Car Sales, Tow-truck wars, and Martech – Sales Lead Digest

This week we talk about fitting into gaps big companies leave behind, we hear a story about the most dangerously competitive market in North America, and we end with a couple of tools/tutorials. One is a treatise on how to do ads on Facebook, the other is a tool to navigate the rapidly expanding world of marketing tools. Yes, we’re to the point we need tools for our tools. Enjoy!

car dealer lot

Fired salesman from Macomb Twp. disrupts car-buying industry with word-of-mouth business

“Behe explained, ‘I have four kids, run three different companies and nobody has time to go to dealerships and spend the whole evening there on multiple days. I told him what I wanted and he brought it to me. He came to my house, picked up my car. . . and drove over the new car the same exact day.”

We’ve talked about how there are riches in niches and when companies or industries get giant, there are gaps that can be filled. I don’t know if he’ll be able to scale this business, but he may never have to. Someone will try, though, because even the best car dealership experience leaves the buyer a little wrung out. READ MORE

In the GTA’s tow-truck turf wars, the race for profit leads to road rage, violence and intimidation

“A car that has been in a crash typically needs more than just a tow from Point A to Point B. It may need repair work, and the driver might need physiotherapy. It’s an open secret in the industry that some body shops and rehab clinics will pay tow truck drivers to bring them business. As a result of these kickback fees, a single car can yield thousands of dollars, and “chasers” are racing each other to every job.”

GTA, I learned, is the Greater Toronto Area, and wow, what a story. If you think you’re in a competitive industry and no one is setting your office on fire, at least it’s not a competitive and dangerous industry. The thing that struck me is how the car owner, the person in the wreck, is totally left out to dry in this calculus. Interesting stuff.   READ MORE

Facebook Advertising Decoded in 15 Minutes

“I like to compare FB advertising to a deep-sea fishing trip.
You are the Captain of your ‘boat’ of resources (budget, team). You must navigate the vast, seasonal, sometimes stormy oceans of FB. You can set up and cast many rods (campaigns), testing different hooks (ad formats and placements) and bait (offers, deals, ABC creative) to catch different types of fish (customer segments). But if you set up too many rods you will start missing the bites and losing opportunities.”

We see hundreds of these articles and this one is worth reading. Even if you’re not spending $5K a day on FB ads. The ability to test your way into a positive ROI is FBs secret power, and multiple touches at multiple steps in the buyer’s decision process is where we traction. File this one under, good to know. READ MORE

Meet Martechbase: The searchable MarTech landscape.

“Like everyone in marketing tech, I check out Scott’s Marketing Tech Landscape graphic every year for an overview of the marketing technology tools that are out there. . . it’s grown from 150 to over 7,000 tools—so it’s a great way of showing clients that there’s a whole sea of vendors to be navigated.
Of course, with 7,000 tools on one graphic, it’s been difficult to use that resource for other purposes.”
The last article we want to share this week is on a topic we’ve touched on nearly every day of our existence, because the proliferation of marketing softwares and sales tools continues to boggle the mind. 7,000 Martech tools and counting! This article is about how a marketing agency built a tool to help you navigate these companies on your own. It may be a purchasing agent’s dream.
READ MORE