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When I was a teenager I had a job at the local golf course, picking up the driving range, maintaining the carts, etc. I played a little golf here and there, but once I had enough money to buy myself a truck and a dirt bike I never touched a club again for 20+ years. In fact, I eventually even put a decal on my ol’ Mustang that read: Throttle Jockey - Because Golf Courses Should be Motocross Tracks.

My father and uncles all rode hare scrambles and enduros when I was a kid. I had a few mini bikes early on, but when my dad hung up his leathers, my riding days were put on hold and replaced with stick and ball sports. As a kid, I always knew when I got old enough I wanted to race like my dad and uncles did. And, racing I did. Clearly, it was in my blood. I was “eat, sleep, drink, and breath” motorcycle racing from the time I was 19 years old until my early-to-mid 30’s. Racing motorcycles led me to friends who raced mountain bikes and road bikes, which led me to friends who raced triathlons. All of which I eventually participated in after retiring from motorcycle racing. 

Fast forward to a few years ago and the guys here at the office started a little golf outing tradition once a year. On a whim, I decided to go out and enjoy the scenery with my friends and colleagues and ride around, hit a few balls and drink a few beers. I had a good time, but I didn’t give it much thought until the next year. I decided to go again, but this time I hit a couple of decent shots and it piqued my curiosity.  It’s borderline discomforting for me to share this with my 2-wheel friends, but now I try to play golf once a week. 

There’s a big marketing lesson here. Every hobby I’ve been involved with over the past 25 years has come as a result of the influence from friends and family. Not as a result of advertisements. My self-image was so anti-golf that the manufacturers couldn’t have converted me to golfing if they gifted me a set of 14kt gold clubs. 

This is why targeting your marketing directly to existing riders and improving their ownership experience is hands down the best way to invest your limited budget. Notice I said ownership experience. When you create happy customers, they become raving fans, their enthusiasm is contagious and they begin to influence their friends and family members to ride (They also stay longer, pay more, and refer you more business). 

When I play golf with the guys, we’ll often put a small wager on the game. I’m not really a big gambler, but I’ve noticed gambling and marketing have two things in common that interest me. Mathematical odds and behavioral psychology. When you go to Vegas, payback percentages and frequency are greatest on the $.25 and $.50 slots, somewhere in the 10% range. When you move up to the $1 slots you drop to 8%-ish, then $5 you’re down to 6% payout. In Vegas you’re eventually likely to lose, but you can buy more entertainment by playing better odds. 

Fortunately, with your dealership’s marketing you can play the odds and psychology game and win. 

If you spend $5,000 to advertise on the radio around your entire metro city take these odds into consideration. With satellite radio, mp3, audiobooks, etc. not everyone listens to the radio anymore. Even if they do listen to the radio, you’re not guaranteed to be on the rock or country station that riders choose. And even if you do, most people don’t pay attention to commercials. If you’re not the closest dealer to riders the radio ad could potentially just send a prospect to their local dealer. From an odds perspective how would you rate your radio ad in improving the riders in your back yards’ ownership experience so they will frequent your dealership more often and influence more new riders to join the sport?

Now consider throwing a Summer Sizzler party at your dealership. You send a personal invitation to your existing customers via email, telephone, direct mail and social media. You also invite a few conquest customers (those who live in your backyard, ride what you sell, but haven’t done business with you). You offer a fun (non-salesy) incentive for your guests to share what’s on their mind on a custom landing page. As a result, you have hundreds of customers who have raised their hands and told you exactly what they want (sales opportunities), and you haven’t even had your party yet. How would you compare these odds of improving rider’s ownership experience compared to your radio campaign?

Now, what if you committed to improving the ownership experience of riders in your backyard 12 months out of the year with a SYSTEM that has very high odds of producing Predictable Growth? With smart marketing, and the latest technology you can play the odds to win in your favor.

To discover more, join us at our Fall Marketing Boot Camp Oct. 24th through the 26th or call us today at 877-242-4472.