hearthlist Digest #33 - Wednesday, October 1, 1997
 
 

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Subject: Re: hearthlist Digest #32 - 09/30/97
From: [email protected]
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 20:53:23 -0400 (EDT)
 
regarding the CFM/Majestic/Vermont Castings debate:
 
I started in the hearth business in 1979.  I voiced my disapproval of the VC
merger the week it was announced back in...March?  Somehow, this event was
the last straw and absolutely destroyed my morale for involvement in the
hearth industry, and I left it in April.  However, my husband still is
sweeping chimneys and installing stoves as well for my brother's store
(Hearth & Home Shoppe, Mechanicsville, VA), and I work for the advertising
agency that handles said store...so, I'm still involved in the industry but
can see it from an entirely different view.
 
My brother's store did well before it handled VC, it did better when he
picked up the line in 1994, and it's doing even better now that he's not
buying VC's any more.  There are lots of other great stoves out there - find
one you like and believe in, and build its reputation the same way YOU helped
to make VC what it was.  There's no special aura about this product - it's
only what you believed it to be.  And it's no longer that company, sad to
say.  Business is different than it was 10 or 20 years ago, too.  You may
have to do business differently in order to prosper.  You are not marketing
your products to a standing army - you're marketing to a passing parade.
 Don't let them pass you by.
 
Each of you fills your own niche in your market.  It may be your
unprecedented level of service, or your depth of selection, or your expert
knowledge and credentials, or vast array of burning models, your gorgeous
displays.  Maybe you specialize in a product not sold by your competition
(high-end glass doors, custom fireplace screens, gas line installation,
pellet or wood stoves...).   Define your Unique Selling Advantage - just ONE
- and use it in all your advertising.  (Once you get the customer in the
door, you can expound on your other strengths).  Spend your advertising
dollars establishing yourself as THE AUTHORITY in your market.  Consider
joining with another dealer or a complimentary business, such as a gas
company or plumbing company, to combine advertising dollars.  Buyers are
shopping right now - is your name the first one they think of?
 
I promise you that if you market your business correctly, the brand you sell
has little to do with your success.  I have yet to go to a "big box" that has
an advantage over you; there's nothing for you to be afraid of.  Drop the
lines that don't make you money and support those manufacturers who support
you.   
 
Three suggestions to help you immediately improve your business:
     Raise your prices to a level where you can make a profit.  People expect
to pay more when they wait to buy any product during peak sales periods.  You
can't stay in business if you don't make enough profit - don't try to compete
based on price.  ONLY 9 PERCENT OF PURCHASES ARE MADE BASED ON PRICE ALONE.
 Ninety-one percent of customers will make their decision based on other
factors - other strengths that YOU possess.
     Send a direct mail piece to your customer base right away, be it a
newsletter with safety reminders or a special sale "for previous customers
only".  They already know and trust you, and may be ready for an upgrade or
to give you a referral - they just need to be reminded of you.
     Don't use newspaper as your primary advertising medium.  Use it only to
reinforce electronic media.  If you feel newspaper is the only advertising
you can afford, save up all your advertising dollars to spend in just one
television blitz, timed during your strongest sales period.