The Long Way 'Round

Don't worry about spending $12.00 to see Fast & Furious 6 in theaters for auto product inspiration. We checked with a few auto products suppliers and apparently the movie offers no practical advice for selling automotive products. However, it is good for wasting an afternoon wondering what would happen if The Rock and Vin Diesel morphed into a muscled-up super-villain and tried to take out Tony Stark. (Not that we write fan fiction about that or anything.) Back to the automotive market: Sell to it using the advice below. Now, excuse us while we get back to the highway, high-speed fight scene between Rock-Diesel and Iron Man.

GO OUT OF YOUR WAY
The automotive market includes more than car dealerships and auto part manufacturers. Auto insurance providers, schools and anyone with customers or employees who drive (i.e., everyone) make the list as well. In fact, you may find more business outside of typical automotive clients. "If I were to look over our sales history for the past five years, I am confident that we would have sold more auto kits to non-automotive companies than companies in the auto sales or auto insurance industries," said Paul Dubois, president of Ready 4 Kits, Keene, N.H.

Ryan Halvorsen, general manager of Quinn Flags, Hanover, Pa., offered specific examples. "We have done a lot of campaigns for NFL games, MLB, NASCAR, NBA, MLS and even America's Cup Sailing," he said. He added that schools, booster clubs and retailers have use for car flags as well to advertise events and fundraisers.

MAKE A PIT STOP
Still, standard auto dealerships and trucking companies are a large part of automotive and safety product sales. Dubois listed trucking companies, insurance companies and auto manufacturers as repeat customers for auto products. "Another large segment of the market is dealerships which give away large quantities of promotional items for events as well as customer appreciation," he added. Halvorsen agreed about car dealerships. "Car dealerships and rental car dealerships are a large portion of this market," he said.