Public Relations Today

Local Businesses in My Own Hometown
Respond To the Economic Downturn

Communications and price points head the list with customers

     The financial crisis that captured headlines in late September has reached global proportions, and the news seems worse each day about how it is affecting all aspects of American life.  Most of us, however, relate to bad news on a very local level. How is the economic downturn affecting our businesses in our own areas?

     This report discovers that local business owners in my own hometown of
Yorktown Heights, NY, are responding to the radically different financial climate in a steady-handed and practical manner to market themselves, both in traditional and unexpected ways.

     Interviews this week with owners of a variety of business profiles reflect some creative, yet practical, marketing strategies to weather the storm for themselves. Their new promotional activities suggest something more than a sense of survival, however;  they also demonstrate a genuine concern for their loyal customers, offering them new and helpful options during tough times.

     Here are a few examples.

Ron Guarino, Autobahn Car Repairs

    With Ron Guarino, owner of Autobahn Car Repairs in Yorktown Heights, business has always been a matter of communicating regularly with customers, in good times and now in bad.  He was a leader in the auto repair business in utilizing a monthly email newsletter, researched to give sound advice to his customers, and at the same time, offer discount coupons to build business. As a side note, Ron says, “Recently I’ve found that two of my competitors in the area are plagiarizing my researched material for their customers’ email programs, so if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I’m very flattered. It shows that I must be doing something right!”

    In addition to offering discount coupons in his emails, Ron reports that he works with customers who can’t afford “the whole ball of wax” for their car repair needs. “We point out those repairs that really must be done and suggest those that might be done at a later time, when customers can better afford it,” he says. 

    Another part of customer service which he initiated before the downturn, but seems particularly appreciated now, is his contacting each customer by phone after service to ask for feedback on their work.  “People like knowing that we care about them, even after we’ve done the job.”

David Shaken, The Heights Bistro and Cafe

     David Shaken of the Heights Bistro & Cafe in Yorktown Heights has been utilizing his email list to make it easier for his regular customers to enjoy an affordable night out.

    “My wife Melissa came up with the idea of sending a ‘Friends and Family’ coupon by email to our loyal customers, suggesting that they print out the coupon to receive a 10 percent discount.” David reports that there were no restrictions to the offer and that coupons could be printed and used as frequently as customers wanted. “Just on that one promotion, we had more than 150 redemptions,” he said.

   “Since I opened more than three years ago, I’ve learned that I must give customers what they want, not what I want, and that has never been truer than now when they want a relaxing night out that they can afford.”  To support the lesson learned here, David says that he has extended his “early bird” dinners from an early time block, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm, to the entire evening from Sunday to Thursday evenings.  Another incentive David uses to attract wine lovers is a 50 percent discount on any wine purchased on Wednesday nights.

 “So I guess we do it all to make it easier for people to enjoy a nice dinner they can afford,” he concludes.

Ellen Koelsch, Club Fit

     Ellen Koelsch, Marketing Director at Club Fit, located in Jefferson Valley and Briarcliff, says that the club has not slashed the cost of membership dues, “but we are providing outreach to our members with grass roots efforts to use the club more and to enjoy new benefits.

    “For instance, right now, we’re promoting a ‘Merry Maintenance,’ program in which we weigh members before the holidays and after. All those who either lose or maintain their weight doing the holidays receive a reward, a ‘cute’ gift.”

   Koelsch says that a modification to their member services is to become more flexible with putting memberships “on hold” when needed. “Formerly, we would offer a hiatus only for a medical or needed travel situation,” she explains.  “Now we find that someone might have taken a second job and doesn’t have the time to come for a while, so we’ll suspend membership. We’ll suspend it now for any reason if a member requests it.  At the same time, we feel that exercise helps in more volatile times, if nothing more than to get a better night’s sleep.”

Alan Drogy, Colonial Terrace Catering

     Alan Drogy, owner of Colonial Terrace Catering in Cortlandt, has taken a different route in sustaining good business in view of hard times, one that is geographic in nature.  “We have re-directed our outreach to communities south of us, where they are paying 40 percent more for the same product and service,” he says. 

     “For years, there was a ‘great divide’ along Routes 287 and 119, concerning what people were willing to pay for a catered event,” he continued. “Now we reach out to consumers in communities like Armonk and Chappaqua, telling them that they can get equal or better value and service for 40 percent less by driving 20 minutes north.”

      Alan has also changed the direction of his selling pitch. “Before the economic downturn, we ‘sold’ to the bride;  now, we sell to the parents who have to pay for the wedding.  And, rather than waiting to the end of our pitch to present the price, we start out with how much it will cost, to relieve the anxiety upfront. Then, we tell them what they get for that price.”

     To court the communities south of Cortlandt, Alan uses his own version of guerilla marketing. Rather than advertising in traditional venues, he takes ads in church and synagogue bulletins. “That’s all we’ve needed to do to get our message out, and it’s working,” he reports.

Lance Cerutti, Suburban Wines and Liquors

  When asked if  he’s changed his ways of doing business in light of the financial crisis, Lance Cerutti of Suburban Wines and Liquors in Yorktown Heights responds with a resounding “Yes!”

    “We’ve adjusted our sites to more value-oriented products because we know that people are spending less money,” he says.  “With the weaker dollar, we found that the wines we had been buying were getting more and more expensive, so we stopped selling many things that weren’t offering the value we felt customers should get for the money.

     “Instead, we work harder to identify wines that offer the same, if not better, value at a lesser price. The average wine we’re now promoting probably costs 15 to 20 percent less than those we offered before the downturn.

    “I want my customer to go home, enjoy a bottle of wine and say, ‘Gee, did I pay just $10.00 for that?’”

     As a public relations and marketing consultant, this reporter’s own response to changing times is to offer a “cafeteria” style format to prospective clients, where they can pick and choose those marketing services for which they require outside expertise, and perform many promotional functions in-house more concerned with “staging” than ever before.
 

    Whoever first opined that “desperate times require desperate measures” (some scholars steadfastly insist it was Hamlet) may not have considered that desperate times might also be addressed with creativity, ingenuity and flexibility.  Local business owners have obviously figured that out on their own.