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>Sometimes, people will do something if somebody else >has done it. Showing them an article, book, picture or >other documents can be part of what you need to >convince them your idea is valid. It’s called “social >proof”. > >Valet parking businesses could use an article I found >as social proof to get temporary or permanent work. >Multiple jobs like these—through a year—could keep a >valet parking service in business. > >You can print this article; show it in a >laptop/notebook computer or cell phone (with an >Internet connection). I don’t know if The >Post-Standard will archive this article. If so, the >URL may be changed. > >Here’s how you may be able to find it: In some web >browsers (e.g. Firefox & Flock), you can highlight >text, right click it & choose from the menu to have a >search engine search for the text in the Internet. > >You can also do this to have a search engine search >for the URL. > >The article title is “Jeweler Hosts Guys' Night”, the >current URL is- >http://www.syracuse.com/business/index.ssf?/base/busine >ss-14/1228298304302870.xml&coll=1 >Article Excerpt - “On Thursday, the Henry Wilson >Jewelers store in Carousel Center mall has its 12th >annual Men's Night Holiday Gala that begins long >before night at 10 a.m. and continues into the night, >until 10 p.m. >“New this year is courtesy valet parking at the main >entrance to the mall, below the signature carousel.” > >To make the valet parking offer more attractive & less >expensive for a business, neighboring businesses may >be recruited to join in. If these businesses serve the >same niche, they can make their events more attractive >to people. People's vehicles will be parked & they can >enjoy retail promotions, movies, concerts, plays, >parades, etc. without having to move & park again. > >Sales Points- 1: An owner, of a street side store, >wants enough customer traffic to make a promotion & >the store successful. If prospective customers don’t >find convenient parking spots, they may skip the >promotion & fault the store owner for not having >enough parking. > >2: If weather on the day of the promotion is hot, >cold, wet or otherwise unpleasant, shoppers won’t want >to walk from their vehicles to a store. > >3a: Most malls have big enough parking lots, but >customers of other stores may park close to the mall >building. Valets would park vehicles further from the >building than most customers would. There’d be less >competition for parking spots. Customers would be >grateful for valet parking & feel less stressed. > >3b: Goodwill & gratitude are hard to quantify. It may >be hard to measure how much more sales volume is >attributable to valet parking. Answers for a survey >(described below) question can be used to determine >which customers wouldn’t have shopped without the >valet parking. > >4: It’s harder for shoppers to feel good about buying >things if they’ll have to carry their purchases across >a parking lot or along a sidewalk. Valet parking would >relieve them of this problem & valets can help them >with their packages & bags. > >5a: Sometimes, lack of security keeps people from >shopping because they’re exposed to possible crime >while they walk between their vehicles & stores. They >feel less safe personally, their money, credit/debit >cards, checks & purchases could be stolen. Valet would >do the walking for shoppers. > >5b: Answers for a survey (described below) question >can be used to determine which customers felt safe >enough to shop. > >As long as a nearby parking lot is available for >valets to use, they can quickly park & retrieve >vehicles then return to serve more customers. > >If you give parking customers & business owners >postage paid reply cards, they may answer a few short, >multiple choice survey questions & mail the cards on >their way home. > >If you give (advertising specialty imprinted) pens >from business owners who want to reach your parking >customers, it’ll be easier to get responses. You’ll >learn what to improve, what to keep offering & what to >stop. You may also have many cards as social proof for >future jobs. > >Note: Before the event/promotion, test a few pens to >be sure they work. If they’re cheap &/or stored for a >while, ink may’ve dried at the tips & will block ink >in the cartridges. > >If pens don’t work, customers will be frustrated & >think less of you & the businesses supplying the pens. > >Too often, advertising specialties are purchased, then >they’re kept in a drawer. Distributing pens for a >business is a good service & will help you & your >customers. > >If you use this idea for a few events, be sure your >reply cards are colored coded or marked for the event >so you’ll know when you earned the comments. If you >want business owners to use your service again, it’ll >help to show the reply cards from their specific >events. > >Here’s a tip: People may be shy about using a valet >service because they don't know how much to tip the >valets. A valet service I’ve used a few times has a >posted sign about its tipping policy. It lets people >know tips aren’t necessary because valets are paid >adequately. > >Other kinds of businesses employ valets. If you own a >valet service, you can offer these businesses a >temporary valet service. Your valets will be trained & >ready to temporarily replace sick or vacationing >valets. This would bring you income when your business >would be idle. It’ll help you retain valets if you >keep them working & well paid. > >If your staff is already busy & a temporary valet is >requested, you’d need to prioritize where to have >valets work. You may want your temporary service to be >subordinate (secondary in priority) to your main valet >business. If your main business is short on staff >because you supply valets for others, you may hurt >your primary business. > >Dennis S. Vogel >thrivingbusiness@email.com >Your success depends on having the best ideas plus the >best >Implementations. You need powerful marketing >strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- >http://www.lakefield.net~thrivingbusiness/ >http://www.voy.com/31049/

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