|
Click here to read how the BootCamp is changing the business community in Burkburnett, Texas (our most recent Send 6+1 Group)
After a group of Laramie, Wyoming businesses attended Jon's 2006 BootCamp in Longmont, Colorado, they received the following media coverage:
Past Accomplishments:
Economic Development Applies Jon's Teachings
Chamber Director, Business Owners Gain New Tools at Destination Business BootCamp
Logansport, Indiana Businesses Attend BootCamp With Help of USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant
Schallert's Destination Methods Lead to 68% Attendance Increase
Jon Schallert Chosen for Elmar Window Fashions Reinventing Retail Workshops
City Reaps Benefit of Destination BootCamp
www.batesvilleIN.com
132 S. Main Street Batesville, Indiana 47006
Phone (812) 934-3101 Fax (812) 932-0202 E-mail: commerce@nalu.net
Mr. Jon Schallert
The Schallert Group
Post Office Box 1090
Sorrento, FL 32776
Dear Jon,
I want to thank you for the incredible learning experience you created for all of us at your
last Destination Business BootCamp. As Batesville's Chamber Director, I wanted to
attend the BootCamp with the eight owners we sent, and I am so glad I did. Not only do
our businesses now have new tools to market and differentiate their businesses, but I have
gained an entire new set of skills to market my Chamber. By attending the BootCamp
with these owners, I've also gained new tools to effectively help my Chamber members.
Tools I never learned at any chamber of commerce training.
When you first came to Batesville last year and conducted your "Destination" seminar, I
knew that your message had hit a chord with our business owners. Many of them
immediately accepted your philosophy that they were responsible for making this city a
destination, and they started to act on your idea that they couldn't wait for some "Big
Brother" to change Batesville into the business environment they hoped for. When
several owners approached me about the idea of collectively attending your BootCamp in
Orlando, I knew something special could happen. With your "Send 6" promotion, we
were able to send eight owners, and now, we are looking forward to your second visit to
Batesville, where you can speak to our whole community.
If I hadn't attended the BootCamp myself, I wouldn't have believed it could happen, but
it has. Our owners are collectively making changes to their businesses, and leading their
fellow business owners by example. If any other city wants to hear what has happened to
our group, just have them call me. I'm your strongest supporter.
Thank you again.
Very truly yours,
Lydia S. Woodward
Executive Director
2004 Gold Corporate Sponsors
Batesville Kroger Cricket Ridge Country Club EI8HT LEGS Web Management
Enhanced Telecommunications Fifth Third Bank Tri-County Insurance Tudor Square Realty
Jon Schallert
The Schallert Group
P.O. Box 1090
Sorrento, Florida 32776
Dear Jon,
Our business owners are raving about their experience at your
Destination BootCamp! As you know, we sent six owners to Orlando for
the two day workshop, and they have returned so pumped up and ready to
apply what they've learned. Basically, Jon, they tell us that your
BootCamp was the best business improvement session they have ever
attended, and you are their personal Marketing Guru! Need I say more?
Let me tell you what happened this morning: We are now having weekly
follow-up meetings with the group, and we feared that it might be
difficult to get each of the owners to share their experiences about
what they learned, and what they are applying. It ended up being quite
the opposite; they shared ideas and talked and talked until we had to
cut them off! We've never had our merchants this motivated and
empowered to improve their businesses.
We are looking forward to your upcoming visit to our City, so you can
see all the changes that these six owners are making to their
businesses, and how their enthusiasm and knowledge is impacting our
entire community. Thank you again for creating the BootCamp. Our City
is directly reaping the benefits of having sent our business owners to
you for this training.
Sincerely,
Amy Beechy
Small Business Development Manager
Area Five Agency
1801 Smith Street * Logansport, IN 46947 * 574-722-4451
Jon Schallert
President, The Schallert Group, Inc.
P. O. Box 1090
Sorrento, FL 32776
Dear Jon,
I want to sincerely thank you for your efforts in creating our Annual Marketing Plan and your Assessment of our Kellogg’s Cereal City operations. Your company has focused us in a new direction that is already showing huge results.
What an exciting last five months it’s been! In this short time, we have made so many changes that allow us to be so much more than just a Michigan attraction. We are truly becoming a national destination attraction with the new strategies you have given us. We are marketing ourselves differently, altering our past discount-advertising focus, and implementing your techniques to generate traffic, revenue, and sales in our entire operations. Your creative thinking and new direction has given me and the entire staff renewed energy and enthusiasm. What a difference from the other consulting firms that we’ve worked with!
Best of all, the Marketing Plan your company created is already in motion and positively impacting us. We just compared the traffic from this year’s Cereal Fest activities, compared to last year’s traffic. By following your Marketing Plan, we showed a 68% increase in paid, non-discounted attendance, primarily from locations outside of our immediate marketplace. As you know, our advertising expenditures have actually decreased this year, yet our data from this weekend shows double-digit visitor increases in twelve (12) nearby states! Needless to say, my Board of Directors is extremely pleased with the investment they made with your company.
Please feel free to give my name to any company who inquires about hiring your firm, and who wants to know first-hand how your Destination methods work. Thank you again for everything you’ve done.
Sincerely,
Beth Turner
Executive Director
Kellogg’s Cereal City USA
PHILADELPHIA, Pa., December, 2003 / Destination business consultant Jon Schallert has been selected to present his business strategy workshop "Reinventing Retail" to the entire Elmar Window Fashions' retail network. Schallert will present his workshop in ten locations across the United States in 2004 as part of Elmar's three-day Leading Edge Training Conferences, designed for retail professionals in the window covering industry.
Elmar Window Fashions, located in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest Hunter Douglas fabricators in the country. According Senior Manager of Customer Education, Todd Garretson, "Elmar has partnered with Jon Schallert so our network can utilize his powerful strategies to elevate their businesses to a greater level of success."
"We chose Schallert and his dynamic Reinventing Retail workshop over conventional speakers because Jon focuses on actual tactics and how-to information that retailers can easily implement into their businesses," said Garretson.
Schallert is known for teaching independent business owners how to turn their businesses into consumer "destinations" that are capable of drawing customers from other cities, past more dominant competitors. According to Schallert, becoming a consumer destination gives independent retailers an advantage when competing with superstores.
"Most retail businesses that close today would not fail if they focused on becoming consumer destinations," says Schallert. "It's an oversimplification to say that all small Mom and Pop businesses are doomed because of superstores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot."
To reach more independent business owners, twice a year Schallert conducts his two-day "Destination Business BootCamp" in Orlando, Florida, where he teaches owners his 14-step process by which a business can remake itself into a consumer destination.
"Despite today's lackluster economy and competitive challenges, independent businesses can become extremely profitable if they create a compelling offering that it is repeatedly visited by consumers," says Schallert.
According to Garretson, "Our mission is to help every one of our retail professionals to realize their full potential and dreams in business. With Jon's help, we hope to turn good retailers into great retailers," said Garretson.
Jon Schallert is the President of The Schallert Group, Inc. in Sorrento, Florida. Schallert has worked with independent business owners since 1983, and speaks to thousands annually. One newspaper called Schallert "the marketing guru rooting for the retail underdogs". Schallert's next Destination Business BootCamp will be held in Orlando on March 10-11, 2004.
LAFAYETTE, In. July 15 / Seven Lafayette, Indiana business owners who wanted to attract more customers to their stores and restaurants, have taken the lessons they learned from a "Destination BootCamp" in Florida and energized the downtown revitalization efforts of this Midwestern city.
The seven owners attended a "Destination BootCamp" in Orlando, Florida, conducted by marketing consultant Jon Schallert. Schallert's 2-day workshop teaches owners a series of marketing techniques that causes consumers to go out of their way to visit and spend money at businesses outside of their typical shopping area. Schallert calls these marketing techniques his "Destination Business" strategies, a topic on which he speaks and consults around the country.
Intent on turning downtown Lafayette into a consumer shopping destination, Dennis Carson, Executive Director, Lafayette Urban Enterprise Association, spent a portion of his organization's downtown marketing budget, $8,365, to pay for the BootCamp's tuition costs for the seven owners to attend. The seven owners paid their own expenses for the March trip.
"Schallert's program seemed like it would really energize people to take the necessary steps to grow their businesses. I knew that if they made their businesses a consumer destination that would help my job to build a successful downtown," said Carson.
"To my astonishment, when the owners returned, they were absolutely energized about what they were doing and where they were going. A lot of them really felt like they had a new purpose and understood where their business needed to go and how to get there. Plus, their enthusiasm was contagious. They started knocking on doors and bringing these ideas and concepts to help other businesses as well. That was really beyond my expectations," said Carson.
When the seven owners returned from the BootCamp, they agreed to meet weekly on Thursday mornings to discuss their marketing efforts. What began as the original group of seven owners has grown to groups as large as 50 individuals, including visiting marketing experts from Indiana's State Tourism Bureau. The owners have also recruited other businesses to relocate downtown, extended their hours to 9 p.m. on Thursday and Fridays, and designed new advertising campaigns. Recently, the City of Lafayette approved for a free trolley to run between downtown Lafayette and West Lafayette.
One of the owners who attended the BootCamp was Carrie Ehresman, owner of the Triple XXX Family Restaurant. She and her husband, Greg, run the Triple XXX, which is the oldest and first drive-in restaurant in Indiana.
"I was very skeptical about attending the BootCamp. It was time away from my family and business, and I wasn't sure that I would receive solutions to my business problems. But Schallert's BootCamp was an awesome experience for us. It gave us real solutions to real-life business problems, and techniques we could immediately implement," said Ehresman.
Jon Schallert, President of The Schallert Group, Inc., is a nationally-recognized business speaker and marketing consultant. Schallert has worked with independent retailers since 1983, and speaks to thousands annually. His office is in Sorrento, Florida. Schallert's free "Destination Marketing" newsletter is available to anyone who visits Jon's website at www.Retail-USA.com. Additional media information is available at www.jonschallert.com/media_room/default.asp.
|
