Finding buyers when sales are sluggish
Getting your products on the market is a first step, but getting them in front of the right potential buyers is essential.
Callixte Matala, Mac-uisine, Montreal
A year ago, I started a high-end, stainless-steel kitchen sink distribution company in Montreal. I’ve recently added bathroom sinks and bathtubs to the line. The sinks are very high end, made of marble and granite, ranging from $600 to $2,500. Cabinet makers and kitchen designers spotlight them, but I’m still having a hard time selling my sinks. I’m trying to target those who are remodeling their kitchens. What should I do?
By Emily Maltby, Fortune Small Business staff writer
Dear Callixte: You are going in the right direction by working with resellers rather than going it alone.
If you have a retail location, you can set up events to expose yourself to builders and home associations. “You could buy some wine and cheese and host meetings or networking ,” says Randye Spina, chief solutions officer of Affordable Marketing Solutions in Bridgeport, Conn. If you don’t have your own store, work with the retailers who display your goods – you can probably arrange to run networking events in their stores to show off your sinks.
Spina recommends joining an association called the Society Of Certified Kitchen Designers in order to get to know architects and designers who could use your wares. And because it’s so important to network with those in the industry, you should seek out trade shows. The granddaddy of trade shows is the International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago, which will be held in March 2009, but smaller kitchen expos take place in other locations throughout the year.
“Even if you don’t have enough money to set up a table at these places, go as an attendee and walk the floors to make appointments with designers and hand out brochures,” Spinya suggests.
Giving sinks away can help get your name out there. Spinya recommends contacting HGTV shows that focus on remodeling to see if you can contribute a product to one of their episodes. The host of the show can talk about why your sink works in the remodeled kitchen, and your company may be listed in the credits of the show.
If you are working on a shoestring budget, try to work also with the manufacturers to help you sell their product. “It behooves them to give you money to sell the product,” Spinya says. “Ask the manufacturers for collateral materials to produce marketing materials. Tell them you need their assistance to produce banners, postcards and brochures and they should chip in. Take that a step further and split the cost of a radio ad.”
Also, a Web presence is essential. “A Web site is the equivalent of a business card,” Spinya says. “Even if it’s just a beautiful home page with your contact information, it’s essential.” If you don’t have your own retail store, a Web site is a good way to show off your sinks and direct potential buyers to shops carrying them.
In the meantime, since you don’t have a Web presence, try to get your phone number listed in online directories. Gregg Stewart, senior vice-president of TMP Directional Marketing, a search engine marketing agency in New York City, says when there is a lot of money on the line, the buyer will want to see the product and have contact with a human before making a purchase.
“In your industry, 85% of purchases are made within 15 miles of the home. People want local solutions because the product is high-end and may have installation issues,” Stewart says. “E-business is good for CDs and books, but for expensive home improvement, the consumer wants to see it before investing money.”
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DiggI agree with everything except pricing. I am a designer that works in the high end market. My clients are very savvy…while they will pay more, they research price. My experience with sinks shows a couple of hundred will definately make a difference in today’s market. I am currently in need of your product but couldn’t find a website! As a hign end designer, I don’t have time to run into the city when looking for a product such as this so my research is done on the internet. I also attend the International Home Builder’s Show to keep up to date with changes in the building industry. This might be a great place for you to show and make contacts.
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Hi. I am just looking at starting a new small business, working with people in Canada and the US. Canada although similar to the US has it’s differences. I would read the Canadian newswires and learn how, free, to write a good press release yourself. Of course you know you should be careful in your market being in French Canada and marketing to places in Ontario. I would recommend going to trade shows in Ontario. There are some high end areas in Mississauga,Ont, Woodbridge, and Vaughan Ontario.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/ You can use this site to do a business press release. Not sure if it cost anything. Also, try targeting your areas to market to by using statistics Canada. Most of the info is free.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html
You can find income levels by city on this site, free.
Well if you have high end products you don’t have to worry about the clients not having money in today’s condition. You should target a direct mail campaign to household incomes $250,000 or more. Also high end magazine but that might be pricey for an ad.
Need more information about us to help http://www.hfbadvertising.com
Ask for Harris.
In today’s economy – more and more customers and prospects refer to the internet in search of products, services and bargains.
From quick glance I’ve noticed pretty stiff competition on Google’s search pages on your markets. Lots of competition means crowded market, although it also means the market where money are to be made. Nevertheless within 2 minutes of research I pinpointed at least 3 ways how you can get yourself propelled high on organic search engine result pages to present your products in front of buying customers. (One way is free, another will cost you about $10 to start implementing).
It seems that your competition is currently overlooking a number of efficient internet marketing techniques that experienced internet marketing expert could show you.
I would suggest you to find a good, knowledgeable internet marketing guy whom you can trust and work with him to increase visibility of your enterprise from the side of internet where tens of thousands of potential prospects are searching for your products.
Gleb Esman, Chief Marketing Strategist, MENSK.
gesman@mensk.com
Dear Callixte: As a FocalPoint business coach, how to market high-end products to the affluent is one of the most common questions brought by my clients – especially in today’s economic climate.
Marketing high end products involves 3 critical components – differentiate yourself, craft the right message, and get your message to affluent buyers.
First – eliminate any competition by differentiating yourself completely from everyone else out there. Find or invent every conceivable reason why you’re the only person to do business with in your market. Offer insanely good service guarantees, exclusive products, red carpet treatment both for your customers and your referral partners, such as designers & builders.
Focus on the experience you deliver– pay attention to every detail of your sales process, customer service, and the experience of owning and using your products.
Second – premium products & services command premium prices.Once you’ve truly crafted an experience that can’t be beat, there’s no longer a way to directly compare your company to would-be competitors. You’ve made certain that any comparison would be apples to oranges, not apples to apples. It’s important now that your pricing reflects the superior nature of your product and service. Since you’ve elevated yourself to the most elite provider in your market, your customers are expecting to pay premium prices. Don’t confuse them by also trying to compete on price.
By charging what your worth, you’ll have the necessary budget to deliver on your promises. You can afford to roll out the red carpet; you can afford to only hire the best; you can afford to give premium service, and importantly – you can afford to market in ways that your lower price competitors cannot even consider.
Third – get the message to your niche market as directly as you can. Since the majority of your buyers are affluent, you need to understand them better than they understand themselves – at least when it comes to their buying habits. Advertise in their magazines, put yourself wherever they get their information. Position yourself as a trusted expert by contributing articles to publications they’ll read, etc. This applies to your referral partners as well as to your customers.
You’ve got to build trust, and always remember – buying decisions are made based on emotion not logic. Focus your message on the benefits rather than the features. Sell the experience.
2 Strategies that have worked for my clients are; Strategic Alliances and a Parthenon Marketing plan. The first strategy you need to identify other non competing companies that target the same clients that you do. Together you can leverage each other’s clients in several ways that will create many possible wins for each of you and your clients. This is based on a Mastermind relationship from Napoleon Hill’s book ‘Think and Grow Rich’, if you are open to this approach you will be amazed at the creative ideas and solutions that will come to you.
The Marketing Parthenon is best built with many pillars to support the many cost effective marketing strategies that you would have in place. It is best to invest a small amount of your marketing budget in each pillar of your plan. It’s key to track each pillars marketing activity – ‘Test & Measure’ each pillars marketing activity. This will allow you to evaluate the each activity and make a decision whether to tweak, increase the activity or drop a marketing activity saving you time and money
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