subject: Plastic Signs To The Rescue! [print this page] I'm writing this as I wait in the lobby at a local tire and car service shop in Charleston, South Carolina. After a bout of poor luck last night, I found myself with a flat tire in desperate need of replacement. But my story is not about luck or the accident itself, but rather it is about how I found myself at this particular car shop so early on a Monday morning.
Now I don't know much about cars. I am not incredibly aware of what car shops are around me or what a value price is in terms of any vehicle service. But one day on my lunch break, while sitting in stand still rush hour traffic, I happened to notice a small, simple Coroplast plastic sign right up on the edge of the road. The sign read "Oil Changes For $18." I didn't need an oil change at that particular moment, but this sounded like a pretty good price, and with this being a service I have done to my car regularly, it caught my attention. So I glanced around the area and took notice to a little shop right there along the busy parkway, with a large business sign advertising their business name and listing the car services they offer. I had never noticed this shop before! It was almost as if their primary large business sign was getting lost in a sea of all the other business signs. But that Coroplast sign directly beside the street stood out as un-ordinary, striking curiosity. I took a mental note that when time came for my next oil change, this was where I would take my little Chevy.
A few months later...
When my tire went out last night, I became painfully aware of the fact that I knew nothing about any of the car shops around town, and had no idea where to bring my car to get it fixed. But then something sparked my mind. I recalled that plastic sign advertising oil changes, and recalled a note on their business sign declaring their tire service experience. Now it was about that time for an oil change, so in lieu of extensive research and in attempts to multi-task, I decided I would take my car to that particular shop, without even calling around for tire prices and recommendations.
So you see, this company simply took an extra step, beyond the standard single business sign, to catch passerbys' attention. And what better strategy than to promote a service that people utilize around 4 times every year! With that single sign, they not only acquired my oil changing business, but my more costly tire business as well!
And the greatest thing for that car shop is that their Coroplast sign was so inexpensive! Coroplast is made up of a corrugated plastic material that looks like plastic cardboard. These signs are light weight, and are extremely easy to display, as wire stakes are available that simply insert into the flutes of the plastic and can then be staked into the ground. And Coroplast is without a doubt one of the most inexpensive sign materials in the industry!
Now there is quite the party out here at the car shop this sun-shining morning. There was a line around the front of the store, waiting for the doors to open early this morning. I could barely even find a place for me to park! I wonder if all these other patrons saw their Coroplast plastic sign...?
