Convenience: More than location

The top three factors in getting rich on real estate are: location, location, location. The same may be true of your store or business. Convenience can be a huge incentive to customers. But when I say convenience, I’m not just talking about location. Convenience may be ample free parking within a few feet of your door, or easy freeway access, or a well-thought-out store design so your customers can get in and out quickly, or a store policy of always helping customers load merchandise into their cars, or a service policy of always delivering on time. 

If you do have a convenient, available location with great parking and a bright and cheerful ambience, easy access, an easy store layout, or any number of conveniences that customers find attractive, include this information in your advertising message. Convenience is also a very simple and effective way to differentiate your store from other, less-convenient, less-attractive stores. 

For example, when I need hardware items, I patronize a small local store, instead of one of those big discount warehouses, because of the convenience factor. The store is small (it would fit into one corner of one of the large chain stores, and you’d never even know it was there) so I can quickly find what I need and be on my way. It also has a large parking lot right outside its back door. I know I could save a lot of money if I went to the chain stores, but I’m willing to pay for the convenience of the mom-and-pop. 

If I were the owner of this small hardware store, I’d advertise with messages such as, “Park within 20 feet of our door. You may pay a few pennies more for nails, but think of the money you’ll save on shoe leather!” Or, “Is saving a nickel on nails worth getting hammered in a parking lot?” Or, “Drive for miles, search three acres for a parking place, get lost in a huge labyrinth, save 50 cents. Can we talk?” 

Similarly, if I owned a service business, such as a car and limo service, I’d advertise with a message such as, “Don’t stress about getting to the airport on time — call us instead! We’ll pick you up on time and get you to where you’re going, in the comfort of one of our luxury cars, driven by our safe and professional drivers.”