Salesmanship |
RVs and NASCAR ... By: Bob Zagami About the author:
In case you haven't noticed, the sport of auto racing - specifically NASCAR Winston Cup - has quietly become the biggest spectator sport in the world. The sport is known to have the most loyal fans of any professional sport. If you need verification of that fact, find your way to a Winston Cup race and see what happens during one of their fun-filled weekends. I attended the Winston Cup race that was recently held at the New Hampshire Internation-al Speedway ... me and 95,000 other people! What does all this have to do with RVs ... well for starters there were approximately 10,000 of them at the race. Most of them arrived on Thursday in plenty of time for Friday's practice sessions and qualifying runs. On Saturday they were entertained with a Featherlite Modified Series race and a Busch North series race. Sunday brought out the main attraction, the Jiffy Lube 300 and there wasn't an empty seat in the house. How many other events can you think of that bring 10,000 RVs to one location? Probably not many. This wasn't a rare event in the Granite State, it happens twice a year because they have two Winston Cup races on the NHIS schedule. It also happens over 30 times a year throughout the country, each one jam-packed with recreational vehicles. NASCAR (The National Asso-ciation for Stock Car Racing) is a great American business story. Founded in 1948, the first president was Bill France, Sr., who's family is still at the helm today. The complete story of NASCAR can be found at their web site: www.nascar.com. Now if there is that much interest in this sport, and if many of the people who follow the sport are confirmed, passionate, RVers - then it only makes sense that anyone in the RV business should develop more than just a passing fancy in this sporting phenomenon. If you are not yet a NASCAR fan, let me introduce you to a couple of books that will get you up to speed in a matter of weeks. I've just finished an excellent book that looks at NASCAR from a business point of view. In fact, the book is titled: The NASCAR Way - The Business that Drives the Sport. The author, Robert G. Hagstrom, writes about the history that built this incredible marketing organization. The book is published by John Wiley & sons and came out in February. The list price is $24.95 but, if you have mastered the Internet, you can find it at www.amazon.com for only $17.47, a 30% discount. Some of the exciting things you will learn from this book are:
The official motor-home company for NASCAR is Winnebago Industries.
Performance Research, a sports marketing firm in Newport, RI, published a 1994 report called RaceStat, providing corporate sponsors with an objective view of NASCAR and its audience. The study revealed two important facts about NASCAR. First, stock car racing fans are very aware of who sponsors their sport, and second, they have a strong tendency to purchase the products of sponsoring companies.Performance Research discovered that three out of four stock car racing fans consciously purchase products of NASCAR sponsors.
Rich Horrow, who teaches sports law at Harvard University and runs a consulting firm that has provided advice and guidance to all the major sports leagues including the NFL, NBA and MLB, says that "Motorsports is a spectator industry." His studies reveal that race fans will travel 300 miles to come to a race, stay for two or three days, and spend approximately $280 per day. In fact, a community with a large racetrack that hosts at least one Winston Cup event a year, receives the same impact as a Super Bowl. Hasgstrom points out that The NASCAR Way is a collection of attitudes, values, and ideals. Those values are put into action every day, in the way NASCAR does business. As a business writer, Robert Hagstrom has given us an incredible window to view an immensely popular sport that your customers really like. Two important lessons are learned from this wonderful book, and again I am using Hagstrom's words: 1. When compensation is paid regardless of performance, there is a tendency to get mediocre results. NASCAR works because compensation for all participants - track owners, teams, and drivers - is tied to results; 2. The second important element that NASCAR does right is nothing but common sense, but NASCAR does it at a level of sheer genius: Love your customer. I highly recommend this book to get full appreciation for the business of NASCAR and start you thinking about ways that you can get involved to generate new business for your RV -related company, whether you are a manufacturer, distributor, or dealer. The second book that you may find helpful is a reference tool that contains everything you would ever want to know about NASCAR. The book is Who Works in NASCAR, a reference guide designed to bring NASCAR drivers, teams, tracks, sponsors, and media together. The book is published by Who Works Sports Guides, and is available for $39.50, plus $6.00 for shipping and handling, from Eclipse Man-agement, 4801 E. Independence Blvd., Suite 205, Charlotte, NC, 28212 (1-800-432-2244). This is a must-have book for fans and anyone involved with NASCAR. This unique guide features a complete categorized listing of drivers, teams, team owners, tracks, sponsors, suppliers, and related personnel in a glossy hard cover book. You can also find a listing for the book at the NASCAR Online website at www.nascar.com/newstand/. The guide also has a listing of the various motorcoaches used by the Winston Cup drivers. Among the listings you will find Prevost conversions by Vantare, American Eagle, Newell, Gulf Stream, and TourMaster. So what does all this have to do with salesmanship? Plenty. This is an incredibly loyal group of consumers who love their drivers, love the sport, and support the sponsors of the sport. If you currently sell products sold by companies who have some active involvement with the sport (Winnebago and Fleet-wood), then you probably have a good appreciation for what I've been talking about. If you represent manufacturers who are not spending some of their marketing dollars in NASCAR, then you may want to encourage them to change their focus and put the money in front of the people who actually buy the products they see advertised. Locally, if you have tracks with NASCAR sanctioned racing events, you may want to make some contacts and see if there is some way for you to introduce the fans to your dealership and the products you sell. If you are fortunate enough to have a major league track that has a Winston Cup event, then you should investigate advertising in the race program. According to Hagstrom, a full-page ad in a Winston Cup event program costs around $3,500 and a half-page ad is $2,000. In reviewing the 150-plus page program from the recent New Hampshire race, I find only one RV related ad. There is a full-page ad from Featherlite/ Vantare because they are the Official Trailer and Luxury Coach Sponsor of NASCAR. Now I didn't look at every one of the 10,000- plus RVs in the parking area, but I'd guess that not too many of them were Prevost conversions by Vantare. The high-line luxury coaches are parked in the Winston Cup drivers' area! That means that all of those RVers who bought the program, did not see one ad from a New England RV dealership! The fans are driving the typical RVs you are selling every day! There has to be an opportunity here that RV dealers are not exploiting to its full potential. If you don't think that NASCAR is a hot topic; after you read this article start up a conversation about NASCAR at your dealership and see how many people qualify as someone with more than a casual interest in the sport. Then mention it to a few of your customers and prospects and see how involved they might be. Then re-evaluate how you are approaching this market. The winning combination may be more active involvement in NASCAR, and more sales for your dealership. Who's going to get to the finish line first? You or your competitors down the street? Good luck and good selling. RVN
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Bob Zagami is the National Sales Director, Engineering
In-formation Solu-tions for Image-Max; a single-source, national provider of document
management solutions. He studies the RV industry as a hobby and has owned trailers and
motorhomes. You can reach Bob at 978-461-2143 or via e-mail 