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‘Why Your Current Signs ‘Suck’ And
What You Can Do About It!’
In order for a sign to reach the level of ‘Maximum Effectiveness’
(bringing in as much business as possible) it must do a few very
important things. Before we get to those things I would like to
point out that very few retail businesses, Fast Lubes or otherwise,
have signage that functions anywhere near ‘Maximum Effectiveness’.
Unfortunately most signage serves merely as an ‘I.D. Tag’
that allows passing motorists to find a business that they are looking
for. This is not the major purpose for a sign, but rather
the minor purpose. The major purpose of a sign is to ‘attract’
new customers to your business that otherwise would
have passed by without noticing you. I can hear it now… you’re
thinking ‘everyone already knows I’m here’.
No they don’t!
In fact less than half of the cars driving by everyday even know you
exist. Continue to be open minded! You have done well to make it this far.
In order for a sign to achieve the level of ‘Maximum Effectiveness’
it MUST do three very fundamental things:
- It must… CATCH THEIR
EYE and get their ATTENTION!
- It must… Tell passing motorists SPECIFICS
about what you have to offer!
- It must… Do the above in a tasteful manner that
ENHANCES THE IMAGE of your business.
In my 10 years of traveling all over the country helping clients in
dozens of industries to maximize their business by turning ‘passers-by’
into ‘pullers-in’, I have seen hundreds of business-owners
attempt to embrace this idea and take it upon themselves to ‘prescribe’
a remedy that they think will ‘cure’ the sickness. Unfortunately,
because they do not have all of the necessary information to properly
‘diagnose’ the disease, they are merely ‘putting
a band-aid on a broken bone’. It may be done with great intentions,
but it sure doesn’t solve the problem. At best, it only results
in a short term, ‘less than optimal remedy’.
To illustrate what I am talking about, I will use a few examples that
we are all familiar with and put them to this simple Three Step
Check-Up…(Please refer to the ‘3 Things A Sign Must
Accomplish in order to achieve ‘Maximum Effectiveness.)
Flashing Arrow-Changeable Letter-Portable Signs – This
type of sign is most often seen in front of Fast Lubes advertising
an oil change ‘special’. As for Step 1< (Catching
The Eye), the flashing light bulbs in the arrow on top of the
sign are definitely ‘eye-catching’. As for Step 2, (Telling
What You Have To Offer), it is definitely capable of getting
a message out (as you can go out and arrange the letters to say
whatever you want)- if you have 2 hours, and it is not raining….
Of course, so can funny little kids that are bored on a Saturday
night. (I once saw a sign that said YOUR RADIATIOR FLUSH SPECIALISTS
magically transform overnight to LISA – YOU ARE A FAT LUSH).
As for Step 3, (Best Possible Image), that is where the real failure
lies. There is nothing tasteful about this type of sign. It says
very bad things about any business. These signs are often
in poor condition with missing letters and display a message that
hasn’t been changed in months. These signs fail because they
do not promote a positive image for your Fast Lube. Frankly, my
professional opinion is that these ‘ugly’ signs can
literally cause those ‘nicer’ cars to drive right past
you…
So, how about…
Inflatable
‘Waving Arm Things’ or Balloons –
These types of attention getting devices can be very effective at
getting the attention of passing motorists. If they are in good
repair, they can be used without sending out a poor image signal.
These devices still fail because they do not have the ability to
meet the requirements of Step 2. These devices cannot tell the motorist
anything about your business, which is a critical part of giving
them a reason to pull in now!
Humiliating
an Employee By Dressing Him Up As BOZO the Clown –
While this method of using your location to attract people off the
street can be very amusing, it doesn’t really say much about
your business or ‘enhance’ your image so it fails Step
2 and Step 3. Making yourself out to be a ‘clown’ is
better left to fast food. You need to project an image of professionalism
and competence in today’s ultra competitive Fast Lube industry.
This is hardly a job for BOZO the Clown.
Sending
An Employee Out To The Street With A “No Waiting” Sign-
This is actually a fairly effective idea, and it works. The problem
is that it can still be humiliating for the employees,
and it can send an unprofessional-image message to your traffic. It can actually
make you look desperate for business.
I hope that these illustrations have given you the ability to put
your own facility to this simple, easy-to-follow, ‘Three-Step
Check-Up’. Just ask yourself, “What am I doing to take
full advantage of the ‘money-stream’ flowing past my
Fast Lube facility every single day?” What if there was a
way to dramatically increase the number of people that are actually
‘noticing you’. What if there was a way to communicate
a steady flow of information about your services to that ‘money-stream’,
everyday, all-day?
What if there was a way that you could accomplish all this while
projecting the image of a professional, state-of-the-art Auto Service/Care
Facility- 24/7/365? There is!
As promised… The Answer:
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