consensus I hear from people is that they believe Trump will be good for small-to-medium sized businesses, and that’s what the majority of our economy is built on. 

 

This Christmas shopping season is going to be “YUGE!”  It’s up to you to sway shoppers with good marketing.  Call 1-877-242-4472 to get a free quote on a Sharp Shooter campaign for your ‘13th Month’. 

 

- Tory

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Tory, my marketing seems a little plain lately; any tips on how to make it more interesting?

Tory Hornsby | 10/10/2016

 What is your mission?  In other words, let’s cut through the clutter of everything your dealership does and answer the question… why does your dealership exist? 

 

Why do you do what you do; what do you stand for?

 

Many businesses write out a Mission Statement to communicate their mission & vision. While I’m a huge believer in the power of a good Mission Statement, I don’t believe that just having one is the end-all to a dealership’s problems. 

 

Most mission statements are generic, stale and completely useless. Often times they actually do more harm than good. For instance, when customers and staff know your mission statement, but it’s not genuine or lived out/executed, it’s nothing more than a constant reminder that having integrity and doing what you say you’re going to isn’t important in your organization.

 

At Powersports Marketing our mission is: “To enrich lives by providing powerful turn-key marketing, so people, businesses and our economy can thrive.”  Our goal is to enrich the lives of Dealer Principals, the dealership staff and customers, to grow the industry as a whole, which can impact the entire economy. 

We often discuss this (and our vision) with our staff to create a culture that desires a win-win for everyone we come in contact with. 

 

In my articles over the years I’ve mentioned Proverbs 29:18 a few times. It says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” What is your vision? Without vision your staff is just going through the motions and your business is more dependent upon the market, the weather and the economy than it should be. Without vision and passion your marketing isn’t working as it should be either.

 

The advantages of being mission-driven are large and ongoing and impact customers and staff. Below are some benefits of being mission-driven in not only your operation, but in your marketing as well. 

 

1. Gains interest from the affluent. People who have money spend it decisively – they are more careful with their money.  That can make it more difficult to earn business from them, but they are often more loyal. Plus, the affluent will spend more money with you and have a higher annual customer value than the non-affluent.  The affluent have a very strong preference for choosing companies that are more than “business as usual.” 

On the opposite side of the equation, poor people often just hope you can get them financed. Most won’t be able to buy, and even if they can/do, you’ll never see most of them again for additional purchases of PG&A or service.

 

2. Increased profits. Mission-driven marketing will generate more responses from your buying base (past customers and conquest riders in your area) and result in a higher frequency of visits. When you get more riders to come through your doors more frequently it’s a system for predictably growing your dealership.

 

3. Increased loyalty. Mission-driven marketing focuses on the emotional side of the purchase/shopping process. It utilizes 1-to-1 relationship style marketing instead of one-to-many and drives an elevated and emotional level of engagement. It gives customers a go-to place to come back and do business again and again.

 

4. More new clients. In addition to being very good at keeping old customers, mission-driven marketing also excels at bringing in new ones.  91% of consumers said they’d switch to a brand associated with a good cause, according to a recent study. 

 

5. Stronger awareness & a positive image. Aligning yourself with a higher mission enables you to be seen in an ‘operating for a greater good, rather than your own’ point of view. This is good, especially in a time when businesses and business owners are seen as evil, selfish and uncaring. Being mission-driven differentiates you in a significant way. 

 

6. Attraction and retention of high-quality employees. Am I saying that when you do mission-driven marketing you’ll have better luck at building a great team? Absolutely. Where there is no vision, the people perish. 

 

It’s no secret that one of my favorite restaurants is Chick-fil-a. They have the absolute best employees of any restaurant (especially fast food), hands down.  Chick-fil-a doesn’t pay more, have a super easy workload, or better hours of operation – what they do have is an excellent vision/mission that’s incorporated into their entire culture. 

 

Our Sharp Shooter and LWD programs are distinctly mission-driven. Our goal is to touch your buying base 52-104 times per year. We not only build loyalty for the long-haul for our clients, we also generate quantifiable traffic and sales for a positive ROI on marketing dollars spent - right now! It’s time to stop all the image-enhancing advertising designed to build your brand. It’s a complete waste of money. 

 

It’s time to build something greater. Call me to discuss - 1-877-242-4472.  

- Tory

 

 

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I’ve recently heard you speak on increasing the value of my average customer; what are some ways to do that?

Tory Hornsby | 09/15/2016

 

 

Dealers who aren’t focused on increasing the value of their customers are leaving themselves extremely vulnerable. The cost and difficulty of acquiring a new customer is tremendously higher than it is to increase the value of an existing customer.  Putting an emphasis on increasing customer value cannot only lead to big dollars in gross profits, but also much higher net profits too. That’s why we’ve often called a customer database, “the hidden gold buried in your dealership.”
 

Before you can improve something, however, you have to know what it is and where you stand. This principle is actually the second of the five Core Values we live by here at Powersports Marketing.

  1. Personal Accountability and Responsibility

  2. W.G.M.G.D. – What Gets Measured Gets Done

  3. ATTITUDE = 100%

  4. Commitment to Teamwork and Systems

  5. Dedication to Continual Improvement in Business and Life

If you’re not measuring, you’re not improving. How do you measure the average value of a customer? Usually it’s done annually. So, simply divide your total sales in a 12-month period by the number of active customers you had in that same 12-month period. If over the last 12-months you’re at $5,000,000 in total sales and you’ve had 2,200 active customers in that same period, your annual customer value is $2,272.

Once you know that number, your attention must focus on how to improve it. Here are 4 specific ways to maximize your customer value:

 

1. Don’t do as much discounting. You don’t have to offer a discount to make a sale. Hobbyists/enthusiasts almost always spend more money on their hobby than anything else in their life. Instead, focus on improving your marketing (to increase store visits), customer service (to build loyalty to your dealership), and selling skills (including handling objections) in every department. Don’t just focus your training efforts on the Sales Department; include PG&A and Service as well. Continual selling skills training goes a long way. 

 

Keep in mind that a lack of training will always equal low margins. The easiest way to close the sale is by discounting. The sale happens when value exceeds price. Rookie and un-trained salespeople will over-use the discount tactic and lower price instead of raising value. While I understand that you have to discount at times, it does not need to be the primary way you win a sale.

 

2. Increase the size of your transactions. Upsell. Look for related add-ons every single time. A customer buying one piece of apparel will often buy something else when value is built and they’re asked to buy. Helmets lead to a better visor or a jacket.  Jackets lead to gloves. Oil and filter lead to a drain plug washer and a can of brake cleaner and spray polish.

 

If you can get $10 more per visit from a customer who does 10 transactions per year, that’s $100. Over 5-years that’s and additional $500 from one customer. Done with 500 customers, it’s an additional $250,000. Done with 2,500 customers, an extra $1,250,000.

 

3. Put a fence around your herd. Customers are only as loyal to you as you are good at marketing to them. When not marketed to, they develop a sense of apathy. Like cattle wander from pasture to pasture, customers will wander from your dealership to the competition. Back to you, back to them. Your marketing must build loyalty and increase the number of times they visit you every year instead of the competition. Marketing guru, Dan Kennedy, often writes on how Direct Response Marketing is the proverbial ‘fence’ that keeps customers in your pasture.  It also immunizes your customers from competitor’s offers.

 

Every dealership also has thousands of in-active customers (they haven’t done business with you in more than 1 year). Good marketing will reactivate lost customers and increase their frequency of visits as well.

 

4. Come to our Marketing Boot Camp. We will be diving into this subject much deeper than I can in this article. According to past attendees, you’ll walk away with the equivalent of a “Master’s Degree in Marketing Your Dealership.”  Join us in Atlanta, Monday, October 24th through Wednesday, October 26th. Enroll at www.powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp Better hurry though… space is limited.

 

Dealers who aren’t learning new marketing trends, or who aren’t focused on increasing the value of their customers are leaving big money on the table. You’re also leaving yourself highly vulnerable to the ever-changing market/economy. Reserve your spot for our Fall Marketing Boot Camp now… you’ll be glad you did, or we’ll refund your money.  Hope to see you there.

- Tory

 

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Ask Tory: What Really Works in Advertising?

Tory Hornsby | 08/18/2016

 

Last month, I spent three days in Nashville, TN at the Polaris Dealer Meeting. I always enjoy spending time with ourclients and prospective clients learning what’s going on in their market place, and understanding some of the challenges they’re facing. I’ve noticed a trend lately and it carried true at the Dealer Meeting as well. It’s very obvious that dealers are struggling with what works and what doesn’t work in marketing. They have a budget, and they’re spending it with no way to quantify the results – and it’s incredibly frustrating.

 

Speaking of being quantifiable, I love the quote from John Wanamaker that Rod wrote about. He said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” 

 

This brings us to the original question for this article… what really works? Should you be doing radio, TV, billboards, newspaper, print, and direct mail?  And that doesn’t even include digital – search marketing, display advertising, remarketing, SEO, mobile apps, etc.

 

You have a seemingly countless number of options for advertising. You’re most likely receiving multiple phone calls per day and/or salespeople walking through the front doors claiming they have the greatest new whiz-bang silver bullet marketing product that will change their life.

 

The world of marketing is more convoluted than it’s ever been.  The bad news is that it’s only going to get worse. The good news is there’s something you can do about it - attend our Fall Marketing Boot Camp coming up in October where we’ll specifically highlight what works, and how to avoid all of the wasteful options you’re given every day. 

Our Fall Marketing Boot Camp is in Atlanta starting the afternoon of Monday, October 24th and ending on Wednesday, October 26th and it’s only $249 to attend (Early Bird Special ends 8/31). Register now: www.powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp 

 

Not only will we break down what Media you should be utilizing, we’ll have sessions devoted specifically to how to craft a compelling Message.  Even if you are taking advantage of the right Media, if your Message isn’t good no one will respond. 

 

We’ve received dozens of reviews on www.PowersportsMarketingReviews.com from dealers who’ve attended our past Marketing Boot Camps. Visit the site above and scroll to March 11, 2016. You’ll see where Dixie from Vandervest Harley-Davidson said: 

 

“We strongly feel that we will see an increase in sales this year while spending less on our marketing and advertising. Thank you to all the presenters for the great information that can be immediately applied to our dealership.” 

 

It no secret that when you invest your budget each month in a manner that uses the right Media to put a compelling Message in the hands of the right Audience at the right Time, you will achieve an increase in sales that is quantifiable.

 

Quinn from Tytler’s Cycle posted the following review on October 29th, 2015 after attending the Boot Camp last fall. 

 

“In the Powersports industry you are regularly approached with solutions to get the word out about your business. … Now, having attended their Fall Marketing Boot Camp I have accelerated the process for building a successful game plan. I walked away with a Masters Degree in marketing for the Powersports industry. They walk you through the why and the how to approach each channel. We now have the tools and resources to cut through the noise and build a better business for our clients. Powersports Marketing is a fantastic organization with great people that truly care about helping you build the best business for your clients. Highly recommend their work and look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.”

 

This Boot Camp is NOT a pitch-fest of our products. You will be motivated, and leave armed with the very best ways to market your dealership. In fact, Virginia from RideNow Concord wrote: 

 

“Hi Guys- First I want to thank you all for having me at your spectacular Spring Marketing Boot Camp! I left with a ton of knowledge. I’ve attended multiple classes before and yours is one of the only classes I have walked away from fully motivated! All of your speakers were phenomenal!”

 

Stop what you’re doing and visit www.powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp and I’ll see you here in October.

 

-Tory

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How Much of my Budget Should be Dedicated to Digital Marketing?

Tory Hornsby | 07/14/2016

In the last issue (#84) I wrote about the 4 pillars of marketing (right audience, right message, right media, right time) being a test to run any and all advertising through. This applies to digital marketing too. There are advertising options out there that fall under the ‘digital marketing’ umbrella that are either a complete waste of money or simply not a good fit.

 

Our Local Web Dominator contains the most crucial elements of digital marketing, and it passes the ‘4 pillars test’. 

 

AUDIENCE:

There may not be a better audience than the folks who are actively doing a search (or searches) for a product you sell.  When a prospect Googles “2016 Street Glide” or “Color Options on New Yamaha Raider” (or anything else you sell) they’ve immediately passed the test.

 

MESSAGE:

All of our digital marketing maintains a well-crafted message that we tailor to the individual (what they’re searching for and more). Our messages always include a call-to-action that answers the question “Why should I click on this?”.

 

MEDIA:

The worst number in marketing is 1, meaning you have to diversify. Diversity equals stability. That’s why our Local Web Dominator includes multiple media, and other important features that generate business for your dealership:

 

•Firestorm Email System: Email is often overlooked as a digital media, but it’s a powerful way to increase customer purchases and loyalty. Our in-house development team has created the first and only email system dedicated specifically to the motorcycle industry.  Firestorm enables you to create original, creative emails in minutes that contain professional graphics designed for motorcycle enthusiasts by motorcycle enthusiasts. 

 

•Search Marketing (i.e. Google AdWords): It’s no secret that the vast majority of folks do research online before purchasing a product. You have to be visible when prospects are searching, and make sure you’re seen. Our years of dealership experience combined with our appetite to study and be marketing Gurus has led us to develop a Pay-Per-Click strategy that trumps any and every other company out there.  

•Display Advertising/Retargeting/Geo-Fencing: These add additional layers we utilize to reach riders who may not be

 

actively searching (and therefore we can’t reach with Search Marketing), enabling us to use a good media to put the right message in front of the right people.

 

•Grow Online Reviews: Reviews are completely shaping what a person purchases, and who they purchase it from. We create a review site for your dealership and activate an automated review acquisition system that grows Google reviews and makes you the obvious choice to do business with in your market area.

 

•Identify Unhappy/Lost Customers:  When our review acquisition system uncovers an unhappy customer we keep it private and notify you and your management team. Now you can save those customers and ensure they continue doing business with you.

 

•Boost SEO: The review site we create provides a huge SEO benefit, but we take it a step further. We create a uniform visibility across directory listing sites, which increases your backlinks/citations and makes your site more visible.

 

•Social Media Marketing: Social Media is ever evolving, and knowing which ones to take advantage of (and how) is only becoming more and more difficult. We cut through the clutter and get quantifiable results in the areas that matter.

 

•Lead Magnet: This form opens automatically when a customer visits your new and used inventory pages and offers an incentive to give you their contact information and tell you what they’re most interested in. Increasing your visitor-to-lead conversion means more quote requests, and ultimately more units sold. 

 

TIME:

We ensure you’re in front of the prospects who are searching and interested RIGHT NOW.  

To answer the original question, if it were my dealership, I’d spend at least 40% of my budget towards digital marketing. With the balance, I’d be investing in the Predictable Growth System that Eric writes about in his Case Study… check it out. 

 

For more information on our Predictable Growth System, or on how our Local Web Dominator can help you excel in all three areas of the search engine results page (SERP)… organic search, paid search, and Google Maps call
1-877-242-4472, or visit www.PowersportsMarketing.com.

 

-Tory

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Why is it so important to have regular events at my dealership?

Tory Hornsby | 06/28/2016

 

There are four pillars that we focus on here at Powersports Marketing. If you’ve read any number of the monthly Ultra Marketing Machine Newsletters, you’ve heard about our 4 Pillars of Marketing.  They are a filter/test that tells us whether or not the marketing/advertising that’s being done is going to be successful or not. 

The 4 pillars are: 

 

 

1. Right Audience

 

2. Right Media

 

3. Right Message

 

4. Right Time

 

The filter is this; you have to put a checkmark beside each of these pillars for ANY & ALL marketing that you ever do. Period. If you miss even one of the ‘pillars’ your marketing will fail. Therefore,

 

it’s crucial you understand each one, so I’ll give a high level summary of each below. I’ll also hone in on the original question of why events are so important.

 

Right Audience - The right audience is actually different for every industry. For the Powersports industry, it’s pretty straight-forward… you have to target people who ride. I know you want new customers, but targeting non-riders with your marketing is not the way to do it. 

 

Non-riders don’t respond to marketing, and they never will in any number. The number 1 reason someone starts riding is because a friend or family member influenced them to. It’s never marketing. On the events note, encourage your customers to ‘influence’ their friends and family by inviting them to your events.

Right Media – Which media will best reach the Right Audience? It’s not mass media like radio, TV, newspaper and billboards. These medias target everyone, but only 3% to 6% of the population in your state are riders. Plus, people are utilizing DVRs, satellite radio, changing the station when commercials come on, driving past your billboard and not noticing it, etc.  The number one person most likely to notice a dealership’s mass media is someone who works at the dealership. 

 

Instead of 1-to-many, you should utilize 1-to-1 media like direct mail, email, phone calls, online ads, and more. Any media that can specifically target a person who rides, and that helps build a relationship is where you should focus your marketing efforts. For a more complete list call me at 1-877-242-4472.

 

Right Message – The message is all about your design and ad copy (what you say). Do NOT try to build your brand or get your name out there. The opposite of branding-style advertising is Direct Response advertising. Direct Response advertising always has a call-to-action, which means it tells the person receiving the media exactly how you want them to respond. It’s also quantifiable so you can measure response. 

 

Be sure your message isn’t focused solely on trying to generate unit sales. Studies have shown that only 1% of your list is in ‘purchase mode’.  Therefore, when your message is focused mainly on why your audience should buy a new or pre-owned unit you are alienating 99% of your list. So, if your audience for a campaign is 4,000 people, you’re training 3,960 to ignore your marketing.

 

When your message is an invitation to an event, it relates to everyone. Who doesn’t like to be invited to a party? 

 

Event marketing not only gets the attention of the 1% who are in ‘purchase mode’ (and gives them a bigger reason to respond), it also gives the 99% a reason to come by the dealership. The more enthusiasts you have in the dealership, the more leads you generate, and the more sales you’ll have in all departments. Sales is a game of numbers. The more at-bats you get, the more hits you get and the more runs you’ll score. 

 

Why try to get a few sales leads when you can increase sales in P&A, Service, Apparel AND New & Pre-Owned Units?

 

Right Time – When you drip out multiple media over the timing of a 10-day period, and it’s all integrated into a single campaign, it really increases response rates. This is what our Sharp Shooter program does.

 

Timing also pertains to consistency. Once you identify the Right Audience, you have to market to and stay in front of them consistently. We recommend at least 52 to 104 touches per year (with different media). Event marketing gives you a great reason to reach out every month (or more), and even if a customer can’t come to the event, it still builds loyalty, so your touches weren’t a waste. 

 

You can’t market to your audience once or twice a year and maintain any level of customer loyalty. Consistency, however, puts a fence around your audience and immunizes them from competitors’ offers. When customers buy from you and rarely hear from you again they become apathetic or indifferent. 

 

Powersports Marketing has dozens of event themes and designs to choose from, or we can create a custom design for you. Our goal is to make your life a little easier and your dealership more profitable. For more information, visit 

www.PowersportsMarketing.com or call 

877-242-4472.   

 

 

- Tory

 

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ASK TORY: What Are Your Thoughts on Branding Advertising?

Tory Hornsby | 05/25/2016

Many years ago, I heard a quote by Dan Kennedy, who is the direct marketing guru I often mention, and it’s really stuck to my ribs. He said, “Branding is for cattle.”

 

I advise against a dealer spending their hard-earned dollars on marketing that’s purely designed to ‘build their brand’ or ‘get their name out there.’  I’m a dealer advocate at heart, and quite frankly, branding is a waste of money. 

 

Don’t mistake having a ‘brand’ with ‘branding advertising.’ Having and building a ‘brand’ isn’t a bad thing, I’m not against that at all. In fact, here at Powersports Marketing we’re building a brand with our company name, our Sharp Shooter program, and our Local Web Dominator program. You’ll never see us, however, spending a single penny on branding style of advertising. In other words, I want all dealers to know who Powersports Marketing is, and what our Sharp Shooter and Local Web Dominator programs are all about, but every dollar I spend will have a call-to-action with a reason to respond.

 

When you focus your advertising on brand building, you should know that it cannot be, and never will be accurately quantified, so you can’t hold it accountable. 

 

Branding advertising is usually associated with mass media like TV, radio, billboards and newspapers. Mass media sales reps have to build value somehow, so they focus on branding so you won’t know if it’s working or not, and subsequently you’ll keep on doing it. There are 2 big reasons dealers do mass media: 

Number 1 is Marketing Incest - Dealers copy other dealers assuming it’s working for their competitor, so it must be the right thing to do. This often leads to the advertising getting dumber and dumber as they copy each other, hence the ‘Incest’.  :) 

 

Number 2 is Pride & Ego - It feels good to hear your commercial on the radio, see your dealership on TV, drive past your billboard, etc.  Did you know that the people most likely to hear/see/notice you on mass media are you and your staff members?  You hear your radio spot, but you probably couldn’t tell me the commercial that aired before or after it. Radio commercials don’t typically sway what you personally buy. Yet, dealers keep doing it because it feels good. It’s a faux security blanket that dealers think is always on. It’s not, and when your commercial plays most folks miss it.  

 

Instead of wasting money by going after the masses (when only 3% to 6% of people ride/buy powersports), you CAN create a name-brand identity and recognition for your dealership as a happy byproduct of Direct Response marketing that actually generates leads & sales every time you do it. 

 

Focus your advertising where it counts. For instance, we build a carefully selected audience group that we call a dealership’s Buying Base. It’s made up two groups: 

 

1) past customers

 

 

2)conquest riders who live in a dealership’s backyard, but have never done business with them.  

 

This group (Buying Base) is where the majority of a dealer’s sales will come from over the next 12 months. It also narrows the field down to a size  that you impact with the resources you have.  A giant market is only useful to someone with a giant wallet. Don’t try to make a difference by peeing into the ocean. 

 

A brand (or brand identity) is simply a recognized symbol that represents and reminds people of ‘what’ you and your dealership are all about. But, don’t overlook the fact that it should also resonate with ‘who’ your business is for. 

 

The ‘who’ is two-fold… you have to know who to market to, but you also need to let them know who you are. Personal branding is far superior to a corporate style of branding. People prefer dealing with people rather than nameless & faceless institutions. You have to put yourself out there!

 

Again, there’s nothing wrong with creating a name-brand identity and recognition for yourself and your business. Just be sure you’re doing it as a byproduct and bonus of solid, accountable, profitable Direct Response advertising.  Do NOT buy ‘branding’ outright with image enhancing advertising. 

 

For more information on Direct Response advertising, building your buying base, or all-things marketing call 1-877-242-4472 and ask for me. 

 

- Tory

 

 

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ASK TORY: Should We Invest in Having an App for the Dealership?

Tory Hornsby | 04/29/2016

I’m frequently asked by dealers if they should invest in an app for their dealership. Apps entered the marketing scene and became an instant fad, and many dealers jumped on the bandwagon. Dealers heard that other dealers had an app, so they started thinking they needed one too. I mean, if another dealer shows you up, you have to copy them, right? Wrong.  Before I jump in too far, let’s go over what an app is and make sure we’re all singing off the same sheet of music. 

 

App is short for application, which is a software written most often to be used on mobile devices (phones, tablets, etc.). Of course we’ve all heard the saying, “there’s an app for that,” and we’ve all downloaded plenty of apps from the App Store on Apple devices, and from Google Play on Android devices.

 

There can be big money in creating apps, so it didn’t take long for software developers to build cookie-cutter apps with simple functionality that they could sell to small businesses. Powersports dealers were targeted as well. 

 

If you’re wondering what they do, you’re not alone.  That’s the first question I asked as well. The sales pitch on dealer apps:

 

1. You can send Push Notifications to your customer’s phone and alert them of special events and promotions.

 

2. Your current inventory will always be in your customer’s pocket. It’s a feed from your website, so no additional work is required to load it.

 

3.Customers can watch a unit and be notified of price changes.

 

 

4. Apps build loyalty with customers and you stay in front of them more and create ToMA (Top of Mind Awareness).

 

5. It includes a button to call your dealership, and easy directions.

 

6. You can schedule a visit to the Service Department. 

 

Now for the second question I asked… “Why would a customer download it?”

 

Let’s go through the numbered points above and see if they are a good reason why the app should be downloaded.  

 

1. Hey Mr. Customer, download our app so we can send push notifications to your phone!

  • Most customers will say “No thanks.”

  • Of the small percentage of customers who download the app, most will uninstall it once you start sending push notifications to their phone.

  • For many people, cell phone communication is more intimate, meaning it’s primarily for communicating with family and friends. 

 

2. Hey Mr. Customer, download our app so you can have instant access to our current inventory!

  • I have trouble answering the question… “Why wouldn’t I just go to your website for that?”

3.Hey Mr. Customer, download our app so you can watch bikes/units you’re interested in and be notified of price reductions.

  • This could actually get you some downloads, but it’s based on waiting for a discount, and someone will have to manage the pricing of the inventory (keep in mind you can’t lower prices on new inventory for some OEMs). 

  • This sounds like a great benefit, but I’ve yet to see this be truly successful because the app is deleted soon after being installed.

 

4. Loyalty is a great dealership benefit, but customers won’t download the app for this reason.

 

5. When a person needs to call a business, or needs directions, they search for them on Google. They don’t try to find the business’ app on their phone.

 

6. It seems clumsy to have a customer download your app to schedule service. And if they already had the app, when they need service most folks won’t remember your app, they’ll do a Google search and call you.

 

We’ve done business with over 700 dealers and 2 of them have said they’ve had success with their app. They couldn’t quantify that success, except through the number of times the app had been downloaded.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to know how many of those customers had uninstalled the app after downloading it.

 

At the end of the day, you and your team only have so much time and budget. I recommend not jumping on every bright and shiny product that comes along. Choose wisely what you spend your limited resources on. It’s better to be ‘Narrow and Deep’ over ‘Wide and Shallow’.

 

For more information, visit www.PowersportsMarketing.com/sharp-shooter or call 1-877-242-4472 and ask for me.

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ASK TORY: What’s So Bad About Focusing Our Marketing On Creating New Riders?

Tory Hornsby | 03/14/2016

 

To put it bluntly, the biggest challenge with focusing your marketing on creating new riders is that you’ll get little to no response, and therefore little to no R.O.I.  Ultimately, you’ll simply be wasting your money instead of investing it. There is a way to create new riders, but it’s not directly through marketing, believe it or not. To prove a point, let me share a related story.

 

Growing up, some of my favorite things to do were play baseball, football, and ride motorcycles. My passion, though, was riding, and every minute I could, I rode.  I had pictures of motorcycles, Rick Johnson and Jeff Ward covering the walls in my room.  My first street bike came when I was 16 (an older Ninja 500), and I started working in a Powersports dealership at 17.  I still remember the first motorcycle I purchased from a dealership - a CBR 600F3.

 

Anything motorcycle related, including marketing, I paid attention to. 

 

 

On the other hand, Golf wasn’t something that I ever thought about. The first word that would have come to mind when I thought of golf is BORING, and I would have rather gone to the dentist than watch golf on TV. I did love Adam Sandler’s golf movie, ‘Happy Gilmore’, but I never visited any golf courses, or paid attention to any of the players. 

 

As I grew older, I knew who some of the famous players were, but that’s about it. While I could have afforded it, I wasn’t a golfer. You could have marketed to me with the best marketing methods, a million different times with incredible incentives. I wouldn’t have responded, and you would have been wasting your money.


About 7 or 8 years ago, however, a friend invited me to play golf. I explained I didn’t have golf clubs or shoes, thanked him for the offer, but declined. He called me back a day later and said, “I’ve got an extra set of clubs for you, and you can wear tennis shoes at the course we’re going to… and, oh yeah, I’ve already paid for you.” Then he said, “You should come if for no other reason than just to hang out with the guys, even if you don’t hit any balls.” 

 

I accepted, and ended up having a blast. I even hit a few good shots, which enticed me to go back the next time my buddies played.

 

Now, I’m a golfer… I love it. 

 

Over the last few years I’ve thought about the process of going from an almost anti-golf person, to now being an enthusiast. Yes, golf is an enthusiast based industry just like Powersports. But, before my friend invited me there’s no amount of advertising that would have made a difference in me playing. Now, I not only pay attention to golf marketing, I often respond.  

 

Did you know that the number one reason someone starts playing golf is the influence of friends and family? Makes total sense, doesn’t it?  And, if you play golf, it was a friend or family member that got you interested. 

Did you know that the number one reason someone starts riding motorcycles is the influence of friends and family?  Makes total sense, doesn’t it?  And, if you ride, it was a friend or family member that got you interested.

 

Again, focusing your marketing on creating new riders is a waste of time, money and resources.  The right way to create new riders is to host events at your dealership and entice your herd of customers to invite their friends and family members. There’s no silver bullet and it may not be the first or second visit to the dealership that leads to a purchase, but you and I both know that it’s hard to be around this amazing industry and not get bit by the motorcycle bug.

 

That’s is why our Sharp Shooter program is so popular and effective. We utilize several media methods to invite the Powersports enthusiasts who live in your market area to join you for a party (the ones who already ride because they’re the ones who respond to good marketing), and we tell them to invite/bring their friends and family.  

 

For more information, visit www.PowersportsMarketing.com/sharp-shooter or call 1-877-242-4472 and ask for me. - Tory
 

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ASK TORY: How Can A Messy Garage, A Good Movie And A Marketing Boot Camp Be Tied Together?

Tory Hornsby | 02/16/2016

 

My family and I just moved into a new house a couple weeks ago, and I had forgotten how much work it takes to get settled in. I’ve completed a lot of the tasks and ‘honey-dos’ on the inside, so this past weekend I turned my attention to the garage because it always seems to become the gathering spot for everything any time we move.   My tools had been in storage for the past 2 months due to selling our previous house quicker than expected, and everything was a complete mess.  

 

The garage is really my domain and from home projects to drag cars, I relieve a lot of stress out there. One of my projects involved removing the inline 6-cyclinder from a 1978 Datsun 280Z and replacing it with a high performance 350 small block Chevy motor.  If you ever want to talk drag racing or Chevy engines, I’m your guy. Give me a call. 

 

Before jumping into the garage on Saturday morning, I sat with my wife after breakfast for a few minutes. I flipped through the channels on our new DISH Network service (unfortunately regular cable or internet isn’t available at my new house – another story for another article) and I came across the movie ‘A Few Good Men’.

 

It was the courtroom scene where Jack Nicholson screams, “You can’t handle the truth!” 

 

That movie, and particularly that scene, is one of those ‘stop what you’re doing and watch this’ when you come across it. My 14-year-old son was sitting with us and he asked why it was so good. I tried to explain the gravity of the scene, but didn’t do it justice. So, I told him that we’d just have to watch the movie together. 

 

There are so many good movies with attention grabber scenes just like this that would cause a person to stop what they’re doing and watch. From Braveheart, Star Wars, and The Godfather, to Lethal Weapon, Saving Private Ryan, Fast & Furious, Matrix (I’m dating myself here) and so many more.  As I was thinking through these, I began to consider how our upcoming Spring Break Out Marketing Boot Camp is also a ‘stop what you’re doing and pay attention’ matter as well. 

 

However, unlike a movie or movie scene that grabs you and doesn’t ever make a hill of beans difference in your life, our upcoming Marketing Boot Camp will dramatically change your business.  In  fact,  don’t  just  take  my  word for it, read the reviews at www.PowersportsMarketingReviews.com and you’ll see that this Boot Camp has impacted the operation and profitability of dealerships all across the country. Scroll through the reviews and check out where dozens of dealers have highlighted just how impactful their experience with us was. 

 

We’ll be covering:

 

•The True Value of a Customer & Why You Must Understand this Metric

 

•Internet Marketing (SEO & SEM Best Practices)

 

•Marketing Case Studies that Really Work

 

•The Four Ways to Grow Your Business

 

•Your Dealership’s Unique Selling Proposition – Why Should Customers Buy From You Instead of the Competition?

 

 

•Lead Generation Advertising vs. Image Advertising

 

•How the ‘4-Legged Stool’ can earn you money

 

•And, much, much more...

 

If you’d like to uncover how to make your marketing drive good traffic in to the dealership, sell more units and make more money, you can’t afford to miss this Boot Camp.  It’s a FUN, interactive event... not an information dump where you’re overwhelmed with knowledge, but can’t implement when you get back to the store. Leaving this event you’ll have a road map to implement your 100% quantifiable direct response marketing strategy when you get back to the dealership and ensure a more successful 2016.

 

When: March 7th - 9th (fly in on a Monday and out on a Wednesday)

 

Where: Peachtree City Wyndham (near Atlanta, GA)

 

Cost: $349 for first attendee - $149 for each  additional person

 

Just like a messy garage needs a good purging and organizing from time-to-time, your marketing needs it too. There is no better time to get fired-up about implementing good marketing than in March. Stop what you’re doing and go to PowersportsMarketing.com/Boot-Camp to sign up today. See you there.   

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ASK TORY: Are there any tools that will help me plan my marketing for 2016?

Tory Hornsby | 01/30/2016

 You either have, or shortly will be receiving one of our 2016 Marketing Calendars. This is an amazing tool that’s designed to help you plan your marketing for the year. 

 

Each month the calendar lists out all the popular holidays that you can use to increase response. That may seem simple, but holidays should be an important part of your focus.  Have you ever heard of the Collier Concept?

 

Robert Collier was an early 20th century author that was well published in the ‘self-help’ niche. He was also a master salesman on paper, and one of his greatest revelations came in a book he wrote, “The Robert Collier Letter Book.” One of his primary principles is that in all your marketing you have to, “Tap into the conversation already going on in your prospect’s head.” 

 

If you’ve followed my past articles, you know I’ve referenced Dan Kennedy several times, and I consider him to be the Godfather of Direct Response Marketing. He’s known for doing an exercise where he’d have students write out a description of their favorite TV character. Most people have no problem filling up a whole page.

Then, on a separate piece of paper he’d have them write a full page about their ideal customer/prospect. Most folks can’t get past a couple sentences. This exercise demonstrates just how difficult it is to write copy that relates to everyone. That’s why holidays are so important – everyone is impacted by them.

 

When you tie events to holidays that everyone is familiar with (tap into the conversation going on in their heads), people respond at a higher level. Therefore, you can get more traffic in the store, and sell more products.

Along these same lines, it’s essential that you substantiate the reason for your marketing. If you’re having an event or a sale, you have to validate the ‘why’, or your marketing will be less impactful. Folks in today’s world are more educated and skeptical than they’ve ever been, and you don’t want them to think ‘you’re just trying to sell them something’. 

I mentioned having a ‘sale’ above, but I want to be clear that I don’t recommend them. While they’re extremely popular, promoting a sale/discount actually makes your marketing incredibly less effective, and it’s a race to the bottom. 

 

If you sent direct mail to 5,000 customers promoting new & used inventory specials,  only a very small percentage of that 5,000 are in ‘buy a bike’ mode, so you’re not tapping into the conversation going on in their heads. You can actually train customers and prospects to ignore your marketing because it doesn’t relate to them. It’s not the conversation going on their head right now.

 

Even if you were to include a discount for each department, you’re still alienating well over 90% of the folks you’re marketing to and missing out on a great opportunity to build loyalty with them. 

 

In the calendar we also provide several samples of the creative we’ve used for our Sharp Shooter program during each month. Whether you choose a theme that’s listed, or we create a custom design for you, we want you to know that our team of marketing experts is ready to generate a positive R.O.I. on your marketing dollars. We’ll generate traffic in the store so you can sell. We’ll also create a list of responses/leads who give you their contact information and tell you what they want to buy. 

 

 

Be sure you utilize this powerful tool. It’s a roadmap to growing your business and having a prosperous 2016. 

 

If you don’t already have one of Powersports Marketing’s 2016 Marketing Calendars, call us at 1-877-242-4472 right now and we’ll send you one at no charge.
 

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ASK TORY: How much is too much when marketing to my customers?

Tory Hornsby | 12/01/2015

If you haven’t already picked up on the fact that I’m a huge Chick-fil-a fan... I am.  I’m not sure what they put in their food that has hooked me so bad, but I eat there multiple times each week.  This morning I ate a chicken, egg, and cheese biscuit with a large coffee from there. Man, it was delicious.

 

 

Two years ago my family and I moved closer to the Powersports Marketing facility. Jokingly, Brad Cannon, who writes the Digital Marketing article in this newsletter, asked me if I had given the owner of my local Chick-fil-a fair warning that his sales would be dropping because I was moving. 

 

This year, I was the first person to be invited by my current local Chick-fil-a to join the new A-List customer VIP program that Chick-fil-a rolled out. With it I get special perks, coupons, VIP only family events, etc. 

 

I do eat there a lot, but it’s not just the food that keeps me coming back. It’s their people. I’m always amazed at Chick-fil-a’s ability to find and keep good employees. I’ve never, at any Chick-fil-a, encountered someone who didn’t seem to care. They are careful to hire the right people, and they continually train them to get better.  

The staff seems to care about doing a good job. They quickly learn my name when I come in, they make my family feel welcome, so I continue to give them business.  


Chick-fil-a sends me direct mail and email on a regular basis, and because I am an enthusiast of their business I pay greater attention to their marketing. I get 2 to 4 emails each month, and 1 to 2 direct mail pieces. Sometimes they send more of each. This quantity is not too much because, as weird as it sounds, I’ve become a bit of an enthusiast. They’ve developed affinity with me, and could actually send me more marketing. 

 

My family and I also eat at Taco Bell from time to time, and it’s a different story. Is Taco Bell a bad restaurant? Not at all. I know what to expect with the food, and sometimes have a craving for it. I also know what to expect from the staff. It seems that in every Taco Bell I’ve visited there’s a feeling of apathy or indifference on behalf of the employees. I can’t think of a time I’ve received ‘bad’ customer service, they’re just indifferent and don’t care whether I come back or not. I’m just an order.

 

Taco Bell never sends me marketing. They sit back and wait, hoping at some point I’ll have the craving and visit again. 

 

Which of these 2 do you want to be?  I can promise you that building affinity with your buying base (past customers and riders in your market area who have never done business with you) will always lead to additional sales and profit. 


Building affinity starts with good marketing. You should be touching your buying base 52 to 104 times per year with direct mail, email, phone calls, and more. When you market to your buying base consistently they also become more loyal. In fact, I’ll rob a sentence from last month’s article: “Your customers are only as loyal to you as you are good at marketing to them!” 

 

 

 

So, the answer to the question at the top of the page is 52 to 104 times per year (which is once or twice each week) is ideal. There is a big caveat though… ONLY market when you have a good message. In other words, don’t just send an email because you’re supposed to. Have something to say.


That’s where our Sharp Shooter program comes in. It’s a Done-For-You solution that includes multiple touches to your buying base. They respond with their name, email, phone number, and tell you what they are in the market for right now.  Pretty cool stuff.  Call 1-877-242-4472 for more info, or chat with us online at www.PowersportsMarketing.com.
 

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ASK TORY: You've got questions, he's got answers. - I’m gearing down our marketing for 4th quarter, when should I get back going?

Tory Hornsby | 11/01/2015

 

There is a huge temptation to stop advertising during the slower months of the year. For many dealers that means cutting off their advertising during the 4th quarter of the year and getting started again in the spring. This, however, is a huge mistake.

Dan Kennedy, who I refer to as the Godfather of Direct Response Marketing, says you have to “put a fence around your herd.” Customers are prone to wander from dealership to dealership like cattle are prone to wander from field to field. That’s why ranchers have to put up a fence. Your customers are only as loyal to your dealership as you are good at marketing to them. Staying in front of your customers (i.e. marketing to them) creates loyalty and puts a proverbial fence around them. You can even get to a place where you’ve immunized your customers from competitor’s offers. 

 

Don’t make the mistake of believing that your customers are ‘all yours’ just because they’ve bought something from you in the past. You are NOT entitled to their business, or anyone else’s business for that matter. This arrogant way of thinking will lead to a terrible culture in the dealership and staff that doesn’t care. Customer service flies out the window and your staff will stop caring. 


When you don’t market to your customers they develop a feeling of apathy, or indifference. You don’t care about them and they don’t care about you. In all things there is a law of sowing and reaping. You can’t reap what you don’t sow. You can’t have loyal customers when you don’t work for it, and reach out to them consistently. Even in the fall and winter.   

 

Also, the fact that so many other dealers are throwing in the towel this time of year creates a void in your market place. With both our Sharp Shooter and Local Web Dominator program we are able to reach the riders in your market area who’ve never done business with you.  So, while your competitors are sleeping, you can fill the void and gain new market share. 

 

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that every dealer can sell the same level of units, PG&A, and service they do in the spring and summer. What I am advocating is that you can sell ‘more’ and create a positive ROI on your marketing dollars. But, better than the profit is the loyalty you can build in the off-season and ensure a greater success in the spring and summer.

 

If you were able to create a positive ROI on your marketing while increasing customer retention and gaining new customers…. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of it?  Powersports Marketing will make this happen for your dealership, but the ball is in your court.

 

For more information call 1-877-242-4472, or chat with us at www.PowersportsMarketing.com.
 

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Ask Tory: Isn’t it Important to Use Some of My Budget for Some Branding Style of Advertising?

Tory Hornsby | 10/01/2015

Answer:

 

For many big corporations branding is the major focus of their advertising. We see branding every day… everyone knows that Coca-Cola is “The Real Thing”. Gillette is “The Best a Man Can Get”. McDonald’s slogan is “I’m Loving It”.  KFC is “Finger Lickin’ Good” and so on.  

 

From a branding perspective each of these companies has to stand out and they do so by spending millions of dollars… literally millions. Also, their products cater to the vast majority of people. 100% of people drink every day, pretty much all men shave, and everyone is a prospective customer of a restaurant because every person eats.

 

Speaking of restaurant, I have a mild obsession with a restaurant that’s named Chick-fil-a that started in Georgia.  (Okay, okay... it’s actually more than a mild obsession. I’m addicted.) Chick-fil-a has incredible food, some really good healthy options, and I love the character/values of the corporation. 


Their advertising consists of cows holding up signs that say “Eat Mor Chikin”. It’s catchy – cows certainly don’t want you to eat beef. And why the misspelled words? Cows aren’t very smart I guess. Their advertising stands out and is hard to forget. Check out one of Chick-fil-a’s “Eat Mor Chikin” billboards. 

 

These billboards are all around the southeast. Chick-fil-a spends BIG money catering to the masses, and it makes sense to some extent because people typically eat more than once per day. For a Powersports dealer, however, the majority of people don’t ride. In fact, only 3% to 6% of Americans are Powersports enthusiasts, so a dealer’s mass media, no matter how creative the ad is, is wasting over 94% of the budget reaching folks who don’t ride and never will. 

 

And before you say it’s creating new riders… marketing doesn’t do a good job of creating new riders. Especially at the dealer level where there’s not a multi-million dollar budget. You can count the number of people on one hand who started riding because they heard or saw an ad.  The number 1 reason a person starts riding and becomes a Powersports enthusiast is the influence of friends and family. I know it’s why I started riding, and it’s most likely why you started riding.  Ask all of your friends and customers and it’ll also be why they started riding… it’s NEVER advertising.

 

And again, you don’t have millions of dollars to spend on branding your dealership. You can’t compete with the budgets of the big corporations, and the good news is you don’t need to. You’d only be wasting your money.
I wanna be clear here, branding and top of mind awareness (TOMA) isn’t a bad thing. It just needs to be a happy byproduct of your response generating marketing. So what should you do? Here is what we do for our clients here at Powersports Marketing:

 

•Target the folks in your market area who ride and buy Powersports products and gear. This includes your past customers, and sourcing a list of conquest prospects who already ride, but have never purchased from your dealership. 

 

•We take that list of every enthusiast in your market area and go after them with several different media. Direct mail, email, phone calls, web banner, signage, etc.

 

•Instead of a branding message we utilize a Direct Response message that tells prospects how we want them to respond and incentivizes them to do so, which dramatically increases response rates. 

 

•We drip out different media over a 10 day period so that we get more saturation. This also improves response rates.

 

We typically promote events at the dealership because the ‘message’ applies to everyone. Everyone likes to be invited to a party. And from a branding perspective, prospects remember being invited to a party way more than they will a sales message, or a branding message (if they ever even get to see or hear it).

 

To learn more about our marketing system call me at 1-877-242-4472 ext. 101, or join us at our Boot Camp in Atlanta October 26-28. Visit 

 

powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp for more info.

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Ask Tory: Is Creating a “Sale” the Best Way to Advertise?

Tory Hornsby | 09/01/2015

 

Here in the Powersports Industry the most used advertising message is a sale or discount of some sort. To be blunt, it’s completely overused and sabotages margin. 

 

I believe the reason it’s used so much is because business owners and marketers know they need to give a reason to respond, or a call-to-action, instead of wasting money on getting their name/logo out there. Plus, a ‘sale’ is one of the easiest messages to come up with and write ad copy for. All you have to do is lower your price, show a picture of the product and hope that a few of the folks you’re marketing to respond and buy the product. But it’s a lose-lose situation. The dealer makes little to no profit because of the discount, and customers become trained not to buy unless there’s a big discount.

 

This way of marketing is completely unnecessary. You don’t have to give away margin to get a response.  Are you a Not-for-Profit Organization?

 

I think most dealers realize this challenge, but don’t know what to do about it. So, right now, you should take a break from this article and go to powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp and sign up for our Marketing Boot Camp, October 26-28, in Atlanta, GA. You’ll discover how to craft a compelling message in detail.  Having the right message is one of 4 Fundamental Components of successful marketing. There is a way to create more responses than you’re currently getting, build affinity with your buying base of customers and new prospects, and do it without giving away the farm. 

 

Another fundamental component of marketing is going after the right audience. In other words, who are you reaching out to with your advertising?  Historically, motorcycle & powersports dealers want to focus on creating brand new riders. They feel they’ve already earned and own all of their customers once they’ve purchased something from the dealership. If you feel this way, stop what you’re doing and listen to the fog horns and sirens, and all the red lights flashing warning you that this is the wrong way. This ‘entitled’ way of thinking is completely erroneous. Here at Powersports Marketing we’ve proven with literally thousands of marketing campaigns per year for over 700 dealers that there is a ridiculous amount of opportunity in every dealer’s customer list. You just have to know how to get it.

 

It’s also important to create new customers. Note that I didn’t say create new riders. There is a big difference there. With very, very few exceptions, advertising will never make folks who don’t ride powersports products decide to spend thousands of dollars to give it a try. The number one reason a new rider is created is due to the influence of friends and family. However, there are prospects in your market area who ride what you sell but have never purchased from you, and marketing the right way will get them to respond. To delve deeper into creating your Buying Base (past customers and new prospects) sign up for our Boot Camp at
powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp.

 

The third fundamental component of marketing is choosing the right media that will reach the right audience. Mass media that reaches the multitudes feels good because it feeds your ego. For instance, you’ll ignore the 5 other radio ads that play before and after yours, but you’ll hear your ad and think that it’s working. Stop it. Only 3% to 6% of people in America ride motorcycles, and it’s far less than 10% if you include all off road categories. To learn how to use multiple media methods that quantifiably drives results…… you got it, come to our Boot Camp: powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp

 

The last fundamental component of marketing right timing. This refers to dripping out several different media on a schedule that increases results. Also, you can use the time of year to tap into the conversation going on in the heads of your customers & prospects. Everyone is impacted by holidays and seasons, and you can generate more results by leveraging them in your message. Miss even one of the 4 Fundamental Components in your marketing campaign, and it will not work. For more information on any of these 4 fundamentals, which is a small part of what we’ll cover, join is October 26-28 in Atlanta, GA. Sign up now at: 
powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp.
 

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ASK TORY: Why should I attend your Marketing Boot Camp in October?

Tory Hornsby | 08/01/2015

Have you heard about our Fall Harvest Marketing Boot Camp coming up in October?  Take a pen and mark your calendar for October 26th-28th and plan to join us in Atlanta. This is a must attend event that is guaranteed to make a difference in your dealership. 

 

The reason we chose the ‘Harvest’ theme for this boot camp isn’t just because of the fall season. One of the Merriam-Webster definitions of the word harvest is ‘a productive result’, and that’s what I can promise you (and all attendees) in 2 ways: 

 

1. You will get ‘productive results’ from attending. This isn’t a clouds-in-the-sky, come and be on vacation boot camp.  Every attendee we’ve ever had has left feeling more than satisfied, and you will too. 

 

2. Once back in the dealership, you’ll also get ‘productive results’ from implementing what you learn at the boot camp. We really draw back the curtain and uncover the secrets of Direct Response Marketing.

 

I use the word ‘guarantee’ above with confidence. In fact, while the boot camp is made for Powersports dealers, we’ve had OEMs, banks & financial institutions, manufacturing companies, gun stores, and even a casino attend, and in every instance we’ve received nothing but overwhelmingly positive responses and testimonials after each boot camp. I know you’ll be glad you came. 

 

If any of the bullets below are important to you, you’re an ideal candidate to attend: 

 

• Learning online & offline marketing that’s

  working right now

 

•Driving more traffic to your dealership

 

•Selling more units and making more money

 

•Creating a marketing plan / calendar

 

•Stopping the waste of money on archaic   marketing methods used 10-years ago that aren’t quantifiable

 

 

Here’s a sampling of what will be covered:

 

•Social Media – What Role Does it Have?

 

•Internet Marketing - Including SEO & SEM Best   Practices

 

•Lead Generation Advertising vs. Image    

 Advertising

 

•How the A.C.V. of Your Customers Can Transform  

 Your Dealership

 

•Marketing Case Studies That Really Work

•Your Dealership’s Unique Selling Proposition  

  – Why Customers Buy From You Instead of the   

 

     Competition

 

•Four Fundamentals That Any & All Advertising 

  Must Have

 

•The Four Ways to Grow Your Business

 

•And, much, much more...

 

Another great part of this boot camp is the learning opportunity and camaraderie you get from all the other dealers in the room. Imagine the difference that 2.5 full days of focusing on your dealership’s marketing plan in a room full of other like-minded dealers will make. 

 

Plus, October is the perfect time… the summer rush is gone and it’s no problem to be out of the dealership for a couple of days. And there’s still time to make a difference in 2015, and plan for 2016. 

 

Fall Harvest Marketing Boot Camp. Enroll now: www.powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp

When: Monday, October 26th – 2pm – 6pm EST 

 

Tuesday, October 27th – 8:30am – 6pm EST

Wednesday, October 28th – 8:30am – 3pm EST

 

Where: Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway 

($165/night)

 

Cost: $249 before August 31st (then $349) 

– Additional guests are only $149 each

 

If you’d like to speak with one of our friendly team members about the boot camp, call 1-877-242-4472, or chat with us at 

www.powersportsmarketing.com.

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ASK TORY: I’m Looking for Something Fresh and New in Marketing, What Do You Recommend?

Tory Hornsby | 07/01/2015

 

As most know, we got our start owning and operating a 4-store group of dealers in the Atlanta, GA metro area.  Those stores weren’t for sale, but we were pursued by a conglomerate of Powersports dealers and made an offer that Rod couldn’t refuse. So, we started Dealership University, the training arm of our company. We began offering training on the subject of marketing and offered our first Marketing Boot Camp in 2008. 

 

During a pretty intense session on Digital Marketing one of the attending Dealer Principals raised their hand and asked me, “How much for the fish sandwich?” He mentioned that he appreciated all he was learning (teaching him how to fish) and that he had plenty to implement when he got back. But, he just wanted to “buy the fish sandwich” and let us to handle some of the marketing he knew we’d be better at performing than he would.  It wasn’t long after this question that both the Sharp Shooter and Local Web Dominator programs were born. 

 

 

Over the years we have upgraded, optimized, and continued to add value to both of these programs and they answer the question, “What marketing would you guys do if you still owned a dealership today?”

 

The freshest, most profitable marketing that is quantifiable and has a proven track record of generating a positive R.O.I. that has been utilized by over 600 dealers across the country is found in these two programs… the Sharp Shooter, and the Local Web Dominator.

 

• We target the people in your market area who are most likely to respond and buy.
 

• Several media are used to reach that group of people, increasing response rates.
 

• You receive a list of responders (often hundreds of people) who tell you what they are interested     in buying right now – generating leads for every department. 
 

• Your staff calls these folks up and schedules     

  appointments. Boom goes the dynamite… and   

  your R.O.I.
 

• On top of the list of leads we’re able to generate 

 a really nice amount of floor traffic, which    

 increases sales.

 

We also provide staff training and word tracks to make life easier for the leadership team of the dealership. If you’re not taking advantage of this program right now, you’re wasting your Marketing Budget on something that doesn’t work as well. You can and will get better results with the Sharp Shooter program. 

 

• Makes you the logical choice to do business with  

  in your local market area.
 

• Targets folks who are online right now searching 

   for what you sell and are in your market. 

 

 

• Generates leads you are currently missing out 

  on from prospects who are lower in the ‘sales 

  funnel’. These leads are actively looking to buy!
 

• Grows authentic customer reviews on Google.
 

• Increase conversions on your website.
 

• Boost your SEO and Page Rank.
 

• Provides an email system that has ‘Done For You’ content pre-loaded in it.
 

• And a lot more.

 

The vast majority of folks go online and do research before they make a purchase. With the Local Web Dominator program your dealership will be poised to gain new market share as well as increase the purchases from past customers.

Again, the programs are the freshest marketing that your dealership can do, and they both produce quantifiable results and a positive R.O.I.  Does your current marketing?  

 

Also, if you’d like to join us for one of our infamous Marketing Boot Camps mark your calendar for October 26th – 28th and join us in Atlanta. For only $249 (Early Bird Special through August 31st) this is the biggest no-brainer in the history of earth. Visit www.powersportsmarketing.com/boot-camp for more info or to sign up.

 

If you like to speak with one of our friendly team members call 1-877-242-4472, or chat with us at www.powersportsmarketing.com.

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