Business Strategies Learned At A Polish Gas Station
August 12th, 2009
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by BobTheTeacher · Filed Under: Business Building · Travel Videos
Every time I visit Poland, I get to stop by a specific gas station.
This is no ordinary gas station, as it’s put the mark in marketing better than any other gas station I’ve ever seen anywhere I’ve been.
So during my most recent trip, I decided to share the big ideas that make this such a big hit in Poland, and (I have to assume) a massively profitable business for the owner(s).
Click the HD button to watch in High Definition – and try to
shield your eyes around 1:56 into the video…
The big takeaways here of course are that you’ll be well served to provide your existing customers with more opportunities to buy from you.
Now, obviously people don’t want to be sold a bunch of crap. So you have to listen to what they want, predict what they will want in the future, and deliver additional solutions to problems that need addressed.
You don’t need to do this all at once. That’s a mistake too many people make. When they try to put all the pieces together at one time, they wind up with a big, confusing mess.
Instead, you grow your empire, keeping your eyes and ears open for the next direction of your evolution. This way, you can have a very profitable business with a small number of customers.
I’d love to hear your comments below!
Bob Jenkins
p.s. The CANPOL gas station I showcase in the video is on highway 22 between Człuchów and Jaromierz. If you ever stop by, take a picture and remember to feed the llamas!
p.p.s. Want to see more of CANPOL? Here’s a more “official” video by a Polish video production firm.
9 Responses to “Business Strategies Learned At A Polish Gas Station”
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| Bob Jenkins is an internet business marketing teacher, with ten years experience teaching teenagers and teachers. He is the creator of several online training courses that teach you how to get better customers and increase your profits. Specializing in social networking strategies for business and creating information products from teleseminars, Bob can help you use internet marketing tools and strategies to promote your business online. |
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Wow… who would have ever guessed that a petting zoo and gas station would be complimentary products ;)
One stop shops have been adding convenience to our lives. I don’t have time to drive all across town to get the things that I need for the week. If I can go to one location to get it all, you bet that’s where I’m going to go.
Funny thing is, when you go to a place like this, you end up buying stuff that you never planned on getting ;)
The main benefit of this gas station is the ‘Experience’ factor. It gets people saying ‘wow’ and gets them coming back for more.
You don’t have to be selling everything under the sun to your customers but you should always have a variety of complimentary products for them to chose from.
Thanks for another great ‘real life’ video lesson Bob. You Rock!
Scott Tousignant
Right on, Scott!
What’s even better, and that I forgot to mention on the video, is how he’s monetized the petting zoo.
It’s free, but you can get a handful of llama food from a gumball machine for 2 zloty (about 68 cents). So of course, all the kids want to feed the llama, and I bet he makes a tidy profit on this technique!
Bob
Hi Bob
It is interesting gas station plus market in Poland. Just wondering, some experts say that you should select very narrow selection of products and be a top expert on that field and leave everything else. Just consentrate on specific items. Now your gas station is taking more and more products to serve customers. Is it for being able to serve customers better?
Maybe next time you come to Europe, you will be heading northern Europe and to Finland and test the real Finnish sauna?
Thanks for sharing this Bob! A great lesson. The one thing that came to mind as I watched…I guess this would compare to the South of the Border enterprise on I95 at the NC/SC line. Same concept but I like the Polish idea even better ;-)
@Melissa – I thought of the South of the Border example, too (I live 40 minutes from there), but the comparison is not good because SOTB is just plain crap, and there’s hardly anybody ever there anymore. CANPOL is pretty crowded most of the time, and the food is quite good.
@Heikki – you should watch your diversification so you don’t overextend and deal with things that aren’t related. But in this example, he’s dealing with a specific market – traveling families.
Bob,
I understand what you are getting at. However, a gasoline station is a business that provides a serice (gasoline) to the area, although I sincerely doubt it is the only gasoline station in the area. ==>
Wall Drug is in South Dakota, USA. They became famous by offering ‘free ice water’ to travelers. You can see their signs all throughour South Dakota noting the number of miles to Wall Drug!
Additionally, I believe it was Earl Nightingale who described s service station owner in Arizona (?) who grew from simply offering gasoline, to offering ice cream, soda, a fine line of cocolates, etc. It seems that the owner of the service station located between Człuchów and Jaromierz, has applied this lesson! Great job, even if her never heard of Mr. Nightingale!
Thank you.
Hi Bob,
Thanks for this video. I have to visit this gas station. I’ve never heard about it before. Besides my kids love animals and this zoo seems perfect for them:)
Justyna (from Poland)
Thanks for the great reminder, Bob and interesting illustration! I have a membership site and always wonder what to include with the site and what should be an upsell. I’ve been seeing many creative examples that I’ll have to try. It is very true though – - that it’s easy to keep trying to attract new clients as opposed to developing solutions and offering more products to current clients.
I look forward to hearing more.
Julie Bartkus
An interesting lesson presented from a Polish Gas Station of all places. Good to see some creative thinking at work. May even get over there at some point myself on my travels!!