Money Talks in Bloggy Sense: Truck

Friday, September 11, 2009

The Easiest Way is to Be First

In Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (2001), Al Ries & Jack Trout throw out an interesting proposition. Their message to anyone who’s trying to market a product or service is that the easy way to get into a person’s mind is to be first. They say: “You just got to be first”.

Here’s the example they come up with. Ask anyone, “What’s the name of the first person to walk on the moon?” You’re bound to get a few Neil Armstrong’s, especially given that 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of this momentous event. Now ask anyone who answered correctly, “What’s the name of the second person to walk on the moon?” Let them squirm all you like; you’re not going to get a second answer out of anyone.

People rank to remember. And if they choose to not remember who comes in 2nd or 3rd, it’s probably more of a sub-conscious choice, rather than memory-related. After all, would you really want to deal with the 2nd best in your field? Probably not. First is better, by a long shot.

Ries & Trout give this piece of marketing advice: “Be a big fish in a small pond”. You want to be the biggest fish, even if you’re swimming in a puddle this is because you can always increase the size of the pond once you’ve established your predatory status as being no. 1. You just don’t want to end up being a small fish in a big pond. In the world of marketing, this is called positioning.

With an idea like this, it’s no wonder that Ries & Ries, have earned no. 1 ranking in the marketing seminars market, as being the one-and-only company to use gynmorous slide shows. Watch one of their presentations, and you’ll be looking at on average 300 slides an hour, and up to 1,800 slides a day, if you’re attending a day-long seminar. Now that’s got to be an interesting event to sit through. They sell their presentations like going to the movies, with a bit of suspense, comedy, intrigue and education.

So who’s no. 1 in the trucking world? You might have to do a 180◦ turn-around from where you’ve been looking to find them, but they’re definitely well-entrenched in their marketplace. i80 Equipment (www.i80equipment.com) has been the #1 supplier of quality reconditioned trucks, servicing the construction, sign and lighting, telecommunications, tree care, and utility industries. They have over 50 trucks in stock, including used altec bucket trucks, forestry trucks, boom trucks, crane trucks and digger derrick trucks.

And so how do you get to be no. 1 in the trucking world? It’s not having close to 20 years in operation that makes your no. 1. Although this helps. And it’s not knowing your trucks that makes you no. 1. Although this helps too. It’s standing by your trucks that does it. I-80 Equipment won’t put a truck on the road without a 77point inspection, followed by an external inspection and certification process. They are masters of the reconditioning process and their focus is on safety first. Sign up for email alerts of new acquisitions on their expanding lot. Consult with them to buy your bucket truck today!

About The Author:

i80equipment is an online New & Used Bucket Trucks store. Offers a wide variety of Bucket trucks, Boom Trucks & Crane Trucks. The author invites you to visit: http://www.i80equipment.com/

Don’t Make Feature-Based Purchases, Without Facing the Fear Factor

Fear Selling is all about getting to that dreaded question of “What’s it going to cost you if…?”. Here’s a classic example of fear selling in action. An IT Sales Rep. calls up the purchasing manager or CEO of a company and says, “Mr Customer, I work for Anti-Virus Software Ltd. We’ve got a great deal on at only $49.99 a month…”. If this is the approach he uses, the sales guy might not get any further than this. And that’s simply because he’s likely to be one of the ten other sales guys making the same kind of call that day. The CEO probably has his turn-away call down pat. Possibly he’s even started to have fun, saying “Thanks. But we’d rather not”. And maybe on a good day, he even asks the Sales Rep. to go into all the benefits, just to see how well he knows his stuff.

But hey, what if the sales guy, turns his call around, and says: “Whenever I speak with senior decision-makers like yourself, I often here the same three concerns coming up: ‘computer viruses, computer viruses and computer viruses…’. Is this something you can relate to?”. The Sales Rep. knows he’s hitting a soft spot because he’s done his research. And then it’s literally, a hop, skip and a jump away to that unsettling question, “What’s it costing you… in terms of staffing, and problem-shooting and system crashes?”, which can be followed by a clincher: “Ad if you were to put a figure on what is it costing you…?”.

Let’s throw out a radical statement here. Good purchases need to be based fear-factor tested. Don’t base your purchase on the features alone. It’s easy when you’re looking at features, to think that you’re getting a great deal. What you want to do is predict what could go wrong, and make sure that whatever you are purchasing can handle the situation. This is, in part, the idea behind a checklist inspection. A team of experts would have sat down early on it the planning process and said: “What’s really vital to the safe operations of this machine or tool?”, and then they would have had an inspection team in an inspection bay, check that all safety criteria were matched.

I-80 Equipment Company (www.i80equipment.com) have over 15 years in operation, selling quality reconditioned bucket trucks and used digger derricks. They won’t put a truck on the road without a 77point inspection, followed by an external inspection and certification process.

Today, truck drivers need to understand how their trucks operate inside out in order to ensure road safety at all times. I-80 Equipment aim to provide as much information as possible to a potential customer, so that when they walk onto the lot, they’ve seen the video footage, and they know the truck’s mileage, weight, engine and fuel type and transmission. This way, they’re more inclined to move onto road safety, and general maintenance issues.

About The Author: i80equipment is an online New & Used Bucket Trucks store. Offers a wide variety of Bucket trucks, Boom Trucks & Crane Trucks.