When you buy a gas station and c-store, don’t just settle down and expect to blend in to the business landscape and get clients just because “you are there”. Don’t even think about relying on the current situation, expecting a consistent number of customers to come and go every day. You really should undertake a few aggressive marketing techniques to give yourself a competitive edge against your local competitors, perhaps even strive to take the lead over the supposedly dominant oil company stations in the area too. So, be as creative as possible when you’re working toward making something special out of your new business – because if you do, you’ll be “taking it to the bank”!
Look to these marketing fundamentals, and then play your own personal twists:
First of all, ensure that your business is different from the rest. Take a tour of your general area and visit all the other gas stations with convenience stores. Look to see what they are doing from a marketing perspective and take good notes. When you eventually return to your own place of business, figure out how you’re going to provide something which the others are lacking. Differentiate your business by, for example, staying open later or by presenting your location as a brighter and cleaner option. Pick out a distinctive uniform for your employees and make sure that you train them well so that they enthusiastically greet every visitor. Get together a long list of promotions and prizes to periodically stage, with coupons too. One of the staples of a gas station is its morning coffee – provide a great flavor and stimulate your visitor taste buds! Stock your store with a wider selection of items and make sure that you give certain things away free – including air, water and vacuum.
Secondly, communicate! Don’t be shy and make sure that you tell your customers that you have the best gas station and convenience store in the area. Once you have identified your core customer and found out all about their habits, initiate promotional campaigns within the media channels that will reach them directly; for example, put discount coupons in popular health clubs. Make sure that your communication methods are consistent – keep selling. From time to time open your facility to a worthy charity – for example, those car washes staged by the local softball team.
Thirdly, make sure you integrate well into the surrounding community. Look for opportunities to sponsor a local sports team or a popular cause. Get involved in cleaning up an eyesore, such as a neglected local park. Consider funding a college scholarship or co-promote with the merchants in your area to help improve the business climate. Whatever you do, make sure that you send information about it to the local media so they will promote you free of charge. As you will pretty much always get coverage if newsworthy, go out of your way to generate those “feel good” activities and the press will help you out with column inches and radio sound bites.
There’s no such thing as a small business, only business people who think small!
Richard Parker is the author of the How to Buy a Good Business at a Great Price series. As President and founder of Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center, his materials, seminars and consulting have helped thousands of business buyers realize their dream of buying a business.
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