Pretend you’re a customer, a prospect, or a dreamer.

Now, walk into Michael Harness’ M&H Suzuki Center in Stateville, North Carolina, and turn right – like most customers probably do.

Your sightline flicks from the well-laced vehicles – all with tags precisely placed on the right handlebars for shopper convenience – slightly upwards, and you see precisely hung promotional banners. You, Joe Customer, want to grab them and put them in your shopping cart.

Overcoming his low 9-foot ceiling handicap, Hartness has a great ceiling-use strategy. All too simple, but oh-so-effective: He uses a down-and-dirty, factory-supplied trio of large posters. The store’s most-prominently featured motorcycle rides slightly in front of the other two. It faces the street outside, and the second-and third- place motorcycles appear to be chasing the leader of this staged race.

The three are strategically placed so that when you enter the shop and turn to the right, these posters, framed by the neon lights on the far wall, will catch your attention…and entice you to make a purchase.

I guarantee you Hartness stood very still for a few minutes to orchestrate this specific visual effect. He concentrated on what his prospective customers would see. And it works.

The pseudo-race, combined with the attractive setting of on-floor bikes, checkered-flag tile and seasonal promotional signs, are designed to lead you directly toward the most profitable items in this store.

From floor to ceiling, it’s great in-store theater. It’s entertaining! It’s eye-catching!

Are you using your ceiling to draw customers to the areas where you want them to spend money? You can’t sell from ceilings, but you can certainly motivate customer from on-high.

The bottom line is that customers who are provided with incentives to look up, to take a storewide gander because of visually interesting displays, spend.

After an imaginary journey through M&H’s layout, take the same walk as a customer through your own dealership to see if your displays lead your eye to the area of your store where you want your customers to spend. If this line-of-sight marketing opportunity isn’t visible, remember Hartness’ cost-effective strategies, and take advantage of the same resources around your store. Then, when you are back to being Mr. or Ms. Dealer, see if you notice a difference…it should shine clear through to your bottom line.

Editor’s Note: Stephen J. Alexander is president of Automotive In-Store Marketing, Inc., and has been putting merchandise planograms and stores together for more than 15 years. He can be reached by writing to 1278 Sand Castle Road, Sanibel Island, FL 33957; phone (239) 395-9203. You can also reach him via his website (www.autointore.com) or by E-mailing him at salexander@autoinstore.com. Alexander will present a free in-store merchandising seminar on October 31 at the Sands as part of Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week in Las Vegas. During the expo, you can find Alexander at Booth 4013 (Aftermarket Business magazine) at the Sands

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:"Reprinted with permission from Dealernews, October, 2000, page 35. Copyright by Advanstar Communications, Inc. Advanstar Communications, Inc. retains all rights to this material." To subscribe to Dealernews, call 1-218-723-9477 or email fulfill@superfill.com.