44 GEARSJanuary/February2008

As I was doing my Christmas shopping last month, I noticed a lot of signs and advertising

offering “FREE GIFTS.” I pondered that and wondered to myself, “If it’s truly a gift, why attach the word free to it?” After all, aren’t all gifts free? Imagine what it would feel like if every time you received a gift from a loved one they said, “Here’s a free gift.”

That led me into one of my quests for the truth. Here’s an observation… I’m not saying it’s right; I’m just mak-ing an observation. The minute the word “FREE” is put in front of any-thing, it isn’t really going to be “FREE” in the truest sense of the word. Brace yourself, but there will be some cost in terms of time, inconvenience, and yes, even money to get your “FREE GIFT”… there will be some strings attached.

Be honest: whenever something is “FREE,” don’t you immediately ask, “what’s the catch?” If you don’t, maybe you should. I noticed that many times to get my “FREE GIFT” I had to buy one or more of something else. Maybe I don’t really want the “something else,” but to get the “FREE GIFT” I’ll buy it anyhow… maybe I can give it to somebody as a gift; at least it might end up being a truly free gift. So let’s talk about “FREE.”

Since last March, the focus of my articles has been on creative ideas

for getting publicity for your business. I’ve shared a variety of ideas for cross promotions, and many of you have contacted me with some even more creative ideas that you applied to make them work better. Cross promotions are marketing strategies that utilize unique, highly-targeted advertising tactics that extend your reach in nontraditional, low- and no-cost ways.

To fully review the details for an effective cross promotion, I recom-mend you dig out my GEARS articles since last March and review them. You’ll not only find the key elements for a successful cross promotion, but you’ll also find out about a number of great cross-promotional ideas.

In review, the criteria for a cross promotion includes the following key factors:1. Two or more non-competing busi-

nesses will participate together financially and involvement of time.

2. All participating businesses will benefit proportionately from the cross promotion.

3. All participating businesses should share similar values in terms of product and service quality as well as their customer service culture.

4. The target customers of the partici-pating businesses should be demo-graphically similar.

As a result of my recent obser-vations, it occurred to me that one other thing that most cross promotions include is some sort of a “FREE” something. So how do we overcome the “what’s the catch?” reaction? And more specifically, how can we retain more of the leads our advertising creates and at the same time reduce the effect of the “what’s the catch?” concern we’ve unwittingly built into our customers?

As an industry, we’ve used “FREE” to get people to come in to our shops for years. Many have and still do offer free road tests, towing and even diagnostics. Why do we do that… really? Isn’t it just to get the car into the shop so we’ll have better odds of making the sale? Of course that’s the reason, and you’re only kidding yourself if you don’t think your customers know it, too.

Oh, we’ll justify ourselves by say-ing that we have to do it because the competition is doing it, or that we need to check the car first to give the cus-tomer the honest facts about what needs to be done. I do believe these are valid concerns, but the truth is we continue these practices because we’re either

by Thom Tschetter

PLAYING TO WIN

A FREE GIFT: What’s the Catch?

GEARS January/February 2008 45

scared to start charging, or nobody has shown us a better way to do it. Well, I think I’ve found a better way to do it, and believe it or not, it’s another form of cross promotion.

Any of you who’ve been to my seminars have heard me say, “Prospect where your feet are.” I say it all the time. Prospect where your feet are for business; prospect where your feet are for employees; and prospect where your feet are for new ideas. You never know when the next new customer, superstar employee, or great new idea is going to show up. So always be on the lookout by prospecting where your feet are.

Here’s an example. I recently had a need to go to a chiropractor. Having recently moved to the Phoenix area from the Pacific Northwest, I just start-ed calling around. I had some knowl-edge of the process because I’ve done business consulting for a number of chiropractors in the past.

Their business is similar to ours; they make their money on the adjust-ment visits and getting you to come back for regular maintenance adjust-ment visits every few months. I knew from previous experience that the first step was going to be a checkup with x-rays, followed by some number of follow-up visits, depending on the diag-nosis.

Of course, just like our customers, who don’t know what else to ask, I was asking “how much?” — more specifi-cally, “how much for the checkup and

x-rays?” Well as you might guess, I was getting prices that were all over the board. But the last call I made stopped me in my tracks and they got the appointment with ease. They would have gotten the appointment even if I had called them first.

Here’s what the receptionist said:“We know you have many choices

for chiropractic care, and we really would like you to choose us for your chiropractic needs. We also know that unless you come in for a diagnosis, two things will happen: You’ll most likely choose somebody else, and we won’t get the chance to earn your business.

So we do something a little differ-ent than anyone else. Even though the normal charge for a first visit, checkup and x-rays is $150, if you make a dona-tion of at least $25 to the Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs of America, we don’t charge you for your initial checkup and x-rays. It’s that simple: You just make your check out, drop it in the donation box, and we do the rest.”

Wow… how could I say no to that offer? I’d have to say no to all those kids, too! I don’t think I need to say much more about how you can use this same cross promotion to get more appointments for your shop, and at the same time take away the skepticism over the word “FREE” while building goodwill and credibility. Here are some keys that might not be so obvious: • Notice that she established the

value at $150.

• Notice that the charity they’ve partnered with is a universal favor-ite and not controversial.

• Notice that she established why they do it and didn’t hide from the fact that they want your business.

• Notice that there is no initial “what’s the catch?” reaction.

• Do you think the charity might also be a source of leads and direct business since they’ll be getting regular checks from your busi-ness?

This is one cross promotion where everyone truly wins!

For more information on this or any other management topic, please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone at 480-883-6404 or email to:

thom@atra.com.

Thom Tschetter is a nationally acclaimed business speaker, ATRA management trainer, cer-tified AMI instructor and radio personality.

Thom reminds us that much of the success we enjoy comes from things we’ve learned from others. We encourage you to help by sharing your own successes, challenges and personal stories. Thom will turn them into articles that are sure to be learning experiences for everyone. If you want to keep it confidential, we’ll honor that request.

Mail your contributions to Thom Tschetter c/o ATRA, 2400 Latigo Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93030. Thom’s telephone number is 480-883-6404; or email thom@atra.com. Please include the words “Management Info” in the subject line. We look forward to hearing from you.

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