How To Make Your Grand Opening Pay Off Big!

A grand opening can be the moment your store becomes “the new place in town” or the day you spend a lot of money and barely get noticed. We sit down with Vince, VP of franchising at RR Tire Express, to get practical about what actually moves the needle when you’re launching a new location: how to ramp faster, how to avoid a shaky first impression, and how to build trust with people who have never heard of your brand.

We dig into the real purpose of a soft opening vs a grand opening, and why the win is not just installs or same-day revenue. Vince explains the metrics that matter, like how full your registration box gets, how your team performs under pressure, and whether you see a clear uplift week over week after the event. We also talk timing, including the sweet spot for scheduling, why certain hours work better than others, and how early you should start promoting without burning out your audience.

Then we get tactical with a franchise grand opening marketing mix that fits real budgets: digital marketing ROI through PPC, Facebook, SEO, and geofencing, plus old-school flyering and business-to-business outreach that still outperforms when it’s done consistently. You’ll also hear how giveaways, food trucks, signage, and a simple customer flow help you “preach the program” and turn foot traffic into leads you can follow up with for months.

If you’re opening a rent-to-own store, a tire and wheel store, or any new retail location, this is a field-tested playbook. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s about to launch, and leave a review with your best grand opening idea: what’s the one tactic you swear by?

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Pete Shau 0:08

Hello and welcome to the RTO Show Podcast. I'm your host, Pete Chow. I've got an amazing guest today that's going to talk to us about grand openings. What we need to do for grand openings. But first, make sure you go to the podcast website at rtoshowpodcast.com. Go on there, check us out, listen to new episodes. You also have the ability to get the newsletter. And that would be great. Sign that up because you don't get the same things that you would get here. You get something completely different. It's about news, it's about industry, and it's about what's going on out there. And my guest today, Vince. Vince, we had a we had a really good time in DC, did we not? We did. That was my first LedgeCon. That was that was amazing. So Vince is the VP, and you are the literal guy who helps people get their franchises open.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

That's true. That is true. VP of franchising. Uh of course now we have a whole team, Pete, that that helps in the in that manner. But there was a time when I wore every hat. So glad that we've grown past that.

Pete Shau 1:10

We've tried we've tried to get it to minimize that a little bit so that you can get a little help. Right. Right. So you come from the ground up. Now Vince, you've been with R and R tire Express. Is it 25 years that we just passed? Uh 24 years. 24 years. Okay. 20, 24 years. He's been here almost quarter century, guys. He's not done yet. But as VP, coming from where you came from, you started at the bottom. Am I right? You mean you started from beginning entry level. Ground zero, right? You know, and then you you but you also worked with you worked with Larry Sutton beforehand, right? You worked with him a little bit before you got to R Tire Express because there was there's a little story right there. So before we got in R Tire Express, can you explain like where the beginnings were and how you got to where you are now?

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Oh gosh, we we have uh a beautiful story actually that uh that I share with Larry. Um I'm 19 years old and I've got a job where I'm uh uh delivering washing machines in Clearwater Beach, Florida for Champion TV and appliance. Uh unbeknownst to me, they they were opening a fourth store. Larry had three champion stores, and this was his fourth store, it was going to be his first store in Tampa. So I was hired to actually open the Tampa store. So I got to open uh a Champion TV and appliance store um uh under Larry Sutton and kind of learned the ropes while Larry actually had his office in that particular store. So Larry was there at one point. Uh his brother Steve was managing the store, his sister Judy was the account manager, and and I was learning from the Sutton family, the RTO business. I mean, what great mentors, right?

Pete Shau 2:48

Right, right. Well, I mean, talking about heritage, the whole family has a great lineage in the RTO industry, right? From slats, from Larry, you know, Adam's doing a great job. When we talk about how far back it goes, what I loved about it is it wasn't just a come up story for them, right? So you got Larry who did his thing and then decided to go to the wheel and tire

Vince’s Origin Story With Larry

Pete Shau 3:10

side. You've got you know, the other family that went the other way, but Larry did his own thing and tire and wheel, which was something unique. He so he started traditional, he goes to the R and R tire side and he says, Okay, we can do wheels, we can do tires, and I'm gonna take Vince with me. What was what was that like? And why was there you know the transition between the traditional and what you're doing now? Like, what was that thought process going, Larry? What what are we doing here? And is this or was it like, yes, like I know this is it, I know this is gonna work.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Well, truth be told, now, uh, when there was a huge uh roll-up with uh some stores and champion got rolled up into another company and another company and another company, there was a certain um uh point where Larry, who was the Southeast division of this company, he was the VP of the Southeast Division, was was disillusioned with the um uh the the the the management from uh a company that's that's uh answerable to stockholders, right? And not running the company the way that he would as a as a sole owner or individual proprietor, as he had in the past, the way he ran a champion store. Okay. Uh so he left and and uh I ended up going from uh the VP of real estate for the Southeast uh to managing a store that I actually opened for Larry, his fifth store in Tampa uh as a young man, and uh was like that was full circle. Ended up with RES accessories for a short stint. Wow, yeah. And uh during that time is when Larry was kind of uh enjoying retirement and realizing that he needed something more than just golf.

Pete Shau 4:54

He was reflecting the golf swing. He was perflecting the golf swing.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Yeah. Uh and that's when he started uh, you know, RR Tire Express or Rent and Roll at the time. And um uh it was a couple years in when he actually had asked me to dinner and said, Hey, I'm doing this wheel and tire thing. What you you want to come back home and let's let's grow this thing together? Uh and it was like, yeah, sure, that sounds great. I actually went to a couple stores and and saw how exciting it might be to be in cars and cool wheels and stuff like that, and still doing RTO. So we're serving the same customer with a completely different product line. And yet it was while very similar to traditional RTO, it was very different, very different. Oh man, Larry would say we we lost so much money in the first days learning how to do what we had, whatever he had to do, go back at night, rewrite PMP and and come back. And the the business truly evolved over the first 10 years very dynamically, to a point where again rent and roll became RR Tire Express, and that really kind of started this uh growth of R ⁇ R that uh we're still kind of on on that whole trajectory. So it's been it's been a wonderful ride this past 24 years, uh you know, almost 40 years with Larry growing uh in the RTO business, and uh uh just you know, it's a blast. So I love I love whenever I get a chance to tell stories about the old days, you know.

Pete Shau 6:24

So Larry Sutton gets this idea. He calls up fence, here we go. Now, how how does that transition? Because I gotta know, we're talking about grand openings. I don't know anybody who's been to more grand openings than you, but I I have to know how does that transition to a pirate outfit? We're gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about that just so you guys are aware. We're talking about the pirate outfit, we're not getting away from that. So, as this growth trajectory starts going up, this is when you start what we would call the grand opening process. And through all of these, am I right in saying out of the 214 or 17 locations that we're kind of currently in and about to open and have, you've been to at least half. Easily, easily, easily half. Yeah. Now, the important thing that we're the reason I want to talk about this is because I think we talk a lot about the day-to-day minutiae, right? What you know, what it is when you come in and you being a GM and training, and what are you looking for, and how do you interview and the processes that you go through and the people that you talk to in the vendors. We've never talked about what it is to have the big pop-off because the difference between a good grand opening and a bad one can hurt and it occurs in business because the truth is you want to grow as fast as you humanly possible because you, like you said, you can lose money

Why RR Moved Into Wheels

Pete Shau 7:38

in those first days. Now, of course, there are processes and procedures already in place, and thank goodness that RR has that. And I think that has led to a lot of the growth that we have now. I mean, it is one of the premier tire and wheel concepts in North America. So to get there, we got to open. And that's when we start putting on the pirate costume and going out there. Like, how did how did that come about? Where how did the pirate costume come about? Because I look at I look at you know, R and R tire and wheel and I look on all the pictures, and man, it was awesome. But where did it, where'd the correlation come in? Or was that like that was a Vinceism? That was like a Vince thing.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

There was there was uh a bit of a, you know, um, what do you call it? Uh not kismet, but you know, perhaps fate, the way that it all came together. Um uh you know, and Pete, just to back up again, uh, on the trajectory of a new store, everybody knows it's it's it's so critical to the health, the financial health of the store to ramp up as quickly as possible. Yes. And the grand opening event, as we call it, uh is is one component in that. There are so many things that go into that that growth of the first year of the store. So, you know, I don't want to over-emphasize how the grand opening can be uh uh make it or break it, but a well-done grand opening can certainly help that trajectory. Yes. And and then uh uh exponentially the the referrals and the growth of everything that comes from it, I think is the biggest impact. Um, so we're doing some grand openings and um uh uh for the first Captain Jack experience, okay? Uh again, everyone, you know, to put it into context, we're in Tampa. And in Tampa, we have the Gasparilla Parade. And uh for you know, like over a hundred years, for whatever the city celebrates this pirate fest. Uh, our NFL football team is the Buccaneers, and you know, intentionally because of uh the the uh the hist heritage of pirates, right? Okay, so um uh everybody dresses up for Gasparella Day. Uh as well, uh, you know, I'm thinking, you know, Larry has been having some really uh this was at that time, he would have some really knockout Halloween costume parties. Yeah. Right. So one year I invest in a Captain Jack Sparrow pirate outfit. And I I wore it thinking, you know, hey, this thing's October in February is Gasparilla, I'll get to use this outfit a couple times, you know, whatever. And it was a hit. I mean, it was like everybody went crazy that that it looked really good. All right. All right. So um uh the grand opening of Steve Sutton, Larry's brother's Ocala store. We relocated from an inline to a freestanding building.

The Pirate Costume Marketing Moment

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Um, and that grand opening happened to fall on the same day as the night parade. Well, gosh, and we have two or three pirate parades, right? So it doesn't end with Tampa.

Pete Shau 10:44

You guys don't know. Tampa loves pirates. We love the boats, we love the people, we love the Buccaneers. So, yes, this is a real big tradition in the Tampa Bay area.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

So I I'm I'm thinking I can't go to Ocala and drive back to Tampa and make it to this night parade unless I'm already dressed as the pirate. So, from back in the day, uh there's been a lot of great marketing guys that I've had a chance to work with. Uh, but uh, you know, just to do whatever crazy things that you can to get noticed, right? Balloons and and you know, standing out on the road with a sign, all those crazy things. So I'm thinking, Steve, I'm gonna come dress as a pirate and I'll wave at people along the road. And then, you know, I'm gonna have to blast. But that's the first Captain Jack. And I'm driving and I'm thinking, I wonder if I could come up with a cool name for this pirate, you know. And I thought, well, Captain Jack, uh, you know, you know, Jack like Jack, you know, and and I'm I'm trying to come up with a last name when it was like so obvious. Spare. Jack Sparrow. Jack Sparrow. And and you do, oh, that's so clever. Jack Spare. Oh, no, it's good. So it it was it was fun, and it was it was uh such a hit. We did it again when the Brandon store opened, and then it became a thing. And before I realized, I was going to every grand opening and and giving my time, you know, a couple of hours on the road, waving at cars and having all these Totskis for the kids and beads and and uh eye patches. It was it was so much fun. Uh, I I really enjoyed the heck out of it. And and we did that for a number of years until it was just becoming a a bit work. Instead of being fun, it became work. I mean, it's quite an ordeal to put the pirate outfit on and the makeup and and do that. It's about an hour to get ready.

Pete Shau 12:42

So, in your opinion, yeah, so as we get down, why why would you say grand openings matter? If I was to say, Vince, I need to have a great grand opening, but why? Why you know you everybody tells me you need to have a great grand opening, you need to be there, present, you need to get ready. But why why? What is the point of having a soft opening versus a grand opening and the difference between the two, and why is a grand opening so much more?

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Well, you know, and again, putting into the context that most often we're we're trying to enter a new market uh where the brand has not been before, as opposed to, let's say, a multi-store market. In Tampa, once you've opened up one or two stores when you open your third or fourth, the impact of the new store maybe not as great. But when you're the first store in a market that's never had the brand before, you you have that uh first chance to make a good impression, right?

Pete Shau 13:43

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Um, so it's part of that. So the soft opening allows a store, of course, to work out a few kinks that typically are evident. You know, the credit card machine, does it work or not? Are we connected? The

Soft Opening Vs Grand Opening

SPEAKER_00 13:56

website, the Wi-Fi, all the all the intricacies of a smooth operation. Do we have the right tools? Do we get all our parts in? Is anything back ordered? You get everything in, everything's running smoothly. And, you know, at that point, you're really drowning in red ink because you're you're just making sure that everything's getting right. Right. We're marketing, but we still have overhead, we have payroll, we've got all this inventory we have to pay for, and we have no customers, or we have very little, right? Right. So now it's time for the grand opening, which is hey, let's get the word out in a big way. We're ready to make a good first impression for anybody that happens by. And uh in in our case, especially in our case, but you know, not so much with the traditional RTO business, um, when we announce any event or any marketing for that matter, uh, according to the tire industry association, at any given time, 20% of the population may be in the market for tires or wheels. That's a big, that's a big percentage. Well, it you yeah, uh, but it's not like food where you eat every day, or maybe even in the traditional business where uh I can go from furniture to appliances to electronics. There's a lot of things that I can market to a family at any given time of the year that they may need or or or want. Uh we have tires and wheels, maybe some alignment services and some other things. So it's in a limited sense, when I put out any marketing, about one in five people may be interested in what I have to say. I got I see what you're saying, right? I gotcha. So again, very important that we could try to get the word out what does RR do uniquely that other tire dealers don't? Well, of course, for $20 down, you have safe quality tires with affordable payment options, right? And we go into the customer care package, which is for the life of the tires, you get free flat repair, free rotate and balance. That's huge, free alignment checks. We even put nitrogen in the tires for the life of the tires. And if that weren't enough, you get 12 months of roadside assistance, right? So it's a great value. And what we want to do at the grand opening event is simply preach the story, right? Tell what we do uniquely as a tire dealer and how we want to help folks drive safely to work, to school, to a relative's. Be safe on the road and stop buying the Maypop tires that are, you know, they're just gonna ruin a day. Sooner or later they're gonna go flat. And and this way you you keep your suspension cleaner, everything is more efficient on the car, gas mileage. There's so many things that that can be affected by proper tires or improper tires. So uh I digress. Getting back to the grand opening, you know, if we can get folks to show up where we can tell that story, we do some tire inspections, uh, we just build a little bit of trust, a little bit of awareness that we're here and how we're different than the other tire dealers, that's to me the most important part of the grand opening. And of course, if you get a little bit of business along the way, that's great too.

Pete Shau 17:01

So um so in your okay, so in your opinion then, and again, I know that this is all fluid, this is not one side system fits all. But if you were to say an average, when we open on a soft opening versus a grand opening, how much time usually takes place? How much time do we do we tweak the nuts and bolts and make sure that everything is going good and you know the lifts go up and down and we know how to greet people and we know the POS system? So then we get ready. And I you know, is it uh six weeks that we do a good job? Do we do we say two months? Because then you also don't want to span it out too long, but you don't want to make it too close. And is there a sweet spot in your opinion that you've had over these hundred different openings? You say probably in that area would be a good time frame.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Uh you know, it it to give you my opinion. Uh A one to two months after that soft opening is probably the sweet spot. Um, you were right when you said it's very fluid, depending upon any number of circumstances. In in an ideal situation, within the first week, you're perfectly ready to go. That that's that's you know, Murphy's law, right? So I I know you're laughing because I know you've been around a lot of great store openings as well.

Timing The Grand Opening Sweet Spot

SPEAKER_00 18:15

So that it there's always something that that that has to be tweaked a little bit. So give that a little bit of time. Um but then you also have to dovetail in circumstances that may or may not be in your control, which could be anywhere from the time of year that the store is opening and when you're planning that. Uh I I I my opinion is it's difficult to get noticed in the holiday season. Yes to a November or December grand opening, you're competing with a lot of other marketing that's going on, and marketing tends to be more expensive at the time that time of year. So, you know, I may delay a grand opening until January or February. And again, it's the grand opening event. You're still open for business, you're still doing marketing, but to to try and say, hey, everybody, whether you need tires or not, come on by the R store. You might, you know, register for some prizes, you could win something nice. We give away Yeti coolers and barbecue grills, you know, something that that anybody might want to get them to just come by so we can tell our story. We we like to use um free lunch. And instead of cooking hot dogs, we we we've gravitated towards getting food trucks that have their own following. If you can find a really popular food truck as an example, yes, um, they bring their own subscribers with them by marketing, hey, they're gonna be at the RR grand opening, blah, blah, blah. Come on by, they're they're sponsoring free lunch, right? Right. And you know, we control that by having them register to win a prize. And once you register, let me ask you something.

Pete Shau 19:53

Are you getting everything out of your rent-to-owned business? If you're not an April member, then the answer is probably no. Look, advocacy is April's bread and butter. This is why they were created and what they do best. But here's the thing April membership is about way more than advocacy. April connects you to the movers and the shakers of the industry. People have been there, done that, and they could help you do it even better. APRO's monthly webinars give you expert insights and actionable takeaways. It's like having a masterclass for your business every single month. Got questions about complex regulations or sticky situations? No problem. April's Legal Hotline gives you direct access to experts who have got the answers. That's a peace of mind that you can't put a price on. And let's not forget the resources, news, updates, and tools that keep you ahead of the curb. Scholarships for your team? Check. Disaster relief when you need it most? Double check. APRO is your ultimate support system in the rent-to-own world. So stop settling for less. With APRO, members get more. More support, more connections, more success. Head over to rtohq.org and join the APRO family today. Because in this business, more isn't just better, it's essential. See you at the top with APRO.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

We give you

Sponsor Message APRO

SPEAKER_00 21:07

a ticket for free lunch, and it's between that registration and getting the ticket for the free lunch that someone, a team member, is going to preach the story. Hey, do you know why RR is unique and what we do is special here? Let me tell you. Right. Right? Just get that little bit out and let them know hey, you may not need tires now, but you might know somebody that does. 20 bucks, brand new tires. Let's see if we can make that happen. Right.

Pete Shau 21:31

So, so okay, so and I'm glad you said that because in all the years that I've done rent to own, it probably took me 10, 12 years before I even attended a grand opening. I it I had been working at places that were already established. They had already been there for a few years, so it wasn't even in the first two years. It was like this is a place has already been here. They've already had a set of customers. What would you say to somebody that says, okay, you know, not a lot of people have attended them? You yourself have attended a lot. I've tended a few. I know guys who have been working in rent own for years that have never attended any, as far as being a part of it, right? They've probably seen it, but you know, gone by. What would you say? Uh, you know, I want to train my guys. I want to train my new staff and say, this is the best foot forward that you can put. This is not an everyday situation. This is the grand opening situation. How

What Success Looks Like Afterward

Pete Shau 22:20

would you train them or approach have them approach a situation that might be a little bit different than our normal regular day?

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Well, I think it would be good to clarify expectations of the day. And and that can range, but I think that you know, you you've got uh again from what we've been discussing, Pete, uh awareness, marketing, ending up with business, you know, deposits, installs, wheels on a car, tires on a car. Um again, it's one day. The marketing leading up to that day isn't necessarily meant for you to have this fantastic install day with with all this revenue. It it would be great, but I don't want that to be the barometer of success. This I think the the the key is awareness and marketing. So if we can get the registration box full of names that can be marketed to over the course of the the next year, right? Uh that's a success to me. So in talking about activities for the day, it should be just that. What are we here to do? Well, if we can close deals, let's close some deals. There's no doubt about that. Right, right, right. Right? But it's not only that, it's every person that shows up to say, what's going on? Brand new store, very nice. You got balloons and everything, and I see the truck. What's going on? Preach the story. Well, why don't you come over here and fill this thing out? We're gonna register to win some prizes, and we'll get you a ticket for free lunch. Let me tell you about RR and what we do unique. Safe quality tires with affordable payment options.

Pete Shau 24:04

So I love that. I so you're and and you're so right. I mean, it's so important to not judge your first big day on the fact that nobody knew that you were there to begin with. They finally see you and all of a sudden we're gonna do business with you. No, I I and I love that idea. If you were to say, like, let's say top three to five metrics that you would love to see a store come out of on a grand opening, you said one was the referral box, or at least, you know, the I shouldn't say the referral box. Registration. The registration box. You know, the registration box now is what I would like to have for that basic information: a name, a phone number, possibly an email, so that I can reach out to you and say, hey, you came here for our grand opening. You might not have won this prize, but I've got a better prize for you. I've got four a set of four tires for you for $20 a week. Um, so okay, so we use that. That's probably one good metric to say. We've gotten some names and numbers in here. Not only have they seen us because they literally came in and gave us the information, but we had the time to talk to them then and then follow up. What would be three or four more metrics that you would say, you know what? This to me, even though maybe they didn't get it then or we didn't have 25 installs on that day, but it was a good day. It was a good day that it was a good turnout.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

So, well, you know, I uh something that that I I don't really think uh too much about up front is in the aftermath, how did the team do under pressure? Okay, right, because they're this is their stress test. The most that they're gonna the busiest that they might be ever to that point, and and maybe for for some time to come until they build up the volume and have you know a certain amount of customers that are built up. They're gonna have new business, service business, right, account management business, all that activity you is absent in those first few months. Right. Uh, but when they're that busy that day, did they work together well? Was there was there any chinks in the armor? You know, and then you get to work on those. So I I think that the observation of the team doing well is a great takeaway. Okay. Okay. I I don't know how you met put a metric to that, other than to say well, I mean, team unity, team, team, you know, team and have a good time doing it because everybody should be having a good time on this particular day. It's really about enjoying the fact that we're open for business, we know what we're doing, everybody's got their ducks in a row. Let's go go have it, go at it, have some fun, right? And and uh as it says back here, you know, change lives, changing lives. Let's let's let's go change some lives. That's it.

Pete Shau 26:32

So so do you feel like there's ever a point where like you go, okay, one of the metrics needs to be that we've done enough to get to this point? In other words, the the pre-setup, the pre the pre-planning. Did we do enough flyering? Did we do enough cold calls? Did we do some business to business? Did we get the remote from the radio station? Did we get the food truck? Did we, you know, would that be in your in your mind, would that would that be one of the metrics to say, you know what, we we we got that there? This was success because we did the right things. Not necessarily everybody comes in a door, because you can't that's something you can't say. I unless you literally go out there and grab somebody and pull them in, you can't make them come in. But did you do everything to get to that point, that least to show the best face forward? Right.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Well, you know, Pete, I guess the the the last metric, if I were to give you three to give you the third metric, really wouldn't be something you measure that next day. And again, I can maybe I can hear other people thinking well, of course what you do that day matters, you know. We I want to see a lot of business on the books, right? But I think the metric really should be what's the uplift that next month, at least the next week or the next two. You should see uh uh uh certainly an increase in week over week business, month over month business. That should really spike upward. So whatever the trajectory was before the event, hopefully the trajectory is a much uh steeper one because of that activity. Um, did we do enough marketing? You know, I almost want to say that um, you know, there's uh the story about you know the star uh the beach full of starfish. Yes, and that the girl throwing them in, and the man saying, you know, that that's not gonna mean a whole lot to, you know, there's so many of them. And the girl says, well, it meant a lot to that one. So if you can connect with one or two customers that day because of your grand opening event, that's I think how it all starts. We know we grow our stores in RTO one customer at a time, one relationship at a time. If you can do that in a quality way, in a meaningful and sincere way, your company will grow. You know, the dollars take care of themselves if you do the right thing. That was that was something that Larry taught me as a young man, and it's just it's always worked that way. Do the right thing for the right reason, and the business takes care of itself. So if we can do the right thing when we've got all these customers just hanging out or coming by to they just want to win a TV or or or it doesn't matter. That's okay. Did I give them a hundred percent on telling them the story? I I think a lot of times what I what I still enjoy to this day is when I get to talk to a new candidate about R, and and it just comes out of me. It's like, man, I love talking about our business. Right. I love talking about what we do at R and the way that we take care of our customers and our team members. And and uh, if you can do that successfully at the grand opening event through all the team members with every interaction, I think certainly that uplift will occur. And, you know, you just get in as much as you can. Getting all those people there is part of all those different marketing funnels, uh, you know, in today's uh uh times, with all the digital that's going on, and in addition to whatever other means of marketing that you might have available to you. Some stores have radio, some do not. Do we use big billboards? Do we not? But everybody should be doing digital marketing, Facebook, PPC, geofencing the areas that are most meaningful to the store. Uh, we talked about perhaps doing uh uh the everydoor direct uh in a certain radius of the store. So those folks are actually getting a physical piece to remind them of the event. Uh you know, when you get all those bases covered, getting flyers out, going to businesses and saying, hey, can can you pass some of these out to your customers, knowing this might be a customer demographic that we know is going to visit the RTO store. Um, all of those things combined add up together. Synergistically, they're more meaningful when you're doing everything you can. Get the Chamber of Commerce out if you can. Invite government officials. If the town is small enough, you'll get the mayor to come out, right? I mean, go for the gusto and ask.

Marketing Mix Digital And Local

SPEAKER_00 30:55

You never know. Uh, you know, whatever PR methods that you might have to reach out to the news stations or publications in the area. All those things add up together. So I I I, you know, champion the use of as many as you possibly can afford.

Pete Shau 31:11

So that I, you know, I'm glad you said that because that's exactly what I wanted to focus on next. So let's say you have a new entrepreneur and they're hungry, they're ready to go. They got into the franchise. Franchising isn't cheap. You've got to buy, you know, the supplies, you got to buy the racks, you've got to buy the tires, you've got to get the store, you've got to bottle it out, you've got to do all this stuff. What would you say are some of the best things that you can do with the budget, right? We're not, you know, a billboard would be great, but billboards are expensive, right? You know, there are certain things that you would love to do and say, man, I would love to have a 30-second out on TV. I would love to do this, and I would love to do that. But I can't, Vince. I I have what I have, and I, and like you said, I got to pay these guys for the next three months, and they're not generating any revenue just yet. Not yet. They will, but they not yet. What would you say? You know what, if Vince right now was to come out here with the with a tight budget, what are the best things that what the best bang for their buck that they can do as far as the grand opening is concerned?

SPEAKER_00 32:01

The digital marketing for sure is uh very high ROI. You you can track it, uh you you can you can uh control your spend and you can target your spend. That's probably the most, you know, logical. But I think that, you know, akin to the story about Starfish, you know, flyering, uh good old-fashioned, hand-to-hand, you know, kiss, kiss the babies and shake the hands kind of approach is unparalleled the best way to grow your store, uh, albeit it's very slow and arduous. It's the certain way that you will take inches forward every day instead of throwing a lot out there or throwing a lot against the wall and hoping that some of it sticks. I mean, you you've got to do all of those things, but I I again want to uh uh champion the thought that it's not just one most important thing, it's the constant touching of all the things as many times. It's like you can't do all the things all the time. I get that. But if you're trying to do as many of them as often as you can, it's that mixture, that synergy that that really makes the magic happen. And uh, you know, when when you don't omit the yeast, your cupcakes rise. Story Greg Tanner told me once you did everything right, you got all the eggs and the flour, but he forgot the yeast and the cupcakes didn't rise. And it was like just the one little ingredient that you forget sometimes is the the one that makes the magic happen. So don't omit anything if you can help it.

Pete Shau 33:43

So, you know, the approach that I'm I'm looking at, you know, I've I've seen it done in different ways. And I wonder, Vince, how do you take it? When there's a grand opening, I've seen guys go, okay, listen, you're gonna take them from the beginning to the end. You go out there and grab them. I want you to hold on to them, tell them the story, greet them, give them something, get them to the to the box, get them registered for something, get them to the counter, and do this. And then I've seen guys go, okay, let's do this. Vince, you you're you're you're one of the best greeters I got. You're out there in a pirate costume. I don't want you to do anything but attract the customers. Bob, Joe, Pete, I want you to go out there. And once they're done with Vince, I want you to grab them and give them the whole once over. Hey, this is what RR does. This is what we do. We have this giveaway. We have this. What are you looking for? I sold it. Now I'm gonna give it to Jimmy, who could be there by himself in the back or whatever the case is. This guy's job, he's the one who knows the PO set poop POS system the best. He has the best training on it, he knows how to type it up. He's been doing it for the last month or six weeks or whatever the case is, and he has that ability. And then you take him over there, you tell them what tires and wheels, you tell them whatever inventory that you need, he'll type it up, explain it, and they'll be on their way. What would you feel is the best approach on that?

SPEAKER_00 34:54

You just said. But

Staffing Roles And Customer Flow

SPEAKER_00 34:57

I I I would hope that most people are cross-trained and could do any number of those things, and and that's that testing the metal when the two greeters who the your primary function today is to preach the program. Well, what if there's three people or four? That are who's going to handle the overflow? Can somebody pick up the pace, you know, and that's the team working together, right? But I think for for that, hey, for today, here's the plan. Something like you just mentioned, Pete. Everybody has a unique responsibility that keeps every the flow going. And if you have a nice flow, steady flow of people arriving, checking you out, that's the perfect way to put them through because they're getting to talk to a lot of people. And if they see a consistent smile on everybody's face, they're gonna say, Wow, there's something different about this entire thing. Something going on. Right. There's something right. And and if everybody handles it right, maybe you'll get some deals because that is the natural progression. Hey, blah, blah, blah. Let me tell you about what we're doing here. Did you come in today just for the prizes and check us out, or do you have a tire problem? Is your lights on? Can I check your tires? Let's do a tire inspection, right? And often if you'll walk around, you can tell somebody, hey, you're okay now, but you your tires are out of alignment. This one's gonna start looking dangerous here in a little bit. Let's get you in next week, blah, blah, blah. Right. Or, you know, it'll maybe you get that one in five that came in and they actually do need tires. Let's get them on today, right? Let's close that deal. And that'll take it to that next person who's actually gonna write up the paperwork and and and get everything started.

Pete Shau 36:34

I'm I'm that way too. I like that. I like the approach where everybody has that simplistic idea. Yes, you can fall back if you need to. You know, I also believe in the fallback. Hey, if if if somebody's got two or three people and you kind of see that they're at their, not their wits end, but you see that you see them bursting at the seams like I can't take anymore. Sure, don't don't mind falling back. And then when you're done and they're passed off again, you go back to it. You know, if it sometimes people get busy and that's great on a grand opening, and sometimes they're not. It's okay and you can handle a little bit more. But the idea is everybody has a plan. There's a fallback that we understand the the nuts and bolts of what we're trying to do. At the end of the day, we want them to be happy. We want them to explain exactly what we're doing. We'll want to get them to the registration box and we want to get them to the counter. And if we can complete all that, even if they don't buy, we've had a successful point because we can reach out to them again and say, hey, I know that you were here the other day, just so you're aware we have this deal going on. We have this setup, buy three tires, get one free, whatever the case is, and work out to it.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

So, and Pete, let me add this. So the way that that you described it again, with everyone having somewhat unique responsibilities, here's here's inevitably what happens too. Customers have come in, or or potential customers are gonna come in and they registered, they got their ticket, maybe they're sitting there eating some free food, and maybe now they're just kind of wandering, meandering around, right? If you don't have a plan of who did what, you won't know is anybody taking care of this person, right? I I I may not have seen them walk in. They may not have registered yet. They may have, you know, but it's like, hey, did that guy already register? Oh, yeah, okay, great. You know, I don't have to worry about it. Or no, he hasn't. Hey, come on, let me right. So so so there has to be some some way of of checking because on a good grand opening, you're gonna have a lot of people at the store that m may need services and or may not have been talked to yet.

Pete Shau 38:28

Well, it's the best way to handle it. Checks and balances, right? Yeah. I mean, if you see that, hey, I know who you should be talking to right now or who who jumped the gun, which is okay. Hey, this guy's busy over here. He again, the fallback guy, this guy's over here busy. So I know that if I go over there and I approach him, this is what I got to cover in order to cover his back and then get him to the right where they need to be. So I, you know, one of the questions that I've always had, because I I've always seen this and I'm I'm curious. Vince, you got a lot of knowledge in a lot of years. What I see is hours of grand opening. Okay, I've seen that. I've seen we have a grand opening day the entire day. We clock in and we don't clock out to the last person's out of the parking lot, 12 o'clock, one o'clock in the morning. It doesn't matter. I've seen people say, hey, we're having a grand opening, but his prices are going to be going on all week long, all month long. What what do you what do you think? In your opinion, where is it? Is there a sweet spot of timing? Is it a day? Is it a week? Do we treat it like Black Friday now, or it's like every all part of the month? You know, it's it's November 1st. You get Black Friday deals. Like in a in a grand opening, is is the point of is the spear point good to say it a day or a time of day, or is it is is there a different way to do it? How do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Well, uh again, there's not just the one way to skin the cat. The the the singular day, the problem with that is that you know it's it's one and done. Uh so I do like the thought of stretching out maybe some of the giveaways, uh, where uh perhaps the the grand prize, you get, you know, the day of the event, you give away some of the different prizes, gift cards, uh things like that. But you may have a set of tires, set of wheels, in our case, um maybe a big screen TV, whatever it is, and maybe you hold those so that you can continue registering people throughout the rest of the week or the balance of the month and and stretch that out and and start using your digital video kind of marketing to give away a next prize or to build up to the the giveaway on the other one. I I I think that there's a lot to be said for that.

Pete Shau 40:37

Um you know, on this podcast, I don't just talk about any company. So when it comes to rent to own, we talk about what works. If you're an RTO retailer and you're still running your marketing and your CRM like it's 2020, you need to talk to WoW brands. I've had their CEO, Ryan Krass, right here on the show. And what his team has built is the real deal: a full digital ecosystem made specifically for rent to own, websites and e-commerce that actually convert. A CRM built for our industry, not just bent to fit it. Vendor inventory management that keeps your ordering and pricing dialed in. WoWBrands isn't a general marketing shop dabbling in rent to own. This is their whole world, just like it's ours. Head to WoWBrands.com and tell them the RTO show sent you. That's WowBrands.com.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

But it doesn't erase the call to action. Come to the store on this Saturday from this time to this time so that we can register you and you've got this extra air or atmosphere of celebration and you know, introduction that that you want to get a hold of. So um I I think that that that hopefully that answers your question.

Pete Shau 41:50

Well,

Sponsor Message WoW Brands

Pete Shau 41:51

the way, because the way I always looked at it, and I try to look at it twofold, right? Is we look at it a grand opening and we say, hey, we're gonna create this event. This is gonna be an event. We we want we nobody says, hey, man, I'm gonna have a rodeo for like two months. Nobody's gonna say Christmas is like a week long, right? It's an event. Doesn't mean that the that the situation doesn't cause for a little extension, but we say, as we talk about it, this is the event. My grandma opening is on this Saturday at this time, be there or be square. Okay. But then they pass and it gives you the opportunity to say, okay, they weren't there. And now on Monday through the next Friday, we say, hey, listen, we had such a great grand opening. We're extending the prices for the next week. Now you don't want, and my point is saying is that you don't want to go two weeks, two months earlier and go, hey, we're having this grand opening, but we're gonna have it for all week, because then I don't have an urgent sense of urgency to get there. Right. You know, that call actually kind of loses its, it's its luster. Well, I need to be there to get these prizes. And if you tell me, well, they're gonna be these prizes here, but then we're gonna give away uh some more

Stretching Momentum Past Opening Day

Pete Shau 42:46

prizes to get like, well, then I'll just wait because now it's kind of watered down. Yeah. So, you know, I always thought that the marketing approach was was the marketing approach is great to say, hey, come here at this time, be here at this time, end date, be in person, and you can win whatever we got to give away. Whether it be four tires, hey, listen, we're a tire store, we're gonna make sure that you have the right tires no matter what you got. Whether you have a you know 1985 Dotson or whether you have a 2026 Ford F-150, we're gonna take care of it all the same. Plus, we got a couple other things that we're gonna say, maybe you mention it, whatever it is. And then that Monday you say, you know what? The grand prize winner wasn't, and I'm, you know, this under legal terms, under the right terms, but either the grand prize wasn't here, or we have a second grand prize that we're giving away, whatever the case is. And now we're from Monday through Friday, you get to enjoy these, and we're gonna do a second large giveaway on Saturday morning and extend it out. And you know, because I've seen people go one way or the other, and I I hate putting all my my ducks in one row and you know, all my eggs in one basket. I've learned that you know, take the situation for what it is, but then don't be afraid to milk it. Don't be afraid to take that situation a little bit further because here's the here's the here's the overall gist of it. I need to grow my store by serving my community any way. Way possible. So if I can do that and have a super grand opening and then have a super grand opening week, and then you know what? Maybe I have a super grand opening month. It is what it is. But because I agree with you wholeheartedly, it's not the day or the event. It's how am I helping my come, my company, and my community at the same time. And if that means getting all the names that I can and introducing myself to all the people that I can and putting myself in people's lives the best way that I can, where does it go from there? Can I ride that wave? You know, because it's it's it's dual-sided. We guys, we know it's dual-sided. We want to make sure that we're helping out the community at the same time. We're here for a reason. We have we have lives that we're changing here as well. Listen, I got five guys in the back that need to, you know, they they trust in us to grow this business enough to get them to where they need to be with their family and what they have going on. So, you know, just saying that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:51

Um, when it comes to Pete for the grand opening, uh the the thought of post-event brought up in my mind, perhaps we should talk a little bit about pre-event. How how early do you start marketing the event and what's too early?

Pete Shau 45:10

Well, you you you looked up a cheat sheet because it's coming up. No, it's okay, let's do that. What I mean, what is too early? And I would say uh we all know what too late is. I mean, you can't be 48 hours out going, hey, this is my grand opening. Right. But like if if you're talking time frames and you're talking about marketing, we're talking about real marketing now. We're not just talking about talking about it and doing we're we're out there now, we're spending dollars to get this done.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Right. How far out do you go? I think one to two weeks is about the right time frame prior to to start getting the word out there. Now, again, if you've got radio available to you, you know, do you put radio out two weeks early or one week? You know, I I think that just is is is uh is up to you know the the situation. Um, flyers. If I put the flyers out, I I think a week out, that's probably just about right. My if I do a direct mail campaign and and any digital campaigns, more than a week out, that's just too early. Uh you know, it's not like people are gonna mark off that Saturday and reserve it, you know. You just gotta hope that, you know, compared to everything else that might be going on in their lives, that they may have a uh half hour to an hour to stop by the store during your

How Early To Start Promoting

SPEAKER_00 46:20

event, and they're aware of it, you know. So uh I think one to two weeks pre makes sense. And then anything you can do after the event to continue it and extend it, again, what we're really talking about as far as the call to action to the consumer, the day of the event, come in, register, you might win something. After the event, what's my promotion? Do I have let's say $20 down, get you a brand new set of tires, then that's a promotion. It's not always $20 down, get you a set of tires, but that's typically our grand opening kind of uh uh call to action as an example. $50, you get wheels and tires, right? So uh does that last forever? No, but it doesn't end on that day either. So if I'm gonna offer that for the rest of the month, come on in. You can still register to win that big screen TV. You know, we gave everything else away, but you could still win the big screen TV, something like that to keep it going and continue to collect the marketing names. And anybody that comes in, you know, you're building rapport by saying, hey, thank you for coming in and doing business with us. We still have this contest going. Would you like to register? Let me go ahead and get you into it while you're here today. Yeah, right.

Pete Shau 47:34

You know, you said something, you you said a word that that I have always loved when it comes to certain events, and that's reservation. Um, you know, I've I've I've I've seen guys do it plenty of different ways. They go out there into the world and they're marketing, and somebody says, Hey, this is this is great. I love what you're doing, but I want to take advantage of that deal. So then the guys that go around and they're thinking, this is the conundrum. Do I take it now and give them the promotion because they need it now, but they're not gonna make it to the event? Or this might give them less incentive to be at the event, or do I say, Well, I'd love to give it to you. I'm not gonna be able to do it. Peter, Peter, Peter. Right. Come on. And right, and that's what you and and my thought is you do it. You take it. You take the deal. Yeah, you take it. I'm I'm gonna reserve this for you right now. Listen, if this is what's gonna happen, yeah, let me get your name, there's no reason for ways.

SPEAKER_00 48:27

There's no reason to wait till the event.

Pete Shau 48:28

Let's make this happen. Yeah. Well, especially when you're talking about tires and wheels. So furniture is a little bit different, but especially when you're talking about tires and wheels, right? You got to get them off the market now. Like you said, it's one in five. Well, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 48:37

We know that we have to close a deal sometime 78 weeks in a row, right? To in the RTO world, right? We're building relationships. So if you give the guy the deal today or you don't

Reserving Deals And Closing Early

SPEAKER_00 48:48

he's he's just unaware of it, and you know the grand opening is next week, and you've got some special deal that would have saved this person some money. How are they going to feel next week or the week after when they find out what did happen and that they could have had a deal and you just didn't give it to them? It's just, you know, it's stinking thinking. I would give it to the customer that would help make a deal, uh, you know, and help close deals it leading up to the event by talking about the event.

Pete Shau 49:14

And that's that's exactly how I feel. I feel like if you're in a situation where you're out there marketing and you have the ability to do something early, just get it done. Because what we're doing is to get customers on the program. And if that's what's gonna, that's that's what it's gonna take, get it done. That's right. I mean, is there a question? Uh but but you know, and I understand where guys are coming from. I've never done this, I'm new at this, you know, I'm a new employee, and I don't want to, you know, I don't want to give away the the goodies ahead of time. I don't want to be like, Pete, you know, you didn't do what you're supposed to do. It's only a one-day thing, you're losing me money. And I'm like, you know, if if you have an owner, if you have a GM who's thinking that way, we've we we've got to talk to them. And I gotta say, listen, if you're gonna put all this money into promotion and and then start going, I'm gonna nitpick where I'm going to allow this to go out. I mean, listen, I I get it if we're gonna give away the farm, but this is not the golden goose. This is the customer who needs the product and they need it now. Get the service done. Yeah, you know, get the service done. Like you said, now I got 77 other weeks to worry about. I I really the 78th is, you know, the 78th one is gonna kill. Let's get that one out of the way. And now I only have 77 times to make sure that you're gonna stay on this program and you're gonna be taken care of. And that's really what I what I want to happen.

SPEAKER_00 50:20

Yeah. Well, especially for the grand opening, I I mean, we can spread this philosophy to any any day of in the life of any RTO store, and you know, it would take on a different uh meaning based on that context. But during grand opening phase, is when we talk in those terms, I would just because of building rapport, I would want to offer the deal and get the deal closed, right? Offer the promotion to get the deal closed. And and uh, you know, there's just no reason not to. I I know there's uh have not because you ask not, and and even in in our world, we want to ask how much you would like to put down today to get started. You you know, it's $20 to get you started, but you can ask, and how much would you like to put down in addition to the $20, right? Because we have a same as cash approach as part of our our marketing that uh that we utilize quite a bit. Um, but uh uh close the deal, offer the promo, build rapport, preach the program.

Pete Shau 51:29

Preach the program. I love the question, you know, what is it gonna take to earn your business today? You know, put it but put it out front. Let's just be open about it. If I didn't do a great job, tell me. Let me know. Give me that feedback. Where did I miss you at? What are you worried about? Or what are you thinking about? What about my pitch did not cover all the needs that you have? Let me know. Maybe I forgot something and I didn't tell you about a program that's absolutely gonna help you get to where you need to be. Where does a pain point? Because truthfully, especially nowadays, and when I say nowadays, I'm really talking about the last two or three years. Most people don't visit a place they don't, they're not gonna shop at. Like most of the time, they've already scoped you out online, right? They're looking online, they're going, they're not gonna go. I want to stop at that place just to stop. Now, if you have a grand opening, it might be a little bit different. You know, I can register or something like that. But at that point in time, it's also good to say, I appreciate you coming in. I know I didn't earn your business yet, but can you tell me what would it take to earn your business today? And maybe, you know, they could tell you it's taking a bucket of money, Pete. It's gonna take a bucket of money, and that's all it is. But you know, it's also it's also a way to get better at your sales approach. Maybe they just say something, you're like, man, I didn't even think about that. You tell them that you know it's okay. But the next time that somebody comes around, make sure that

Sales Questions And Pain Points

Pete Shau 52:43

you mention that. Maybe you mention that first because maybe that's the pain point of a lot of people in this area. And it's one of those things like it's super important. And you got a lot of different areas. I mean, you got you got areas that are urban, and I got rural, right? You got rural, you've got highways, you got potholes. It's a whole lot of different things that you're gonna deal with, especially in the wheel and tire. But just to make sure that you know you're covering your bases and you're talking to the people the way that they they understand wheel and tire because the regions are different, cities are different, towns are different, people are different. And so how you talk to them, it's just it's just a good way to understand what they're thinking and what's going through their mind and how to reach out to them so that they understand what it is you're offering.

SPEAKER_00 53:19

I think fundamentally what you're saying though is kind of sales 101. Tell me your problem, tell me where the pain is at. Yeah, you know, let me let me figure out how to solve that for you. It's a different way of what you're asking. Well, the what will it take for me to earn your business? Is really saying, what haven't what problem haven't I solved yet? So that we can do business together. Right. Is really what you're asking.

Pete Shau 53:44

What is this? It's the sales doctor approach. What's your pain point? Let me fix it. Where are you going? Where it's what is it hurting right now? And let me make sure I can talk about that because maybe it's the price of gas. Well, you know, I'm looking at your tires. They're running a little low, they're not on nitrogen, they're kind of wearing out. You know what? I could probably give you three or four miles back a gallon if you, you know, if we take care of you today. Oh, is that so? Well, maybe you didn't know that. You know, it's maybe it's a possibility that you really did not know that. Now, it depends on the type of vehicle. You know, if you're talking about a car that already gets 30, 35 miles a gallon, okay, maybe you get a mile back. If you you got a truck that's an F-150, you got a RAM 1500 or whatever the case is, you might actually get that back. Now, if you decide to put on the 22s or whatever it is, and a different that might be a different story. But listen, we're, you know, the information needs to be out there so that you can make the deducated decision that you need to make. Well, maybe you want to get a 22, but maybe the tread wear that you're used to having with these big truck mud tires is not the same that you would get with a different highway type tire. Oh, really? Well, yeah, it's great in the mud, but how often do you go into mud? You know what I mean? Here's the question what's going to save you more money? What's going to be best for you? How can I solve your problem today? And I think that's really the approach that I love doing on almost anything, especially grand openings, you know, to just to make sure that we find those pain points. But, you know, another thing that I wanted to talk about, because I've heard this 150 million times. And they say, Pete, location is everything. And I've heard guys tell me, okay, location plays a bit, but it's what you do with your location that matters. If I was to say, Vince, I'm having a grand opening, does a location matter as much as what I do with it? Is it that big of a deal? Do I have the ability to turn that around on a tier? And I know that you've done this a long time, so I I think I know what your answer is, but I want to hear it from you.

SPEAKER_00 55:31

Well, uh you don't have a lot of choice as far as where your grand opening event is. It's gonna be at the store. The store is where the store is at. Right. Are we gonna make the store look as good as we can? And and of course that should always be the case, but then what do you do on top of that to get noticed? Well, you could have a pirate out front waving up traffic, right? But that's the point is what can I put uh or do to the store that will get it noticed on this particular day? Uh we've got jump houses, uh, but from a marketing perspective, we use those H or yard signs to announce that we have free food, win prizes, grand opening event, whatever it might say, um, banners, uh, pennant flags.

Location And Store Curb Appeal

SPEAKER_00 56:18

Uh, I love those big uh Cloud Buster balloons. Fly that over your store. Uh, there's so many things that you can do that make the store look festive that day. Have some just regular helium balloons, you know, fly a few out front, tie them to some product, uh, and inside the store have all that going. Of course, they're already inside the store. So if from the outside, how do I get somebody who's just driving along, hasn't heard any of the marketing yet, and they look over and they say, Well, I wonder what's going on over there, right? We just want them to stop just because there's so much going on. How do you how how do you get the store to look inviting? Well, for me, again, you know, start with how does the store look? If you have any landscaping, has it been edged, the sidewalk's all clean, there's no litter, right? You start with those basic things, which are true on any day, right? But those should be done with an extra eye towards, I'm gonna have a lot of people looking at the store today for the first time. So let's make sure all that's clean, nice clean parking lot, and then add stuff in, layer in whatever you can. I've been to grand openings where we've had a live band playing at the store. I would have loved to have seen that. Two or three bays, chairs in the bays, and a band playing. So, you know, that was truly an event, right? Come out and enjoy yourself for a few hours. That was a great grand opening, but you can't always have a band playing. We don't have space, but uh, you know, anything between A and Z that you can do to get noticed and to bring some fun, you know, for people to come out and and let you preach the story, preach the plan.

Pete Shau 57:58

Is there, is there, you know, and I'm and I'm envisioning this as you're describing it, I'm envisioning this in my head, right? And I've I've spent many of an hour on the side of the road pretending to be a sign jockey, which I am not. I am not a good sign jockey, but I've tried. But have you ever come across a situation where you thought, this was too much? This was like like there's there's too many balloons, there's too much going on, and almost seems too busy for the situation. Is that a possibility? No.

SPEAKER_00 58:33

So the more the merrier. I I would say that that sure, the more the merrier. It there's a probably a Peter principle where your return on the certain on those investment dollars, you know, you can exceed that. But you know, you never know. Uh as I mentioned earlier, Pete, the the the synergistic effect of having a lot of different bases covered. So which ones do you cut out? If you can cover all your bases, I would cover all the bases, and maybe that that would be, I wouldn't go too deep in one area only. Like in in the case of having a band. It would be great to have a band, but

Can A Grand Opening Be Too Much

SPEAKER_00 59:12

are you gonna omit certain marketing to afford the band? Yeah then then you went too deep, right? Because then now there's nobody here to listen to the band, right? Nobody knew that you're gonna have a band. So so there's there has to be some sensibility about what you're spending on your grand opening. I think you can overspend on radio uh by by doing too much or relying too heavily solely on that one medium. Uh so you know, have it spread out appropriately so that you can get done what needs to be done is is I think the the the nice balance and the recipe for a good grand opening.

Pete Shau 59:51

Okay. Well, coming into the end, what would you say as the Vince of Old and the Vince of New, the pirate, all the way to what you've seen literally a few days ago? What are some things that you would say, Pete, if I had a grand opening today, this is what I would do. The best way to market my dollars, the best way to have it, but this is this is the way Vince would have it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:15

Well, um, I just came from a grand opening that we tried uh a different set of hours. Um, had never done that before. We did a a little bit extended into the evening. Um, the store closed at four, but they they kept the grand opening from four to six. That uh was not as well attended as anybody had hoped that it would be. So I think the takeaway from that is that maybe that particular hour on a Saturday or that's that time day part, as they call it, uh, is is just tough to get it's before dinner, it's after most people might be doing whatever they might have been doing doing on that Saturday afternoon. Uh uh typically I find that the grand openings that range from 10 till 2, 3, 4 o'clock

Vince’s Best Practices And Final Tips

SPEAKER_00 1:01:05

uh are that's the the the the sweet spot of being able to attract. Come by the store for half an hour, you know? Right? Just somewhere in that slice of day, come by the store. Um, so I I would try to have it during the right hours of the day that makes sense. Also, try to be cognizant of any other activities or holidays uh that you're not gonna have to compete with. Um, so don't come to Tampa and have a grand opening on Gasparilla Day. Don't guys don't do that.

Pete Shau 1:01:38

You don't nobody's showing up. Your team might not show up. Don't do that.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:42

They'll be out there enjoying. Yeah. So so be sensible in that regard. And uh the other things that, you know, uh again, I I can't say it often enough. And I apologize if I have. I I do uh as much marketing as I can. Now, PPC isn't necessarily something that would generate uh activity at a grand opening event, but I I just want to include that in the in the alphabet soup of marketing with your SEO and your the the the uh the OTT for video and and any Facebook marketing that you can put out there, geofence the areas that make sense for your store. Um, have good coverage, try to get some interaction, maybe some RSVP kind of activity where you might start pre uh uh qualifying candidates for them being a customer. Um and um, you know, have something that makes sense. Again, I mentioned the food truck. It could be a food vendor, a restaurant, something that's close by that you can co-market with. Um, for us, auto part stores seem to make a lot of sense for us to co-brand or co-market the grand opening event with them. Um, but the food trucks can bring their own activity. A restaurant can do the same if they have a web page, right, where you can spread out the grand opening marketing. Um radio stations and having the remote are not like they used to be way back in the day, uh, but they are still effective. So I've seen grand openings where the radio stations can offer their own prizes and and again pull folks to the store that might not otherwise have stopped, and then you have an opportunity to talk to those people. So uh get as much as that out there at the right time of day, get the word out. And I think the most effective form that often gets overlooked is I mentioned flyering businesses in the area that attract the same type of customers. And you're and now uh if the team is doing it, and I would try to get the manager to also be involved in this, if not the franchise owner himself, to actually go out and say, I just opened a business. Or the manager might say, I just opened a store and I'm the manager of that store and I'm trying to drum up business, and I could really appreciate your help. And in maybe just passing these flyers out. Anybody that needs tires, we have this great deal. Now, what am I doing? I'm preaching the plan, right? I'm telling this business owner how my plan works, and I got this great event going on that I just want to say hello to people.

Pete Shau 1:04:22

Yeah right?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:23

No harm, no fun. That is really uh one of the most successful ways to get people to show up. Uh, and and you know, you start getting um influencers out there that might not even be customers yet, that are just gonna say, hey, that guy was pretty nice, and you know, I've seen their marketing. All of that works together. So that that would be my plan to have a great grand opening event and lean on the R marketing team as much as possible.

Pete Shau 1:04:54

There you go. I don't know if you guys are gonna have the RR marketing team, but this is how you can have a great event at a grand opening. Vince, thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you. Listen, I just great timing and everything that that's been going on because we were opening stores left and right. RR is really, really growing. But on top of that, I loved your explanations. You got a lot going on. There's a lot that you know and understand about grand openings. Listen, if you guys want to reach out to Vince and ask him, hey, Vince, I might not be in RR, but this is what I'm doing. You can you're more than welcome to ask if you're at an RR, you're gonna get them anyways. But feel free to hit me up at Pete at the RTOShow Podcast.com. Again, go to the website that is the RTO Show Podcast.com. Get some shirts, get some swag. Hey, anything, anything that you want to do to look like you're one of the crew, we appreciate it. And remember to subscribe to the newsletter. You can see us everywhere that you are on social media. Vince, again, I appreciate it. I appreciate you being on. Thank you so much for doing this. And I'm gonna tell you guys as always get your collections low to get your sales high. Have a great one.