As a company, you have a logo which identifies your brand and you have a website and other marketing collateral that describes your products and services and all of these are closely related to the image of your company and are part of the brand awareness you’re creating for your business. If you think about the images, the actual photos, used to depict your products and services, do they fit the type of customer you’re trying to attract? Are you allowing prospective buyers to see themselves using your product or service? Do you project through realistic photos and images the ways in which your products fits into the various lifestyles of your buyers?

Having photos that correspond with the lifestyles of your target audience is critical to projecting your brand’s best image. If your target demographic is a baby boomer entering retirement, you probably don’t want twenty-somethings as the models in photos showing your product. If the “average” housewife or working mom is who you are trying to reach, showing a neatly kept house with everything in it’s place is not likely to be a realistic image that your audience is going to relate to (unless you are marketing a cleaning service!).

Before you start snapping photos and grabbing the next closest employee to model for your photo shoot, really think about the lifestyles of your target audience. If you take photos that capture a setting or action that your prospective buyer can picture themselves in, you’ll be more likely to make the sale. And if your target audience is diverse, make an effort with your photos to show how your products or services apply to as many lifestyles as you’re trying to appeal to.

We spend a lot of time working on the words that go into our websites and marketing materials and often the photos that accompany the words are an afterthought. Photos are an opportunity to underscore the message you are sending and you don’t want to send mixed messages by not investing in the right kind of photos. Sure, a picture is worth a thousand words, but if the picture doesn’t show your target buyer in a setting they can relate to, it’s like your picture is speaking a foreign language.

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon

Everyone wants more business, more clients, more work, ultimately leading to more revenue. Clients, whether they are business or consumer clients, are generically speaking part of the public sphere. In order to attract new clients from that public sphere, you have to have some sort of plan on how to reach them, educate them about your company and product, and attract them to do business with you instead of your competitors.

This basic concept of interacting with the public has three main components that I believe are the foundation of defining public relations: Reach, Educate, and Attract. How you do each of these things will depend on your target client, the type of product you have, the message you aim to send, the marketing materials you have available, and the person or team you have dedicated to your public relations campaign. Some companies are large enough to have an in-house PR person or team focused 100% of the time on the public image, message, and visibility of the brand. Others might have one person who juggles PR, marketing, and sales. Some may outsource PR to an experienced professional or firm. Regardless of who is handling your PR, equal energy must be applied to the multiple tasks necessary to build your relationship with the public.

Reach Your Audience

You might read “reach your audience” as “find your audience.” There is no question that public relations requires finding the targeted public, but beyond finding them you have to actually reach them, engage them, interact with them, confirm that they are indeed part of your audience. A good bit of research as well as trial and error should be put into finding and reaching your audience. With multiple media formats available, your desired new clients could be on the other end of television, radio, newspaper, magazine, email, website, social media sites, conferences, networking events, or even the dinner table. Knowing your demographic and how they use each of these media as well as word of mouth will help you determine where to spend the most energy in finding and reaching them. Once you have identified where the audience is, start to interact with them. Multimedia such as TV and radio will require that you have a story to tell as well as a call to action that motivates your audience to come to you. I personally think these forms of media push the “reach, educate, attract” goals all into one campaign where you must accomplish everything at once.

I believe print and online media offer platforms in which you can build a relationship with your audience. Reaching an audience on the other side of a magazine can be done through having press releases or articles published, letters to the editor printed that speak directly to your clients, or photos used that show your product being used in a way that the audience can relate to. The more your target audience sees your company or product, the more they will be getting to know you.

Online media is an endless array of opportunity to find, reach, and connect with an audience. I’ve written before about Twitter which is an invaluable resource for reaching an audience. Social media sites abound where you can create profiles to show the public face of your company and interact with clients. Interacting on blogs, message boards, and other networking sites are also open doors you can walk through to reach your audience.

Educate: Share Information

Take the time to educate your audience–teach them not just about your company and product but about your industry, where it’s been, where it’s going, how you are a part of it. Tell them how your products are made, how they’re used, what you have changed, what has evolved, and what you have learned from other customers. Use your full field of vision when sharing information with your audience. Don’t limit yourself to talking about just what is in front of you because when you talk about more than just yourself you give your audience a chance to understand where you stand in the industry and where you stand on industry issues. Give your clients as much information as possible so that they can ask educated questions of both you and your competitors and make well-informed purchase decisions. Chances are if you educate the audience better than your competitor, you will reap the sales rewards of having shared valuable knowledge with your clients.

Attract Relationships

All of the effort you put into public relations is about building a relationship. From finding, engaging, and interacting with your audience to sharing information with them, understanding their questions and responding to their needs you are creating a two-way relationship. Once you’ve invested in getting your company name and product in front of your audience and they know who you are, you have to provide them with a call to action, a reason to come to you and stick with you. Whether you are appealing to their emotions, needs, goals, or budget find the thing about your company that is most attractive to your audience and make it work for you. If you’re not sure what that thing is, ask the audience. Remember, it’s a relationship which requires open communication to be successful.

Public relations allows you to show your best side to your audience and if you put the many pieces of public relations together, you will find that the audience you intend to reach will continue to grow, you will have more information to share, and you will find yourself in many happy relationships.

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon

• Increase the international subscriber list by offering a reasonably priced magazine that would not include the high cost of shipping
• Connect with the active cruising audience without a snail mail address by delivering the magazine electronically
• Offer expanded multimedia services to advertisers by hot linking from their ads and/or embedding animated images or video into their ads
• Improve reader experience with the digital version’s searchability
• Reach new subscribers by allowing digital subscribers to forward an issue or article to a friend.

Our questions and fears were the same as many other print publishers. Would the cost of digitizing the magazine have a measurable return on investment and how long would it take to reach that number? Would we lose subscribers to the print publication by offering digital? Would we actually gain digital subscribers? Would all the benefits of having a digital version of the magazine be realized by those subscribers? How would customer service balance the two types of subscriptions?

We eventually did get all our ducks in a row in order to offer a digital version of the magazine through Texterity and I think it will still be a while before the numbers can really be analyzed to see what the ROI of that conversion is. Going digital is a change and when a magazine has a loyal following, change can sometimes be shocking, unwelcomed, and takes time to become appreciated. The digital version created by Texterity was beautiful and easy to use, but it was still important that we engage digital subscribers in an education process of how to use the service. Did we lose print subscribers? No. Did we gain cruising and overseas subscribers? Yes, slowly, and I’m sure that list is continuing to grow. We found that  more people were interested in receiving both print and digital copies of the magazine: one for nostalgic reasons and the other for practical reasons like electronic archiving and searching of articles.

Print And Digital

When it comes to reading magazines, my personal opinion is that print is not dead. There is something special about holding a paper product in your hands that you can flip through, dog ear pages in, and tear out columns to save or pass along. However, we are in an electronic age and having the ability to electronically archive, search through, forward, and repurpose content is integral to being efficient in our busy lives and has the added benefit of saving on storage space required for printed magazines.

With regard to subscribers, I think the argument is not print vs. digital but print and digital.

Subscribers, however, are not the only facet of the print vs. digital debate. In addition to offering the magazine in both print and digital format, publishers must have dynamic, content-rich websites and they are creating electronic newsletters to stay connected to their readers. Having additional content in digital offerings means there is an opportunity to sell advertising around that content. Advertisers must then start to consider their own options, ROI, and effectiveness of print vs. digital advertising. Similar to how both mediums satisfy the many needs of subscribers, I think successful advertising will be a fine blend of print and digital. Customers are no longer only on the other side of a printed publication; they are on the other end of the internet and email and their PDAs and they should be connected with through the technologies they are using.

Make the Method Work for You

The important thing to remember with regard to both content and advertising is how those things are received in a print versus digital format. If print is not dead because of its nostalgic value, then there is a slow, methodic, and engaged audience on the other end of that print product. They are taking their time, absorbing each page, flipping back to what they liked. The person reading print has the time to read an in-depth article, to study graphs, to spend time on a word-heavy ad.

The person on the other end of a website or email is probably at work, or researching, or going through their daily routine of checking in with sites they like. Digital content, whether it’s an article or an ad, has to grab them immediately either with the subject matter, the writing style, or the graphics associated with the content. There should be a call to action–people who use the internet are used to clicking from one place to the next–give them a reason to navigate through your article or ad and make it quick and easy for them to do.

I can understand the fear of print dying and of digital not reaching the right demographic. But I think print and digtal can work together. So the question is, how will you make these two mediums work for you?

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon

Miami, FL-Since the DSe Hybrid 12m was introduced and launched last fall by Island Pilot, media attention has continued to gravitate to the innovative hybrid yacht. In response to a consumer-driven, yet selective leisure market, Reuben Trane and his team at Island Pilot have tailored the new DSe and her future sisterships to meet the expectations of the active, budget-conscious, and carbon footprint-aware buyer. If you have not yet had a chance to experience the new DSe, built in Zhuhai City, China, for yourself, recent awards bestowed on the vessel are sure to motivate you to get to know America’s first hybrid pleasure cruising vessel that combines diesel, solar, and electric technologies.

The February 2009 issue of MotorBoating recognized the DSe Hybrid as “Best of the Year,” an award the 102-year-old magazine has been issuing for 10 years. Editor Peter Janssen shares that the judges “were blown away by the creativity that Reuben built into the Dse, the entire package. Obviously the idea of leaving zero carbon footprint is incredible; a high bar to beat. The entire design of the boat with the solar panels on top, the slippery hull beneath, the marriage to the Steyr diesels; it’s a boat in its own category when you consider the entire thing-simply a major breakthrough.”

Power and Motoryacht‘s January 2009 issue features the DSe Hybrid on the cover showing the full array of Photo Voltaic solar panels. The inside story highlights the many efficient propulsion characteristics of the DSe as well as the comfortable, liveaboard layout. Detailed performance charts and graphs in Capt. Bill Pike’s article illustrate the impressive fuel burn, range, and sound levels measured on his sea trial.

The DSe Hybrid also graced the cover of PassageMaker Magazine‘s March 2009 issue and the article details the technical components that make the boat a green success as well as one with appeal to eco-savvy cruising couples.

With all the media coverage the DSe Hybrid has enjoyed, it is no surprise that she received the Environmental Award during the Miami International Boat Show’s Innovation Awards presentation. The Innovation Awards, organized by the NMMA and judged by Boating Writers International, recognize products that best meet the following criteria: Innovative distinction from other products currently being manufactured; benefit to the marine industry and/or consumer; practicality; cost-effectiveness; and availability to the consumer within 60 days of award receipt.

Judging was done by Zuzana Prochazka, Miami Innovation Awards chair, member of the BWI Board of Directors and staff writer for Latitudes and Attitudes; Charles J. Doane, editor-at-large for Sail; Alan Jones, executive editor of Boating World; Jan Mundy, co-founder and editor of DIY Boat Owner; Lenny Rudow, author and freelance writer for Marlin, Salt Water Sportsman, Boating World and Chesapeake Bay Magazine; Tim Queeney, editor of Ocean Navigator; and, Alan Wendt, editor of Marine CEO and Adventures.

“We had an exceptional bank of entries this year, with a total of 41 products entered in eight categories,” says Prochazka. With regard to the DSe, she says, “This is a boat for those who want to be self-sufficient on the hook for extended periods, while staying ‘green’ and keeping all the on board toys.” All judges found the DSe to be a positive step for the boating industry and alternative energy propulsion systems with its Steyr hybrid engines and vast solar array.

As the experts have recognized, the new DSe Hybrid fulfills the active boater’s dream of cruising long distances and will help get people on the water in a fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly way.

For More Information:

Island Pilot

888.443.2965

info@dsehybrid.com

www.dsehybrid.com

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon

Miami Boat Show: image from The Hull Truth

A week ago today marked opening day of the 68th Miami International Boat Show. It was my 5th Miami show and the first one as an independent public relations  professional. I had planned events and meetings on my schedule but I was also looking forward to the unplanned aspects of the show.

What would the exhibits on the dock look like? How would consumer traffic be at Sea Isle Marina? Would the Convention Center halls look like empty bowling alleys or be jam-packed with buyers? What influence would the economy have on conversations between buyers and sellers? Would the spirit of boating still be alive and well?

Attendance

Sea Isle Marina as far as the docks are concerned looked pretty much the same at first glance. It has a unique horseshoe-shaped center dock arrangement and had mostly full slips all around. Seeing the marina from the causeway, it certainly looked like a boat show. The outer end of the marina, however, normally has several hundred feet of additional docks added to it and this is where I saw the stark contrast from previous years. The extended dock space had been reduced and there were a good handful of boat manufacturers missing from the typically overwhelming trawler section of the show. Miami is without a doubt an expensive show to participate in so it makes sense that some companies might have cut the exhibiting expense from the budget.

Traffic all around was also lighter than in previous years. But what seemed to be missing were the stiletto heels, the gold chains, the hords of baby strollers, and the beer-toting vacationers. My interpretation of this is that serious buyers were still at the show. Attendance was reported down 26 percent from last year but when you see that there were still over 96,000 people checking out boats and gear, the potential for follow-up sales remains strong. The NMMA who runs the show believes attendance was from quality consumers and that those who purchased at the show were pre-financed. For individual dealers, only weeks and months of follow-up will indicate how serious their boat show leads are.

The Conversations

I love talking to people at boat shows because something about being on a dock, in 80-degree weather, surrounded by boats that fulfill people’s dreams creates a common bond. What I love more than talking, is listening. Builders, suppliers, salesmen, marketers, everyone I listened to was talking about the future. They were not dwelling on today’s economy. Today’s poor economy is a reality and everyone has to deal with it as best they can and what I heard was excitement for doing more. I found it encouraging that companies are working on their websites, sending out press releases, creating new display banners, focusing on new ways to promote their product, connecting with their customers, and defining their place in the market. This all sounds very vague, but the circumstances are different for each company in the industry, and I was hearing folks identify their focus. Every little thing counts.

I heard consumers asking questions, seeking education. Sure, there were a few lamenting over financial timing, needing to sell a house or a business before buying a boat, but even these consumers were there with a plan and to learn how to make their dreams happen. At the display of one of my clients, potential buyers were talking with current owners and asking questions about where they’d been, where they’re headed, wanting to know how they’ve used the boat. Potential buyers were putting themselves in the shoes of those out there doing it and learning how to follow in their footsteps. I listened to a couple ask a manufacturer endless questions about batteries, power supply, renewable technology, and hull construction and he was genuinely digesting every answer he received. The conversations I heard were not about the down economy, they were about boating.

I think the buzz that the Miami show created is all about timing. Being on the water is something that people who attend boat shows love whether it is in a kayak, a RIB, a Hobie Cat, performance sailboat, fishing boat, expedition yacht, or trawler. Their passion for being on the water does not crash with the stock market, though that might affect when they move on to the next boat. For most people, it’s not a matter of “if,” it’s a matter of “when.”

And it’s the industry’s job to be ready for them.

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon

Blogging is like any other aspect of social media in that it should be social, interactive, a two-way conversation, which means that you will have to do more than just write; you will also have to promote the blog and invite people to read it. By informing your customers through your ads, your existing website, conversations, marketing materials, and cross-link programs that you have a blog, you will be able to at least attract your existing clients and those you reach through marketing. If you properly optimize your blog, pay attention to writing with keywords, including links to useful resources in your posts, and blog regularly, search engines will find and index your blog which means people who don’t yet know about you can find you as they’re surfing the internet. Take it one step further and include a link to your blog posts on your Twitter account, in your responses to posts on message boards, and get your blog listed in blog catalogs so that you can reach an entirely new audience with your content. Blogging can help you reach your audience because you will be giving them something new to read every time they come to your site, you are inviting them to participate and communicate with you through the blog, and you will be building your brand through content that can be shared indefinitely by yourself and visitors to your site. Once you embrace the idea of blogging as a way of communicating and interacting and decide to integrate it into your marketing and public relations plan, you have to find something to write about.

Writing Ideas

Not everyone likes to write and I can certainly appreciate that the less you like to write the more challenging blogging becomes. If you are thinking about blogging the same way you think about writing copy for your ads, promotional lingo for your marketing collateral, or a press release, the first step is to change your thinking. Blogging is an opportunity to engage an audience by showing a personality, telling a story, giving insight and sharing information beyond what you can normally accomplish in other print or online content. You don’t need to be launching a new boat or introducing a new product just to write a blog. So what should you write about?

A recent post from Online Journalism Blog shared a great list of 12 ideas for blog posts. The author’s ideas easily translate to the marine industry and offer enough starting points for anyone to overcome writer’s block. His ideas are in bold and my interpretation of them follows:

1. Respond to something elsewhere on the web. Do a Google search for your company and find blogs or message boards mentioning your company, brand, or product. Simply copy and paste a significant line (good or bad), quote the source, and respond.
2. Suggest an idea. Your blog begins with something like “We’re thinking about adding a pilothouse design to our existing models. What would you suggest its main features include to fit a hypothetical cruising couple?” Invite editors and buyers to contribute feedback and you have a blog post! Tom Tripp had great success with this on his recent OceanLines series about outfitting a Kadey-Krogen helm station.
3. Interview someone. This could be the CEO of the company, your naval architect, a customer who uses your product, one of your dealers or distributors. Interviews are an opportunity to put a face to your company and a personality to the blog.
4. Blog an event. Boat shows, rendezvous, owners’ meetings, open houses…tons of blog opportunities in our industry.
5. Ask a question. Once you have developed traffic to your blog site, an individual blog could be as simply as asking people about their summer cruising plans. Ask them to send you their stories and photos for inclusion in the blog. Or, take a poll and publish the results as a new blog post.
6. Pick a fight. The suggestion here is to respond to someone else’s blog or an article with which you disagree; maybe it’s a recent editorial or something more broad like the state of the economy and what that means for the marine industry.
7. Reflect on something. Are you celebrating a major company anniversary or the sale of a certain number of units? Talk about why those are good things and what got you to that point. Or, make it personal and reflect on your own experiences that have helped you connect with boaters and the marine industry.
8. Do something visual. Share photos, videos, diagrams. Visuals appeal to the senses of your site visitors and can appeal to their emotions as well as help put your company in perspective. Show them how they can enjoy your product.
9. Review something. While it can be self-serving to review your own products, it can’t hurt to blog in detail about your newest offering. Or, share someone else’s review (with their permission, of course).
10. Make a list. Top 10 places people cruise in your boats. Most creative uses for your product. Top five success stories of your company. 101 reasons to come visit you at the next boat show.
11. Write a how-to. I strongly believe in educating consumers. Rather than tell them why your product is the best, explain to consumers how it works, what problem it solves, and how it relates to other systems on a boat. If you can write a how-to that doesn’t even include your product, even better in my mind because it shows the consumer that you know more about the bigger picture of boating than just your own product.
12. Let someone else post. Otherwise known as guest blogging. Invite one of your customers, a company you partner with, an editor, or even someone else within your own company contribute to your blog.

Or, you can do what I just did and blog about someone else’s blog. At the very least it gives you something to write about and by putting your own twist on it and applying it to your own company, you will give site visitors something new to think about.

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon

This saying has stuck in my head quite a bit recently with regard to things we as an industry can do to better promote our brands, to foster new relationships in the industry, and to help boating as a whole. I’m not necessarily talking about marketing or boat shows so much as having brand awareness, offering remarkable customer service, and keeping an open mind to try new things. Branding and customer service are SOP in business models so my suggestion is to reevaluate your approach to them. If there’s something we‘re surely looking for right now, it’s things we can do that don’t cost anything! So what are they?

Brand Awareness

What is the mission statement of your company? Do all your employees know it and somehow integrate it into their actions and interactions on behalf of your company? Your mission statement should support your brand whether that is your company name, a specific product, or your service, and brand awareness is knowing how the brand is actually being received, recalled, and passed along as a result of your branding efforts. Ideally your branding efforts, communication with consumers, and ad campaigns are educating the industry on your product to enhance their understanding of the value of your brand. Taking the time to understand how people are receiving your brand is one of those things that doesn’t necessarily “cost you anything.” It might cost you time, but in the long run it will allow you to improve your branding. Do you ask people where they heard of you when they call? Knowing where people come from will provide insight on who is spreading the word about your brand and confirm which of your branding efforts are most effective. Do you monitor message boards, Twitter, blogs, and news feeds to see how the public is discussing your brand, if at all? If they are talking about you, feel free to respond. Engage. I used to shy away from responding on message boards to defend my brand because I just didn’t want to deal with the “after-effect” good or bad, and so I would ignore posts that wouldn’t have cost me a thing to reply to. Big mistake. If you see that people love your brand, thank them. If you see that folks are bashing it, misrepresenting it, or are confused, treat it as an opportunity to resolve, educate, and protect your brand. So long as you know your brand, its value, and are confident of its place in your company then you should have no problem responding to how others perceive your brand.

Customer Service

Though I don’t have any hard facts at my fingertips (I’m looking though!) I believe it is widely accepted that good customer service is key to keeping customers which means that outstanding customer service will not just keep customers but grow business. Customer service has to be a two-way street. Simply waiting for people to come to you with compliments or complaints is not enough to make your service stand out. There is no question that responding positively, in a timely manner, with knowledge of the problem and the solution will be to your advantage when called upon to handle customer complaints. Handling things in the best possible way for the customer will usually mend any threatening brand damage and also doubles as effective public relations and marketing for your company. However, if you reach out to your customers before they need or want to come to you, you can create a positive customer experience rather than waiting for one to happen on its own. It sure doesn’t cost you anything to check-in with your customers every now and then. Ask them how they’re doing, what’s working, if they need anything else. Give them an opportunity to share their experience with your product with you, share your own experience with them; it’s all about building a relationship and offering personalized customer service.

Step Outside The Box

It is very, very easy to get into routine, to stick with what works, to trust in the path that has been created and tread upon, and to trust what you know. I am not suggesting that abandoning the familiar is a great strategy to propel you forward during tough times. However, I do not believe in the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Just because something isn’t broken doesn’t mean it can’t be better. So much of business is interrelated that by trying new things with marketing you may improve your sales which may improve the visibility of your brand which may influence your customer service. When it comes to new things that it usually doesn’t cost to try, I lean toward strategic partnerships and building your online presence.

Strategic partnerships can range from sharing ad campaigns to joint sponsorships to cross-promotions to customer referrals to combination events. Identify companies you work with on a regular basis who either support or sell your brand. Put yourself in an “Amazon” state of mind and think “if you like this, you might also like…” and approach companies that complement your product. You might also go the opposite and consider teaming up with companies in an entirely different niche or market but whose customer demographic matches the one you are seeking to connect with. By combining forces with others you can increase your visibility to a much broader audience than you can capture on your own. If nothing else, it can’t hurt to ask.

You might think that having a website equates with having an online presence, however, it only scratches the surface of the digital, viral, and social media available today. The internet is an endless resource of information and therefore provides infinite ways to reach your customers. From adding content to your website to writing a blog to creating and using a Twitter account to joining online social networks and virtually communicating with others in your industry as well as consumers, the list of things it doesn’t cost you anything to try is seemingly endless.

What have you tried that’s new? What worked? What didn’t? And other than time, what did it cost you?

I strongly encourage you to link through to the various articles as they all have something to share, will provide a fresh perspective, and can be applied to any business model.

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon

My browsing and shopping styles are certainly not the same as everyone’s and I respect the fact that those in sales have quotas and goals to reach which requires engaging a customer, educating them, and giving them a call to action. I also understand that different consumers will react to varying styles of sales pitches. For me, if that pitch does not begin with a smile, you have lost me.

There is no question that spending all day on your feet is exhausting and that talking to hundreds of strangers is draining, but when it comes to boat shows, it’s part of the deal. Each person that walks down the aisle or the dock is an opportunity and I think the offer of a simple smile can be a determining factor in whether or not someone stops to talk to you. If you do not look like you are interested in what you’re doing or in talking with anyone, chances are the consumer will pass you by. Sure, when it gets to be 5p.m. and traffic slows down it can be difficult to stay enthused about your product, but if you have the chance to greet someone with a smile, it certainly can’t hurt.

If you’re having a hard time mustering up a grin, here are some entertaining things to keep in the back of your mind whenever coming up with a smile seems to be a struggle (we are human, after all):

Flight of the Conchords on YouTube

Comedian Jim Gaffigan

Articles on The Onion

Talking Cats on YouTube

Boating Blooper Photos

What keeps you laughing?

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon

Mobile, AL—Real Ships, the custom steel boatbuilder in Alabama, is pleased to now offer its American-made yachts to the European cruising market. Aventura, a 77-foot Expedition produced by Joe Johnson’s Real Ships, debuted at the October Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show and instantly caught the attention of Heikki Luoma, owner of Compass International.

Luoma’s Palma de Mallorca-based dealership in Spain will now provide exclusive European representation for Real Ships yachts. Luoma says, “Real Ships will have a competitive edge over other steel yachts in Europe because of the customization of each yacht for each individual owner. They also have a deep understanding of how an expedition type yacht really should be built and equipped for seaworthiness and reliability when the going gets tough, as it always will.” He believes European cruisers will be as impressed as he was which was evidenced by the strong interest in Real Ships by select consumers at the recent Dusseldorf show.

Compass International has been offering brokerage, mooring, charter, and yacht delivery services in Palma de Mallorca since 1986 and specializes in brokerage of expedition cruising and research vessels as well as conversion projects. Representing new custom Real Ships yachts will be an ideal balance to the existing inventory and allows Luoma to bring his yachting and dealer expertise to cruisers seeking quality long-range yachts.

He has been boating since age 25 and sailed professionally prior to beginning Compass International. Luoma holds a Finnish Captain’s license under which he has logged 60,0000nm. The majority of his time at the helm has been aboard steel and aluminum sailing yachts and includes four Atlantic crossings, once singlehandedly. His experience being at sea aboard metal yachts is an ideal blend with Real Ships’ belief that steel is the ultimate material in hull construction.

Compass International will provide the same Real Ships custom experience to each client as they determine how they will use their yacht, what range is necessary to meet their cruising goals, and what the accommodation, styling, and design details should include. The Real Ships team in Alabama will then work with all the client specifications to build the yacht accordingly. Owners will have the option of taking delivery in Alabama and setting off for their voyage or using a yacht delivery service to transport their vessel to Europe or other cruising grounds. European customers of Compass International will also have the benefit of the company’s relationship with a host of Mediterranean companies for service, repair, engineering, and painting in addition to their moorage and yacht delivery services.

Johnson looks forward to expanding the Real Ships presence across international waters through the dealer services of Compass International and sees this as a “positive relationship that supports the long-range cruising mission of Real Ships yachts.”

Real Ships Contact:

Joe Johnson

8700 Hemley Street

Bayou La Batre, Alabama

joe@realships.com

www.realships.com

251.824.1706

Compass International Contact:

Heikki Luoma

Baron de Pinopar, 6, 9ª, 4º

07012 Palma de Mallorca, Spain

www.compass-int.com

h.luoma@compass-int.com

+34.609.671344

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon

• Reciprocation: When you get a lead, what do you automatically send your potential buyer? Brochures, marketing materials, a DVD of how your product is made, maybe a hat or a t-shirt. At boat shows we put out candy and every tchotchke under the sun with our logos emblazoned on them in order to stand out later as consumers sift through their bags of collected items. On a larger scale, you might give a sea trial or a sample product to try out. The author suggests that simply giving something away is enough to make people want to give back, but I would like to take this one step further. Before you start ordering pens, branded water bottles, and blocking off days for sea trials, determine what it is you’d like in return. Giving someone something is certainly a way to help them remember you, but what do you hope to gain from it? An email address, a referral, a sale? I believe the reciprocation technique is only effective if you know what you hope to gain from it.

• Commitment and Consistency: The basic principle here is that if you can get someone to first agree to something small they will be committed to you which then makes it easier to get them to commit to something larger or more often down the road. This is the concept of customer loyalty. How did you attract your initial customers? What have you offered them or asked of them that has made them loyal to you? Do those same things to gain new leads. In the case of a boat purchase, there are not many options for an initial “small purchase” but you may get people to commit to you by having them agree to join you for a sea trial, a boat show, or a rendezvous. Their small investment in doing those things will keep them committed to your brand until they are ready to buy. Once you have owners, offering them service, warranty work, parts, and invitations to company events are regular sales to help create consistency in their purchasing practice with you.

• Social Proof: Rendezvous events are a fantastic example of social proof; they are an audience who already love your product and are the best sales people you could ask for. Inviting prospects to events that feature your product is an opportunity for them to learn from others, see themselves as part of the community, and develop a stronger appreciation for your product without you having to sell them. Advertising campaigns and websites that feature testimonials, photos, or videos of real clients using and enjoying your product are other ways to offer social proof. If you have a good product and you know your clients agree, ask them to share their experience—happy people tend to naturally spread their positive vibe.

• Liking: This is one of those common sense techniques that I think can easily get lost in the “day to day.” If people like you and can relate to you, they will be more inclined to buy from you, remain committed to you, and share their experience with their peers. There are any number of boat show techniques that we use to engage consumers, but it’s critical to remember the simple act of being personable, welcoming, interested in, and understanding of the person you are talking to.

• Authority: The author recommends demonstrating authority on your subject or product with citing awards or presentations to show your credentials. In the boating world this means offering reprints of articles written about you, displaying special ad laminates or awards won at events, and I think, simply knowing your product inside and out. I think having the CEO on board, at the booth, or personally communicating with clients every now and then is impressive and shows the executive’s interest in and commitment to their clients. But I think that having extremely well educated associates and sales staff is much more valuable. If everyone on your team can discuss the history of your company, construction of your product, various uses or applications, and provide resources for more information you will have an advantage over competitors who are less educated on their own product.

• Scarcity: Invoke the fear of losing or missing something by attaching a deadline or “last chance” to what you have to offer. I am optimistic about people and like to believe that they are goal-oriented; you can appeal to those people by making their acquisition of your product something they want to do by a certain date. People are also busy—they use calendars, Outlook, Blackberries to organize life’s “to do list”—become part of their schedule and something they have to do by creating your own date-driven offers. Whether you are offering a discount, a product, a reward, or even a newsletter, try attaching a deadline to it so your client has to act in order to receive.

As I mentioned, many of these triggers are common sense and simple, but require effort to be effective. All of them can relate back to customer service and providing clients and prospects a personal and enjoyable experience from the very first moment they come into contact with your product.

Post from: Chesapeake ProCon