National Clothesline

om owns a service shop for small engines in my home town. He repairs lawnmowers in the summer and snow blowers in the winter and, quite frankly, he’s got all the business he can handle… within two miles of his shop.

I first met Tom several years ago when my teenage sons had a summer lawn mowing business and needed to have tune-ups and repairs done to keep their equipment running properly. We had been getting a lot of advertising from a little lawn and garden repair shop down the street… everything from door hangers to letters and postcards to phone calls, so I decided to try them out. While Tom wrote up a work order on my equipment, I had an opportunity to talk to him and ask about his business.

During our conversation, I discovered something interesting about this guy. Instead of referring to market share, he talked about market domination. He wasn’t satisfied getting just some of the business in his area… he wanted a-a-a-all of it. For this reason, he decided years ago to focus on a very small, two-mile market right around his shop. Now, any time a homeowner within two miles of his shop needs a lawnmower blade sharpened, a snow blower fixed or a weed whacker tuned up, they know there’s only one guy to call. Tom.

Today, when it comes to small engine repair, nothing happens within a two-mile radius that he doesn’t know about. He’s a big fish in a small pond and his goal is to dominate the small engine repair business in town.

Working with dry-cleaners for 13 years I’ve come to realize that a majority of owners in this industry promote their businesses exactly the opposite of what Tom does. They’re happy to be small fish in a big lake. Surrounded by an abundance of cleaners, they promote their service to prospects more than five miles from their front door.

Why?

For many, it’s a matter of perceived value. They think they’re getting more for their money. After all, a newspaper ad that reaches 30,000 homeowners for only $350 has got to be a better deal than a direct mail piece that hits only 1,000 homes for the same cost. Right? Not really. With rare exceptions, the use of newspaper advertising is a waste of money for a drycleaner. A Home Depot or large supermarket may benefit, but a small drycleaner will see almost no response.

That’s because a drycleaner is primarily a neighborhood business. The sphere of influence is small and customers prefer to trade with businesses that are close by and convenient. They like to form relationships. To know and be known is partly what attracts people to a cleaner. It’s one of the main reasons why they keep coming back and it’s much easier to establish a relationship with someone in the community than a person who comes from a distance on occasion or perhaps when they happen to get a great offer in their mailbox.

So how did Tom get to be a big fish in a small pond?

He took an empty Starbuck’s coffee cup, turned it upside down on a local map and drew a circle around his shop. Everything inside the pencil mark was his target. He cancelled his yellow page ads because they weren’t cost effective. He started an aggressive direct mail program using personal messages.

As he got more customers, he captured their birth dates and began sending cards with no offer… just a birthday greeting. He hired youngsters in the neighborhood to distribute door hangers (it was cheaper and more effective than the mail). He joined local civic groups to get to know other merchants and residents. He enters a float in every Fourth of July parade… and wins a prize almost every year.

To top it off, he’ll pick up and deliver any piece of equipment within a two-mile radius, free of charge. By the way, pick up and delivery in the small engine business is almost unheard of… at least outside his market. Among his customers, however, it’s extremely popular and people talk to their friends, telling them what great service Tom gives saying things like, “…plus, he’ll pick up your mower and deliver it free!”

Tom’s customers have now become advocates and his popularity is rising rapidly.

Here’s the question:

Do you want to be “just another cleaner” in a market of 75,000 homes or would you prefer to be a big fish in a little pond… even if that pond is only 1,500 homes?

It depends, first, on how you define your market and then how you communicate with that market. If you intend to dominate your market, don’t draw the boundaries too large. Start small and work this area aggressively. Once your name is on the lips of everyone in the neighborhood, you can begin to expand your territory. But do so gradually.

In their book, Up the Loyalty Ladder, Murray and Neil Raphel discuss the five levels of customers.

On the bottom rung is the prospect, the starting point of any business. Then comes the shopper, who is someone who makes an initial visit to your store. A customer is a shopper who comes back to your store and a client is a customer who spends a lot of money with you over the course of a year. On the top rung of the customer ladder is the advocate. An advocate is a client who is so satisfied with your quality and service that they become your mouthpiece everywhere they go.

If you happen to be in a small pond and you have the know-how to turn prospects into advocates… you will become a big fish like Tom in a very short period of time.

Bill Bishop has been a consultant with the Golomb Group for the past 12 years, designing marketing and promotional programs for drycleaners. He can be reached at the Golomb Group at (800) 679-5856 or by e-mail at billbishop@golombgroup.com.