One 30-second spot a day, Monday-Friday, on “The Break with Mitch” on station 96.9. Retail value weekly: $300.
Taylor estimates the total monthly value at $2,580 and the total yearly value at $30,960.
$19.99 Special Rate
Jack Vercollone
VERC Rentals
Plymouth, Mass.
Vercollone instituted a special rate that he advertises on the radio as well as on street sign marquees, A-frame signs and windshield signs:
“As low as $19.99 a day.
Taxes, fees and mileage charges may apply.”
What the special entails:
Toyota Corolla:
$19.99 with 40 miles free*
$29.99 with 100 miles free
$39.99 with 200 miles free
Cargo vans and pickup trucks:
$19.99 with 0 miles free*
$39.99 with 100 miles free
*Mileage charge: $.49 per mile.
“The special is designed to stimulate business, and it does that well,” says Vercollone. “It makes the phone ring, it increases walk-ins and it provides for upgrade opportunities, as less than 10 percent of the Corollas are out at the lowest $19.99 rate.”
In analyzing same store sales for a three-and-a-half month period before and after the program, VERC upped its total Corolla units from 149 to 178, while the number of Corolla rentals increased from 1,575 to 1,800. Revenue per unit increased from $790 to $799, while total revenue on the Corollas increased from $417,000 to $498,000.
Vercollone estimates the company gained 100 upgraded rentals at $29.99 per day that were most likely customers who needed the extra miles.
FSO100 – 100 Mile Fuel Service Option
Michael Jones
National Car Rental licensee
Bentonville, Ark.
“What’s the one thing every customer must buy when renting a vehicle? “Fuel,” says Jones, who gives his customers a fill option based on miles.
The FSO100 plan—presented as an assumptive sale at the counter—gives customers the convenience of not filling the tank, at a price of $9.95, if the customer drives less than 100 miles. If the customer drives more than 100 miles and they don’t fill up, they’re charged the normal refuel rate of $2.99 per gallon based on the rented vehicle’s miles per gallon. If the customer fills the tank, then the charge is removed.
Jones calculates that 70 percent of his customers drive less than 100 miles per rental.
Jones implemented the program in December 2008. In a three-month period he sold 451 FSO100 options, which generated additional revenue of $4,487.45.