A silent salesman who never quits
e recently had some
work done on our house, and the contractor insisted on parking
his truck on the street, rather than in our driveway. While he
worked, I noticed that cars passing by would slow down, and
often write down the phone number from the magnetic sign on his
truck. In some cases, passersby would stop and ask the
contractor to work up quotes for jobs they wanted done.
I mentioned this to the contractor, and he
told me, “90 percent of our business comes from people
who see the signs on our trucks parked at jobs. These signs are
the best form of advertising we have.”
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A sign is like a silent salesman. It works
24 hours a day, seven days a week under any condition.
It’s tireless. It will never ask for a day off, never
argue or complain and best of all, it’ll never bug you
for a raise. It’s happy to work. And the right sign in
the right place will draw business to your store like thirsty
wild animals to a cool waterhole on a hot afternoon in the dry
season!
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Years ago, I was so convinced of this that
I decided to try a radical experiment. One beautiful Friday
morning I began knocking on doors in downtown Elmhurst, IL. I
was selling a four-panel changeable letter window sign to any
entrepreneur who was willing to make the $69 investment to own
one. My goal was to place a sign in the window of every
establishment that showed an interest in this type of
communication.
Some business owners bought the sign
without hesitation. Others obviously wanted it but were
reluctant to part with their money and this is where my
experiment began. To those owners who were reluctant to pay up
front, I made an offer to place a sign in their window at no
charge for one week. My deal was that if the sign did not pay
for itself within a week, I would take it back with no
questions asked. If, however, the sign made money and they were
happy with it, they had the option of keeping it for the small
sum of only $69.
Within a four-hour period, I managed to
place 36 signs. Nine were sold for cash while the other 27 were
on consignment.
A week later, I returned for the verdict.
Of the 27 signs placed on consignment, I took back only two.
Having made money, the other 25 businesses gladly paid for
their signs and, in several instances, even bought additional
units for other locations.
The point is this. Look for the benefits.
Don’t dwell on the cost… especially if the cost is
relatively small.
Now let’s consider the signs in and
around your store.
Basically there are two types of signs.
Internal signs are those within your store. They are often
called point of purchase signs. External signs, on the other
hand, are installed outside on the fascia or marquee, for
example. Other external sites include the sidewalk, the
roadside and even signs attached to or painted on the company
truck or van.
Generally speaking, external signs should
be large and no more than six words in length. The words should
be easily read from the street or parking lot as cars and
pedestrians pass by. The letters should be very dark on a very
light background or very light on a dark background.
The type should be clear and easy to read.
Fancy script is not a good choice and, unless you’ve
recently embarked on a comprehensive branding campaign, I would
limit your fascia sign to the word “CLEANERS.”
It’s big, easy to recognize and simple to read from as
far away as a quarter of a mile.
On the other hand, “Personal Touch
French Dry Cleaners” will require much smaller letters
and, in some cases, may only be read by prospects standing
directly under your storefront.
External signs exist mainly to draw
attention and remind the public of your business. They’re
generally not meant to sell, but they can.
For example, we used to attach 12' x 6'
signs to both sides of a mobile home and park it facing the
street in front of our plant. Our messages were always short,
consisting of only a few words such as “Drapery Cleaning
Sale 25% Off.”
It would usually take two or three days
for a competitor to complain to the police but by that time,
the RV had done its job. It always made a swift and significant
sales impact. So then, we would simply drive it to another of
our 23 plant locations. It was literally a moving billboard
that attracted business like crazy!
Internal signs, on the other hand, are the
better salesmen for your business. These signs are smaller,
wordier and thus much more capable of educating your customer,
explaining your many benefits and ultimately selling your
service.
Special care should always be given to
maintenance. Be sure your signs are kept neat and attractive.
Signs that are torn or faded or yellowed with age should be
discarded or replaced with new ones.
And remember not to clutter. Posting only
a few signs is far more effective than putting up many. If you
have dozens of signs, nothing will stand out. The customer will
be confused by all the messages and will end up reading
nothing. Instead, feature one or two important signs and place
these prominently and strategically within your call area.
Also, change your signs often. A sign that
says the same thing month after month is generally not noticed
and will very soon be ignored.
If you have no signs right now, the best
sign you can invest in is a red neon sign that simply says,
“OPEN.”
Remember to use signs to your advantage
any way you can. For example, do you have a good web site for
your cleaner? You can promote your site by getting a rear
window sticker with your www address. Potential customers will
see your site address wherever you take your car such as the
grocery store, the mall or to church. Depending on where you
park your car, your web address could be seen by thousands of
potential customers in a single day.
You can get these window stickers with
your web address for as little as $12.95 at your local sign
shop, or find them on eBay by searching for www windshield.
Don’t let the cost hold you back.
Break-even on this one will probably come with your first
customer. Simple. Inexpensive. Efficient. That’s the
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.