Swimming against the stream

A local Pittsburgh auto dealer has decided to skip the current recession. At a recent Media Association of Pittsburgh meeting Mr. Jim Shorkey explained how he has consistently broken sales records for the past two years. When the auto industry started to slow down he ramped up his advertising. At the meeting he said that when he was told that US auto sales fell to 17 million, he said "Great, I want my share of that 17 mill!" As the local market began to shrink, he almost doubled his budget. By increasing his share, he maintained his profitability. At the same time he enhanced his sales compensation plan "because closing is harder in a tough market." When KIA USA told him that the Pittsburgh market couldn't produce the volume to support a large advertising investment, he decided it could. After 3 months he had doubled his sales and within a year he had the highest sales per capita of any dealer in the nation. Mr. Shorkey spends about 70% of his budget in print with the remainder divided between radio and TV. By refusing to buy into the economic hysteria spread by the national media and following a sound business strategy, Mr. Shorkey has proven the wisdom of advertising when times are tight.

Have a great Thanksgiving Day. Keep smiling, keep selling.

Thanks Jim Busch