Take It to The Top: A Lesson from Lexus
When high end customers aren’t coming to you, go to them.
That’s the strategy that worked for some luxury car dealers, according to Jack Canfield.
The question: how can it work for design professionals?
Canfield, the co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, relates how some Lexus dealers adopted the proactive approach during the last recession.
Faced with slumping showroom traffic, they began showing up with the newest models at events and locations frequented by potential Lexus buyers.
The dealers visited area country clubs, marinas, parties in exclusive neighborhoods and other locales frequented by movers and shakers. The dealers invited those they met to test drive the models parked outside — and many did.
The result, according to Canfield: their Lexus sales shot up 65 per cent.
If it worked for them, could it work for you? What kind of “Lexus” could you introduce at a high end networking event that would convince prospects to buy from you?
I don’t have an easy answer here, but I can say this: it would take something more — much more — than photos, or fabric samples or carpet swatches.
Suggestions, anyone?
Fred Berns teaches sales and marketing strategies to interior design professionals around the world.