Motor factors promoting JLM Lubricants’ products to their trade customers are notching up healthy sales…with a helping hand from Kalimex. Its managing director, Mike Schlup, explains:
Whilst there’s never been a better time to promote premium quality additives to your trade customers, knowing where to start is a different matter altogether. It’s good news that motorists are keeping their cars on the road for longer. With household budgets being cut, the trend of products over parts is fast gaining momentum.
However, as a busy motor factor faced with so many suppliers to choose from, where do you start when it comes to marketing to your trade customers? Because savvy marketing with products designed for the workshop environment will undoubtedly increase your sales.
Here’s how the small but perfectly formed marketing team at Kalimex work with our motor factor stockists when our objective is to drive high margin product sales through their doors:
DPF Refill Fluid
For this feature, we’ve selected a current stockist campaign – promoting JLM Lubricants DPF Refill Fluid to trade customers. Mechanics value this product because it can be used as an alternative for all currently known original parts’ numbers for the manufacturers concerned. It’s a premium product, at a great price.
1. We ensure a stockist’s trade customers have read about the product campaign in publications including Professional Motor Mechanic. If we make them aware of a product (or remind them to check on stock levels) we have prepared the ground for what’s to follow.
2. We contact stockists to share the details of the campaign so they can opt in. This includes sample emails to send to trade customers, a standout leaflet with product endorsement from leading technicians such as Darren Darling, founder of the DPF Doctor Network, and Steve Scott, founder of the SimplyDiag network. We know their genuine testimonial motivates other technicians to buy the product. We offer a free artwork service so that leaflets can be personalised with a stockist’s details. Small touches like these make an enormous difference when it comes to getting trade customers to order.
3. Some stockists ask us to send leaflets and sales letters direct to their workshop customers. We collaborate with every stockist to ensure their experience is hassle-free and that their trade customers – whether we promote the campaign to every one of them or just to a small number of their VIP customers – welcome the product information.
4. We email/telephone our database of mechanics with the call to action – ‘order now from your stockist’. Our mission is to ensure mechanics buy from their stockist. ‘Factor first’ has been our strategy from day one.
We know how important it is for your reputation and your sales that trade customers receive information on high quality trade trusted products. We have been working with motor factors for over 20 years so you can trust us!
Kalimex is the only UK distributor of the JLM Lubricants range of trade trusted products. We promote JLM Drive – the annual magazine, which you may have seen in the February issue of PMF (a copy was included with every magazine). Many stockists ask for copies of JLM Drive to send to their VIP trade customers because it displays the entire JLM product range.
