Articles

 Dealership: 

Rossiter’s has been owned and operated by Rick Rossiter in Sarasota, FL for over 20 years. From unique art sculptures to the owner’s personal collection of early model motorcycles, they have attractions for everyone including, ‘by far, the friendliest staff in the country!’

Solution: 

For their first Sharp Shooter Event, they decided to target 3,500 conquest prospects who ride what they sell, live in their backyard but hadn’t bought from them. They also called past customers and emailed everyone they had an email address for in their database. Using a mix of active, inactive and prospect customers, they knew they could reactivate customers who hadn’t spent money with them in the previous year, drive some new blood through the door and increase frequency of visits of their existing customers while increasing the number of customers spending money with them and the amount they spend in 2017.

Since the loneliest number in marketing is one, we used 12 direct marketing touches. By giving customers more opportunities to respond to the marketing, we increase the amount of traffic on event day and the number of leads being generated. Bigger picture, we’ve learned Powersports Dealers need to touch their Buying Base a minimum of 52-104 times per year to increase retention and grow market share. The more you touch your customer base, the more responsive they become and over the course of the year, more of them walk through the dealership’s doors more often and the business grows.

The message we utilize is focused on inviting customers to a party. By focusing on what the customer wants (things like food, drinks, door prizes and demo rides), the dealership gets more of what they want (more P&A, service and gear sales and a few more units out the door). The reverse is also true; focus on the sale and you will alienate the 99.99% of customers who don’t have ‘buy a motorcycle’ on their list of things to do this weekend. Long-term, customers never get tired of being invited to a party so they end up walking through the doors more often and when they’re there, they can’t help themselves but to spend more money. 

With so much marketing going out the doors, it’s important to have it hit customers at just the right time to really maximize the response from each media. Our marketing begins hitting customers roughly 10 days before the event and gives them a different opportunity to respond to the survey site (to generate leads for every department) almost every day leading up to event day.

Results:

Lori Sinclair, General Manager, said the event went on, despite Hurricane Irma wreaking havoc on the state and many people evacuating. She had cancelled her live music and other outdoor vendors, but had BBQ sandwiches, beer, and margaritas for anyone who showed up and needed a break after all of the hurricane prep they had been doing. 

She was surprised that, all things considered, she did see good traffic through the doors that day!

Executing on all four pillars of the Sharp Shooter Program - Right Audience, Right Media, Right Message & Right Timing, really paid off. The program generated 151 responses to the campaign, which generated 124 sales opportunities, including 30 riders interested in a new or used bike! Even Hurricane Irma didn’t get in the way of her ability to track the results of her marketing. She is now able to follow up on over 100 leads to get folks back into the dealership and sell some more service, P&A and roll a couple more units out the door.

What’s next? 

October means Biketoberfest & Halloween! Check out the inserts for some killer campaign options for October and for more information on how the Sharp Shooter Program can help you achieve your marketing goals in 2017, call me on my direct line 877-242-4472 ext: 112. Happy selling.