I had an epiphany when I dropped my shoes off at George’s Shoe & Skate Service in St. Paul yesterday. Okay, their primary business is repairing ice skates (I mean this is Minnesota). But they do a great job cleaning and polishing shoes and boots and they’re dirt cheap. (And they’ve been around for 100 years and are still a family-owned business.)

Do I sound like a commercial for them? Perhaps. But a well run business deserves our support and lousy run businesses deserve what they get. Bankruptcy.

They told me to pick up my shoes on Tuesday.

When I walked out, I noticed that Tom’s Tailors is right next door. I’ve been carrying my dress coat around in the back seat of my car for weeks trying to find someone who could fix it. I’ve lost two buttons off the front of it and I couldn’t find buttons to match them anywhere.

And the alteration shop I went to first said they didn’t have any buttons to match and they’d have to charge me to go to a fabric store and find matching buttons. Well, I can assure you. I’ve been to several stores and no one has buttons that exactly match. Not too surprising since it was a $500 Italian designer coat.

Anyway, I dropped into the store and met the tailor. Somehow, he exactly matched my impression of what a tailor should look like. He was very tall, very slender, and very proper. Yes, this gentleman was a tailor.

So I told him my dilemma and showed him my coat. He went in back and brought out a button that was very close to my buttons. He didn’t think buttons to match exactly could be found. I asked him how much to replace all the buttons. He told me $25. I asked him when I should pick the coat up. He told me Tuesday.

That’s when I had my epiphany.

These two shops are a match made in heaven. At least from a marketing standpoint. The same people pay for shoe repair and polishing and clothing repair and alterations.

If they did joint promotions, they could split the cost of all their advertising. What’s more, each of them must have a mailing list they promote to and each of them definitely has a customer list. Can you say joint mailings to each other’s lists? 

How about running specials in each other’s shop?

“Getting your shoes cleaned or repaired? Here’s a 25% off coupon on your next alteration or repair at Tom’s Tailor.”

“Getting alterations or clothing repair? Here’s a 25% off coupon on your next shoe polishing or shoe repair at Georges.”

It appears Tom doesn’t have a website (a major marketing faux pas today) but George’s certainly does. Why not start a joint online newsletter? Both of these shops are experts on apparel care and maintenance. They could take turns writing articles for the newsletter and send it out monthly to stay in front of customer’s thoughts.

It can be paper or email. I recommend email because they only cost a few dollars to email out. Printing is expensive and so is snail mail.

Every time a customer walks into either shop to pick up their items and they’re in a good mood because their clothing or shoes look great, ask them if they’d like to get the newsletter. Chock full of clothing and shoe care advice to keep clothes looking great and lasting longer. Who’s going to say no? These are people who spend money to keep clothes looking good and lasting longer.

Anyway, the mind boggles at all the opportunities to increase their business while cutting their marketing costs. And there are tons of other businesses that are a great matchup.

• Chiropractors, massage therapists, accupuncturists, homeopathy.
• Landscape designers, interior decorators, remodelors, realtors, furniture retailers, lighting stores.
• Financial advisors, estate planners, CPAs, investment firms.
• Florists, gift shops, caterers, candy stores, restaurants, card shops
• Hotels, limosene service, cleaners

I’m sure you can think of businesses related to your field that are complimentary. Contact one you feel comfortable with start talking joint promotions. And if you’re ambitious, don’t stop with one. Contact one of each type of complimentary business you can think of and start cutting your marketing costs and grabbing a bunch of new customers!

Originally posted 2009-02-28 19:24:40. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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