Product
Godfrey Sales TipSheet

Objective
Godfrey Marine, an Elkhart, Indiana-based manufacturer of pontoon and deck boats, required a publication to communicate product information and creative sales tips to its dealers.

Method
Bentley-Hall produced a bi-monthly, four-page, glossy magazine—The Sales TipSheet—mailed to 600 Godfrey Marine dealerships nationwide. For this corporate-to-dealer communications project, Bentley-Hall traveled to Godfrey’s headquarters in Elkhart, Indiana for a face-to-face meeting to discuss needs and strategy. The Sales TipSheet became a turnkey project for which Bentley-Hall, Inc. wrote original copy on creative selling and contacted dealerships to develop articles for an “idea exchange,” communicating which Godfrey promotions work the best. The Sales TipSheet was designed to be as useful to Godfrey Marine dealers as possible. The copy was short and snappy, written to be “cut and posted” or to be used for talking points at sales meetings. In addition, sidebars presented quick-reference product details and the “idea exchange” articles were written to encourage dealers to take up “best practices.”

Results
• Creative content presented sales tips in a short, easy-to-read format.

• From The Sales TipSheet, the relationship with Godfrey grew to include the production of other creative selling materials, including books and videos.

• Coordinated with Godfrey dealerships to publish materials for further “idea exchanges.”

• As part of expanded service for client, Bentley-Hall produced five sales training videos: “Selling Boats and Motors in the Real World,” “Avoiding the Dangers of Discounting,” “Closing Made Easy,” “Maintaining Your Customer’s Interest,” and “Easy Ways to Handle Stalls and Objections.”

• Bentley-Hall undertook publishing of customized sales training books by Bob Popyk, including “The Secrets to Selling at Boat Shows” and “Creative Promotional Ideas to Build Your Marine Business.”

• Books, videos, and other training materials were packaged into a customized Sales Toolkit, distributed at Godfrey’s Annual Sales Meetings.