SIGNS ARE EFFECTIVE

Your sign is an integral part of your advertising program along with the other forms of commercial communication such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and billboards. There are four basic criteria used to judge the effectiveness of these advertising media: (1) coverage of the trade area, (2) repetition of a message, (3) readership of a message, and (4) cost per thousand exposures of a message. Two other criteria important for the small business owner are (5) availability and (6) ease of use. Let's see how signs measure up to the above criteria.

1. Signs are oriented to your trade area. Signs do not waste your resources by requiring you to pay for wasted advertising coverage. The people who see your sign are the people who live in your trade area.

2. Signs are always on the job repeating your message to potential customers. Your on-premise sign communicates to potential customers twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, week after week, month after month, year after year. Every time people pass your business establishment they see your sign. The mere repetition of the message will help them remember your business.

3. Nearly everyone reads signs. Signs are practical to use for nearly everyone is used to looking at signs and using signs, even small children. Studies have shown that people do read and remember what is on signs. When special items are displayed, sales increase for these particular items within the store.

4. Signs are inexpensive. When compared to the cost of advertising in some other media, the on-premise sign is very inexpensive. Table 1 indicates the cost-per-thousand-exposures for various media in a given type of community. Unless your trade area encompasses an entire city or region where you must rely upon broad based media coverage, there is no better advertising dollar value than your on-premise sign.

5. Signs are available to each and every shop owner. There is no need to schedule the use of your sign. Your sign is available to you whenever you need it and to be used however you please.

6. Signs are easy to use. No special skills or resources are needed to operate a sign once it has been installed. If it is an illuminated sign, all you need to do is flip the switch and that may not be necessary with timing equipment. Once the initial expenditures are made no special resources or professional services are needed. You need only operate and maintain your sign.

Sign-A-Rama - Kearny Mesa in San Diego

SIGNS ARE EFFECTIVE

VEHICLE GRAPHICS AND CAR WRAP ADVERTISING DELIVER BIG RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Successful promotions and marketing campaigns can be difficult to achieve, especially when competitors are using the same online and offline channels as your company. Now that traditional television advertising and even internet advertising have been accepted as powerful and persuasive advertising platforms, outdoors advertisers are seeing an acceptance of car wrap advertising. Why? Vehicle Wraps are a high impact, cost effective form of advertising that work for all types and sizes of businesses. A vehicle wrap builds brand recognition, raises a company's profile and reinforces brand identity.

Business owners are rapidly discovering that car wraps and vehicle graphics are the most economical way to reach customers quickly, especially for event promotions such as trade shows. Compared to traditional forms of advertising- outdoor signs, television, print and radio, vehicle advertising can reach more consumers at lower Cost Per Thousand (CPM) impressions than any other form of outdoor advertising.

While advertising budgets for traditional media have been cut back, companies are still investing in vehicle advertising because they realize all that driving by employees is a golden opportunity to build their brand. No other form of advertising offers a lower cost per impression than a vehicle wrap.

According to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America:

• More than 95% of Americans are reached by media targeting vehicle drivers and passengers.
• One vehicle wrap can generate between 30,000 - 70,000 impressions daily.
• Fleet vehicle advertising boosts name recognition 15 times greater than any other form of advertising.
• 30% of mobile outdoor viewers indicate they would base a buying decision on the ad they see.

A comparison between vehicle wraps Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM) with traditional adverting leaves no doubt about the advantages of going mobile:

• A 30-second prime-time spot in the top 100 television markets cost $17.78 per CPM.
• A 60-second drive-time ad in the top 100 radio markets cost $8.61 per CPM.
• A one-third b/w page ad in the top 100 newspaper markets cost $22.95 per CPM.
• A four-color one-page ad in 23 top magazine publications cost $9.35 per CPM.
• The average for all forms of billboard ads cost $2.18 per CPM.
• Vehicle wraps cost $.77 per CPM.

While a growing number of companies are spending more of their ad dollars on online advertising and less on traditional media, it appears that vehicle advertising or moving billboards are here to stay.

Sign-A-Rama - Kearny Mesa in San Diego

VEHICLE GRAPHICS AND CAR WRAP ADVERTISING DELIVER BIG RETURN ON INVESTMENT

ESCAPING THE VOICE MAIL MAZE

"I'm sorry, I'm out of my office. Would you please leave your name and number and I'll return your call as soon as I can."
How many of us are still waiting for our reply? Technology has made our selling lives both easier and more challenging. Voice mail is a challenge that forces us to redefine our telephone strategies.

Create Interest. If a customer doesn't need your product or service immediately, the probability of getting a reply is slim to none. To increase your odds of success, treat each phone call as a sales call.
You have about 10 seconds. Prepare what you are going to say. Your message should spark interest. Present a benefit that sounds so interesting it's worth a return call. This requires some research on your part -- to find out what's of interest to this customer.

Change Procedure. Leave a message saying, "I've been trying to set up an appointment with you. I know how busy you are. If June 6 at 10 a.m. won't work for you, please call me at (your phone number)."
When you arrive on June 6 at 10 a.m. and the receptionist says, "Do you have an appointment?" you can say "Yes." Try to do this with sales calls that are geographically close to confirmed appointments. You still run the risk of a prospect who won't see you, but at least you aren't making a special trip to his location.

Get Through the First Time. Since most prospects return calls to people they know, always get referrals. Selling is not only about who you know, it's about getting to know the people who know the people you want to know.
Ask your customer to call the prospect for you to say you will be in contact. That introduction increases the probability that your prospect will return or take your call.
When you call a referral, always tell the receptionist "John Doe asked me to call Mr. Prospect." If the assistant screens calls, she will mention the person who referred you to the prospect.

Get help. Sometimes there is a screener before you get to voice mail. Enlist the help of the screener and you might actually speak to your prospect. Explain, "I've been playing phone tag with John Doe. Can you see if he will speak with me for a few minutes about the benefit to him or his company?"

Change times. Think about calling when your prospect has to answer his phone. Most screeners are out before 8 a.m. at lunchtime, and after 5 p.m. Calling at these times gives you higher probability that the prospect will actually pick up his phone.

Keep trying. Persistence does pay off. You should not leave 10 messages a day, however trying at different times with different strategies should eventually work.

Source: Maura Schreier-Fleming is president of Best@Selling, a sales training and consulting organization in Dallas, Texas. She speaks at conferences about sales and business improvement and works with business and sales professionals on real-world skills and strategies. She is the author of the book Real-World Selling for Out of-this-World Results.

Sign-A-Rama - Kearny Mesa in San Diego

ESCAPING THE VOICE MAIL MAZE

The Five Best Openings

"How are you today?" Nothing defines you as a telemarketer or salesperson more than that opening delivered in an obligatory, insincere way (the way 80 percent of your competition delivers it).

If you want to separate yourself from your competition and actually connect with your prospect, use any of the following after you give your name and company name.

1. "Can you hear me okay?" This is my personal favorite. This opening does a number of things: A. It elicits a yes response B. It gets your contact to say yes, and it gets him or her to really listen. Not a bad way to start the call.

2. "Happy Monday!" (Or Wednesday, Thursday, etc.) You'll get a lot of traction with this line, and it really open up your prospect.

3. "Is it raining there, too?" (Or hot, foggy, etc.) Immediately connecting with your prospect on an issue unrelated to sales gets him or her talking and takes the pressure off.

4. "I'm so glad I reached you, I need a little bit of help. Are you the person who handles XYZ?" This is a great technique because you immediately make them feel important. Works every time.

5. "How's your day going?" This is the alternative to "How are you today," and it only works if you are sincere and if you actually listen to how their day is going. Please, listen and respond accordingly.

These five openings will separate you from your competition when cold calling a prospect. Have some fun with these, vary them, and find the one you're most comfortable using. But most important, use them. Believe me, your prospect will be happy you did, and so will you.

Source: Mike Brooks is a motivational speaker who has more than 20 years experience in the sales industry. He is the author of The Real Secrets of the Top 20 Percent: How To Double Your Income Selling Over The Phone. His proven techniques and strategies are used successfully by a number of companies




Sign-A-Rama - Kearny Mesa in San Diego

The Five Best Openings

Choosing Point of Sale Display Material

Every store owner knows that point of sale material helps increase the impulse buys made by retail buyers in most industries. While clients are waiting to make a purchase or are waiting in reception areas, they have time to look at advertising material, fill out application forms, be alerted to new products, or even buy an impulse item.

This makes the point of sale signage you choose important to increasing the value per sale from your clients. The difference between up selling the client at point of purchase is greatly increased with an attractive well placed point of sale material.

Point of sale also includes retail signs that bring a passing client into your store. This can include sale signs, a frame signs, neon led lights, banner flags and other eye catching street side items. This is especially true for corner store, food outlets, and almost all other types of retail stores with passing traffic. The aim is to catch the attention of the public and give them a reason to come into your store.

Some of the more popular retail signs that fit this category are A frame signs and Digital & LED Signs. They are popular for different reasons. The A frame sign can usually be easily changed to suit special of the day, or seasonal advertisements. They may be a simple blackboard, magnetic or have plastic letters which make it easy to write a new advertisement.

Digital & LED Signs are particularly effective in the night time. There are scrolling led signs that let you get a longer message across, flashing signs to definitely catch the human eye, or rotating signs to get different messages across. They have also become popular in indoor shopping center, to add a point of difference.

Inside the store, there are many different types of brochure, magazine, flyer holders and many other types of display material available. The best thing to do is take a look at the type of point of sale material you would like to offer and buy your point of sale displays based around that. This is much better than trying to fit the material to the display. Buying from an experienced point of sale provider, will also give you a better chance of getting sensible advice that can save you both time and money.

Most point of sale retailers will stock all you need for pricing, ticketing, such as price ticket or food ticketing, brochure holders, blackboards, whiteboards, banners, bags, competition boxes, shelf stripping and much more. Again it is important to think about what messages you need to get across and choose the point of sale displays that suit your purposes. Talk to your local SIGNARAMA about what you want to achieve and we will be able to suggest items to get this message across, or recommend the products to display the promotional material you want to offer effectively.

Decorating a new business is fun, and this includes selecting your advertising materials. Taking the time to choose quality point of sale displays, that help convey clear messages to your customers, can also promote the personality of your store. And of course they are proven to help increase sales too.

Sign-A-Rama - Kearny Mesa in San Diego

Choosing Point of Sale Display Material

Make Sandwich Boards Part of Your Small Business Arsenal

Sandwich board signs are a great way to attract new customers, especially foot traffic. They are proven to provide an effective and economical increase in your advertising coverage and generally require no special permits for placement. One of the unique and value added benefits stems from the ease of changing the message. Most are designed for two printed inserts, easily changed when a new or reused message is required.

Most of them are designed for the use of Coroplast plastic printed inserts. Coroplast is a twin walled fluted plastic material that readily accepts specific ink formulations. Coroplast is durable, economical and well proven for use in most outdoor conditions.

They are most effective when used for those businesses hidden in the depths of a strip mall, with no direct exposure of their signage to foot and road traffic. They allow for conscious placement of your advertising for the best traffic patterns, and as mentioned earlier allow for a quick change of your message.

Most municipalities have ordinances on their use and most landlords have clauses in their lease agreements guiding their use from the property manager's standpoint. Our experience, especially in tough economic times, is that both are willing to work with a business owner's use of sandwich boards. If they don't, their local taxes and monthly lease payments may be at risk.

The A-Frame boards will last for years with proper care and, in most cases, are made from durable high grade plastic. They are designed to withstand winds, the sun and other outdoor elements. Some are designed with tie downs to prevent theft, but most are designed to be put out when opening for business and taken in at closing.

Sandwich board signs are a must for today's small business. They increase traffic to your business, are durable and economical. If not in it already, sandwich boards signs should be a part of your small business arsenal.

Sign-A-Rama - Kearny Mesa in San Diego

Make Sandwich Boards Part of Your Small Business Arsenal

Networking: It's An Overlooked Opportunity

Networking is by far the most essential skill for building a business or sales career -- and the one most often overlooked. Networking opportunities exist everywhere -- business meetings, professional associations, alumni groups, sports groups, community groups, weddings, parties and any place people come together.

The trick to maintaining a successful internal network is to keep in touch: don't call someone only when you want something. Sure it takes time and effort to keep those connections warm -- but remember Woody Allen's old adage: "Eighty percent of life is showing up." The more often you show up, the more people will get to know you. That will increase your opportunities.

The same concepts apply for internal networking -- set goals for the people you plan to meet with each week, get to know them, exchange ideas, volunteer for special projects. If you are in a senior position, find opportunities to encourage, support, and help others develop themselves. Whether you are new to an organization or a veteran, your activities are the same.

Getting Started

• Your goal should be to attend at least one event per week where you'll have an opportunity to meet potential clients, expand your contacts, and your knowledge.
• Decide which groups you'd like to join and show up regularly. A good rule of thumb is to join fewer groups and attend often rather than to join many groups and show up once in awhile.
• Volunteer with an organization. People will learn how you work -- that you are dependable and contribute innovative ideas -- and you'll begin to develop strong, trusting relationships.

Networking Tips


Decide which events to attend, put monthly attendance on your calendar and set a goal for each event.

• Travel solo.
• If you go with someone, split up.
• Meet new people.
• Prepare insightful questions in advance.
• Don't spend time talking to people you already know.
• Move graciously from group to group.
• Ask, "How can I help you?"

Never stop building your network. Remember to connect with people, and you will see your career and your opportunities expand. Enjoy the process, have a great time and be yourself. Your rewards will be infinite.

Source: Sales strategist Joanne S. Black is America's leading authority on referral selling and the author of "No More Cold Calling™: The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust".

Sign-A-Rama - Kearny Mesa in San Diego

Networking: It's An Overlooked Opportunity