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Hello One and All,
Now that tax returns are behind us, it's on to the spring outdoor selling season.
This Newsletter will provide a review of many proven marketing strategies utilized by our dealers to generate strong sales of Lifestyle Screens products. We are particularly focusing on marketing strategies that are low-cost to the dealers. The goal being to get the biggest bang for your marketing buck. We believe that this information is invaluable and hope that you too find it to be so.
Wishing everyone continued successes with Lifestyle Screens products.
Respectfully yours,
Brian Jones
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Preliminaries
Lifestyle products are Specialty and Novel Products
Our flagship Lifestyle Screens garage door screen has only been in the market for a short period. Our house entry-door screen products are specialty items. So there may not be general awareness of the ap plication and uses of these products. So while Lifestyle Screens products generate high margins per unit installed, because of their novelty, selling a large number of units requires consistent marketing and promotion to elevate the general awareness of these products. It is for this reason that we felt that we should dedicate this entire Newsletter to marketing. Visit our product catalog page here: Product Catalog.
This does not mean that one has to spend a lot on marketing. Lifestyle Screens has prepared a wide range of marketing tools and services that are available at no cost, or that are furnished at our cost, to dealers. We also offer our services and advice, to the extent that we can be of such service, to assist in the design and implementation of any customized marketing program that any Lifestyle Screens dealer may seek to implement.
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Business Setup: Promotional Video
Customized with Your Company Info
We customize this video for all of our dealers to have their company name and phone number. W  e provide this video and customization at no cost. Use it on your website, YouTube channel, social media, and on TV or laptop screen in your showroom or display booth.
More advanced customization such as insertion of your company logo and changes to the voice-over is available and may be ordered directly from the video producer. We encourage you to customize the video to your specific needs and tastes. Call your Lifestyle Screens sales rep at 678-926-9700 to get further details on how to order such advanced customization.
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Business Setup: Literature & Materials
Brochures, Business Cards, Pictures
Lifestyle Screens consumer brochures are available to you at our cost plus shipping or you may download and print the brochure from the Dealers Section of our website or by clicking on this link: Lifestyle Consumer Brochure
We offer a complementary business card design and customization service where we can insert your company information on one face and Lifestyle Screens information on the other. Call your Lifestyle Screens rep for further information.
 You may request samples from a wide selection of hi-resolution pictures in our photo library to be used, free of charge, on your website and/or other custom designed promotional materials.
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Business Setup: Sales Presentations
Gated and other deed-restricted communities are gold mines for Lifestyle Screens dealers because our garage door screen is designed to overcome the typical reasons for denial of an application by a resident to the HOA for approval to utilize the Lifestyle garage screen. In fact, there are communities around the country where the Lifestyle garage screen is the only garage door screen that is permitted to be utilized by the residents.
Lifestyle Screens has prepared a presentation for use by residents of such communities and their Lifestyle Screens dealers to secure such approvals from HOAs. You may download and utilize this presentation by clicking on this link: Lifestyle Screens Homeowners Association Presentation. Moreover, if there is additional information required by the HOA that Lifestyle Screens can provide, we are more than happy to do so at no charge to the dealer or resident. |
The Store: Bricks and Mortar
Lifestyle Screens product visibility in store or showroom 
WALL-MOUNTED DISPLAY UNIT: If you do not have a showroom, the Lifestyle Screens Mini Display Unit is ideal for showing off the product in a store with limited floor space. The Mini Display shows off some of the highlights of the Lifestyle garage screen: the three screen mesh options, the strength of the aluminum frame, and the retractable passage door. The Mini Display accompanied by a video showing the operation of the Lifestyle garage screen and frame color samples constitute an effective in-office display and is ideal for small shows and events.
 SHOWROOM DISPLAY UNIT: The Lifestyle Screens Showroom Display Booth is a fully operational rendition of the Lifestyle garage screen. It serves both as an in-store showroom display unit and can be taken to home shows and large events and gatherings. Together with a table that supports a flat screen TV or laptop running the Lifestyle Screens promotional video, some brochures, our screen mesh samples, and our frame samples, this setup is an extremely effective presentation of the product.
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The Store: Online
Combine Website, Social Media and Internet Marketing
WEBSITE: These days, having a website is more necessary than having a storefront. Most dealers will already have a website. Be sure to add Lifestyle Screens to your product lineup and/or link to our website to present more detailed information to your prospective customer. Be sure to set up a detailed listing of your website and business in Google Places. SOCIAL MEDIA: Having a FaceBook page and developing ongoing interaction with your customer base is important. However, the most important element of a Facebook presence is access to FACEBOOK MARKETING. We have found FaceBook ADS, properly designed and exposed to the local, 45-75 yr old, single family homeowner demographic to be inexpensive, targeted and extremely effective. |
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Traditional Marketing with a Twist
Local TV and Community News, Yard Signs, Mailings, Coupon Books
LOCAL TV AND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS: Lifestyle Screens is a new, novel and ingenious product. Local special interest TV shows, local TV news shows, and local community newspapers are always looking for stories to fill their airtime and columns. Be sure to get in touch with the local television station manager and newspaper editor to advise him/her of the new and exciting product being offered to local homeowners. More often than not, you will get free TV time and free newspaper articles demonstrating the Lifestyle Screens garage door screen and promoting your company locally.
YARD SIGNS: The Lifestyle garage screen system practically sells itself! It's always a treat to hear from dealers who comment that the homeowners can't keep their hands off the Lifestyle garage screen once it has been installed. They keep running it up and down and want to show it off to their neighbors because more often than not there has never been anything like it in the neighborhood.
How can you capitalize on this? Several ways:
Be sure to have a yard sign with your contact information out on the lawn while you are doing the installation and have several business cards with you to hand out. Everyone passing by will want to get more information about the Lifestyle garage screen from you.
One creative dealer offers the homeowner a free barbecue for friends and family. The dealer furnishes some burgers, dogs and drinks. The homeowner invites his friends and family to show off his new Lifestyle garage screen. Everyone enjoys the barbecue, the dealer makes new sales.
MAILINGS: Include a Lifestyle Screens brochure in each bill, statement, invoice, or notice that you send out to a customer.
COUPON BOOKS: Several dealers have had success with advertising in coupon books like Penny Saver, Money Mailer, Value Pak and Money Saver. Offer a discount, it works! |
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Shows and Events
Beyond Home Shows lies much opportunity
In our January 22nd and 29th Newsletters we highlighted the keys to success at home shows and events.
Home shows are not the only organized gathering of vendors that are effective venues at which to expose the Lifestyle Screens garage door screen and other Lifestyle products to the public. Car shows, bike shows, some flea markets, civic organizations fairs, and other local community gatherings are ideal locations to showcase Lifestyle Screens products. Several malls and shopping plazas offer kiosk type facilities. The Lifestyle Screens display booth makes a fine kiosk. If you own a display unit, then that display unit should be working to generate sales in as many locations as it can be placed throughout the year. If a display unit - booth or mini - is not out working to generate sales as often as possible then it is not serving its best purposes.
Many of the big box stores - Lowes and Home Depot - and many gated communities host vendor days several times per year. These vendor days are ideal locations to put your display unit to work. Seek out these opportunities.
In all of these types of gatherings, the keys to success at home shows and events should also be brought to bear. To review these keys to success visit our Newsletter Archives. |
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Financial Imperatives
Credit card sales, Lay-A-Way plans, Taking Deposits
Once the customer has expressed a desire to purchase a Lifestyle product the important thing for the dealer to do is to close the sale. Several things can get in the way of closing the sale:
NOT BEING ABLE TO ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS: Very little consumer business occurs these days without it being a credit card transaction.
HAVE A LAY-A-WAY PLAN: A typical Lifestyle Screen garage door sale is greater than $1,000.00. A lay-a-way plan that allows the dealer to charge off the total price of the unit in equal amounts over a number of months is attractive to the consumer. Typically, the product will be delivered and installed after the last installment of the lay-a-way payments is collected.
TAKE A DEPOSIT: If the customer cannot make the full payment at the time of his/her expressed interest in purchasing a unit, it is always advisable to take a deposit in an amount acceptable to the consumer. Taking a deposit results in the actual consummation of the sale more often than not. Not taking the deposit usually results in the sale never occurring. |
The Sales Cycle
Follow-up, customer service, maintenance contracts
So you have just completed a show or event. You have made some sales, taken some deposits and compiled a list of "warm" leads. Not only should the sales and deposits be followed-up but the list of "warm" leads should be contacted promptly within a day or two after the show or event with a view to securing the sale or tabling it for further follow-up. Some of these leads will only become sales several months after the show or event.
After an installation, be sure to instruct the homeowner on proper operation of the Lifestyle screen. A follow-up phone-call a few days later is also a very good idea to ensure that the customer has filed his/her warranty registration with Lifestyle Screens.
Several dealers have been offering comprehensive tune up and maintenance contracts to homeowners. A typical tune-up agreement involves both maintenance of the Lifestyle screen and the garage door once a quarter. Not only does this generate additional revenues for the dealer but it also gives the dealer 4 additional opportunities in the year to sell additional services to that customer and his/her neighbors. |
Up Sell, Cross Sell, Add-on Sales
Options and Accessories add to Margins
You will spend the same time installing a Lifestyle unit with standard screen as you would to install a Lifestyle unit with the available screen upgrades. However, with the upgraded unit your margins will be higher. Therefore, it is more profit able to sell units with upgraded screen options. Up sell for additional profitability.
Lifestyle Screens optional accessories such as the security locks for the Milano retractable passage doors, Frame locks, and the Pet Keeper generates more profit for each unit sold. Discussing these available accessories with the customer more often than not leads to incremental sales.
The standalone Milano house entry door screen is a very popular add-on sale that many of our dealers make at the jobsite. Typically, the homeowner has not been exposed to the Milano retractable and upon seeing it operate in the Lifestyle Screens frame the application to screening the house entry-door is triggered in the homeowner's mind. This often result in a sale of at least one unit of the Milano house entry door screen. We recommend that the installer always keep at least one standalone Milano house entry-door screen in his truck. It's a sale waiting to happen!
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Become A Dealer Today
Becoming a Lifestyle Screens dealer is rewarding and easy. We have a non-stocking dealer program as well as a volume dealer program. Call your Lifestyle Screens representative today at 678-926-9700 and find out which program is the best fit for your business model.
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Quick Links
Easy Access to Lifestyle Screens Training Videos, Product Information & More! |
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Contact:
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Advanced Screenworks, LLC.
955 Patrick Industrial Court
Winder, Georgia 30680
678-926-9700
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