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What
do you do when the pizzeria down the street throws In
the towel? Though we don’t sit around with voodoo dolls of our
competitors and
a box of pins, none of us loses sleep when a direct or indirect
competitor goes
out of business.
Recently,
a restaurant not far from us closed down. At
first, I didn’t give it much thought. But I saw a flier in front of my
health
club. I was going to work out and was surprised to learn by a note on
the door
that they were moving about five miles away.
Little
did they know that driving a mile to exercise was
about as much workout as I could handle. Considering they didn’t even
bother to
let me know in advance or entice me to follow them, my loyalty was lost
forever. A savy competitor placed a flier on their window after they
had
vacated. The headline proclaimed: “Ready For A Change? We Honor Other
Club
Memberships.” The salesperson (they like to be called a fitness
counselors)
even hand wrote his name: “Ask for Brian.”
I
would imagine the leads Brian received from this stealth
marketing maneuver ranked tops of his career. A marketer’s dream is to
be in
front of a qualified prospect at the exact time he is ready or
motivated to
make a buying decision. It would like being the only food concession at
an NFL
game. You know you’re going to sell some pizza. This little health club
marketing lesson got me thinking about all the things you could do when
a
competitor goes under. And if you’re around this business long enough
it will
happen.
Ring,
Ring
Whether
to order a pizza for delivery, ask for directions or
book a catering, most of our marketing is designed to get the phone to
ring.
What would happen if your “just closed” competitor’s phone number was
rerouted
to your pizzeria?
I
would move Heaven and Earth to acquire that phone number.
Though he may not have been successful enough to survive, there are
still
qualified pizza customers with that number close at hand. The
cumulative effect
of advertising through yellow pages, magnets, coupons and box toppers
could
translate into a significant chunk of change for you. The 50 bucks a
month for
the phone line could be worth an extra couple of thousand dollars in
business a
week. That’s a nice return on your marketing investment.
You
have two options to acquire their main phone number.
Each has its risks and rewards. If the number has not been forfeited to
the
phone company, you could call your competitor and try to work out a
deal to
purchase the number. If you’re perceived as the reason he went out of
business,
you may never get the number.
You
can also contact the phone company and put in a request
for the number. If your competitor’s number was 717-123-4567, they’ll
put a
flag on it and let you know when it comes available. You’re not
guaranteed that
inadvertantly someone else gets the number. Try hard to befriend your
former
competitor. It’s cleaner and easier.
Once
you succeed in getting the phone rerouted, make sure
that line is answered with a generic greeting: “Pizzeria, may I help
you?” Once
your competitor’s customer/prospect starts asking questions, you can
work in
that you’ve taken over the number into the conversation. Some customers
will
not order from you, but I’d create a stick script, a script used to get
your
former competitor’s customers to become yours. Here’s a sample:
“Yes, this used to be Gino’s Pizzeria, but unfortunately he closed down last week. We are now handling the calls and would love the opportunity to serve you great pizza. We have a special for all of Gino’s former customers. When you order any large two-topping pizza, we throw in a two-liter of Coke and an order of cheesy bread for free. Would you like to take advantage of our special?”
This
works the best when you can get the blessing from your
former competitor. It would be worth paying a little for permission to
hang a
large banner directing customers to your pizzeria. Make sure your offer
is
strong enough to get that prospect over to your place. You’ll want to
send
someone over daily to check on the flier and put a fresh one up if the
old one
gets torn down.
I
would not stop with acquiring the phone number. If you can
reach your former competitor, you should discuss how you can help him
make a
few extra dollars in closing. What about purchasing equipment? You’ll
walk away
with a great deal and he’ll be closer to finalizing liquidation and
moving on
with his life. From ovens to mixers, there are many pieces of equipment
you
might be in the market for or could store for a future expansion.
Don’t
overlook hidden assets. Your former competitor’s
customer list will probably end up in the trash. You might be able to
buy it
for next to nothing. A combination of his database and an endorsement
letter
can bring you a flood of new customers. If he’ll agree to let you use
his name
in a letter to his former customers, you can make out great.
Start
your letter with a powerful headline: “I Have Some Bad
News & Some Good News.” Then get Gino explaining about the shutdown
and
have him make a strong offer to try your pizzeria.
Here’s
another headline: “After 13 Months Gino’s Pizzeria Is
Forced To Shut Their Doors, But I Want To Give You A FREE Pizza As A
“Thank
You” Gift For Supporting Us.” Then explain in Gino’s voice what
happened and
that he’s arranged for all of his customers to get a free pizza from
you. The
free pizza can only be redeemed once and a great way to make new
customers.
Make sure you write the letter or hire an experienced copywriter. The
letter
has to be well crafted.
Now
take out a pair of scissors, cut this article out, and
stash it in a place you can always easily find. When one of your
competitors
closes, you’ll be armed with a stealth marketing action plan that’ll
bring you
profits your other competitors will overlook.
– PMQ –