Editor's Report

Motor, Feb 2005 by Lypen, John

Marketing works. It's something you're exposed to every waking hour as a consumer and something you should practice every day as a business owner.

One of the benefits I enjoy through my employer's health coverage program is something called a Flexible Spending Account (FSA). If you're not familiar with the term, an FSA gives you the ability to have a certain amount of your salary automatically deducted before taxes and set aside in an account. The money in the account can be used throughout the year to pay for medical expenses that aren't otherwise covered by insurance-the advantage being that you're paying with pretax dollars. There are stipulations, however, that you must designate the amount of money to go into the account before the new year starts, and that any money not used during the calendar year is forfeited. So careful planning is important.

Being a procrastinator, I tend to leave my FSA planning to the very last minute, and every year I kick around the notion of putting something aside for corrective eye surgery. I always thought it would be great to not have to wear glasses all the time, and I didn't like contacts when I tried them. But I've always been cautious about the surgery itself since I consider it an evolving technology. Plus the surgery isn't exactly cheap, while I am.

Right around the holidays this past year, a commercial on local television caught my eye. We've all seen these come-ons for laser eye surgery but this one-featuring a Detroit Piston basketball player giving a testimonial about some incredible new technology-made me especially curious. Some Internet sleuthing led me to the conclusion that this new technology looked promising, but it also added about $500 per eye to the cost of the procedure. A pretty hefty price to help pay for some doctor's new machine, I thought. But a little more digging uncovered the results of a detailed ophthalmologic study, including lots of statistical charts and graphs, and I was sold!

Coincidentally, as I was digesting all this laser eye surgery marketing, my wife was being marketed for something literally digestible-crab cakes. Lynn had apparently been flipping through channels when she stumbled onto one of those home shopping shows, this one featuring an audience full of people in an uproar about crab cakes. Whatever it was they were doing to pitch these things had her mesmerized enough to want to join the hundreds of people calling their orders in. Not only were these people paying $45 for six crab cakes, but they were signing up for a year-long crab cake club! To me it seemed like sheer insanity, but it was another example of excellent marketing.

These may seem like extreme examples, but my point is that many of the things we purchase every day of our lives are influenced by the way they are marketed to us.

As a shop owner, it may be tempting to think that the goods and services you sell are not discretionary, making marketing unnecessary. But you'd be wrong.

Many of your customers have a household budget that includes an allowance for car repairs. Do you market a preventive maintenance program that will convince them it's best not just to repair their car when something breaks but to service it so it won't?

Look at the equipment around your shop that can be used for preventive maintenance. If you're not getting the return on investment the salesman promised when he sold it to you, maybe its not the fault of the equipment. Think back to what made you buy it in the first place. How was it marketed to you? If you're not already doing so, maybe it's time you found ways to market the capabilities of that flush & fill machine to your customers. And remember, you're a consumer, too. Ask yourself what sold you and find ways to convince your customers of the same.

Ultimately, how you market your services is up to you. Whether you put on show & tell clinics like Ron Popeil himself or develop a fact-filled flyer that will convince the most skeptical consumer, remember that discretionary items don't sell themselves. And "discretionary" services like preventive maintenance should be an important part of your business.

John Lypen

jlypen@motor.com