Power, speed and performance – those are the three major traits of a muscle car. When first produced, muscle cars were just pretty darn amazing because they combined the efficiency of a lightweight, mid-sized body with the performance of a high- power V8 engine and special design features that further increased the cars? acceleration capabilities. Because muscle cars topped all other vehicles in terms of power, speed and performance, they were ideal for racing.

Muscle cars were produced from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s, but the production of such beasts fell drastically due to a number of factors. First was the controversy over whether it was wise and responsible to make such powerful vehicles available to the general public, primarily due to road racing. Because muscle cars were often used irresponsibly, liability relating to them was pretty high which forced insurance companies to increase rates for insuring muscle cars. Emission control requirements intended to curb pollution also played into the picture making it near impossible for automakers to produce muscle cars that met the standards they had to adhere to.

Needless to say, the muscle car industry changed quickly due to these influences. Demand decreased because many ?would-be? buyers of muscle cars couldn?t fathom paying the enormous insurance rates for a high-power vehicle and automakers had to meet the challenges presented by pollution control standards.

Since muscle cars were produced for a limited number of years, they are valuable items for collectors and are still highly desirable to those who enjoy racing or desire a quick, powerful, mid-sized car. Since the decline in the production of muscle cars, some automakers have attempted to bring the muscle car era back to life by producing powerful vehicles that resemble the legendary muscle cars, but in my opinion, they don?t hold a candle to classic muscle cars like the GTO, the Road Runner or the Chevelle SS.

It will be interesting to see how the history of muscle cars plays out. Will present day automakers renew production of true muscle cars that are fast and powerful? Will there be enough demand to make muscle car production worth it to them? Or, will muscle cars continue to be limited to those classic models that were produced in the 60s and 70s?

Classic muscle cars are pretty amazing pieces of machinery. One that is restored and in cherry condition is really worth a lot of money. As time goes on, there are fewer muscle cars available which makes them even more valuable to classic car collectors and muscle car enthusiasts.

How To Use The Phone And Your Smiling Face To Turn Leads Into Sales
Kahlia Hannah
1789 Times have been a little lean for many businesses. You may need
to generate cash fast.

Here are simple effective ways to multiply sales quickly with
nothing more than the telephone and your smiling face.

I'm not talking about canvassing from one neighborhood to the
next getting the door slammed in your face. These techniques
work best to get sales from:

* Customers who have bought from you recently.
* Old customers who haven't purchased in a while.
* Prospects who have shown an interest, but never bought.
* People who have a good reason to buy from you, but haven't
heard about you yet.

You can already see you are in pretty friendly territory.
Seventy-five percent of the people in this list are VERY likely
to buy. So why not get in touch? Give them the opportunity to
let you help them.

Start by making a list of customers and prospects you will
contact. Unless you have a team of helpers, keep your list small
enough to service over the course of the next few weeks.

When working alone, I usually make my list no longer than 10
customers per week with a maximum of 50 to reach in five to six
weeks. This is fairly lesurely. If you have the desire or need
the money, you might go for 30 to 50 per week.

Start with a phone call. It can sound like this:

Hello John! This is Melinda Smith at Smith Technology. We
talked last month when our guy was out to fix your computer. How
are you?.......John, if you have just a moment---This month we're
offering a PC tune-up that increases your computer's speed and
eliminates all those crashes.

If John is interested, you are off and running toward a sale.
But what if John is a bit hesitant? Tell him you have several
different things that can save him time, hassles, and money.
Offer to stop by and show him in a face-to-face visit.

John, this will only take a few minutes and it could save you a
great deal of grief for months. Would Monday at 2 or Wednesday
at 10 work for you?

I like to give customers a choice of two appointment times. You
are giving them a choice while using a firm hand to get a
commitment.

What happens if you can't reach the customer? You will have this
problem with half or more of the people you call. Be sure to
leave a message on their answering machine or voice mail.

Then follow up with a letter. Mention the time or two you tried
to call, then lay out your offer and give the customer several
ways to contact you. It's a good idea these days to include an
email address. Many customers will send you a note after hours
when they have more time to consider your offer.

These techniques work great for current and previous customers
and prospects who have shown interest but haven't bought. It is
a little trickier reaching people who should want to buy from
you, but don't know about you yet. For that you need direct
marketing.

Direct marketing comes in many forms ranging from simple
postcards, to sales letters, to radio spots, to magazine ads. Try
to target your direct marketing to a group of people who are most
likely to want what you sell.

Here's an example Roy paints cars. He provides a high-end paint
job with a specialty in restoring the paint on old cars. Roy
knows he can get a lot of great customers fast and cheap if he
could find a big bunch of people who collect classic cars from
the 50's and 60's.

First Roy contacts several classic car clubs in his area. He
discovers one has 300 members while another claims 700 members.
Roy calls and explains to the club presidents how his service
could be a big help to their members. Then he drops by with
photos of past jobs and a collection of recommendation letters
from previous customers.

In no time, Roy gets the list of mailing addresses for all the
members in both clubs. He prints up a brochure with some of his
photos, an explanation of how he restores paint jobs, and
comments from past customers. He also has a freelance writer
create a sales letter for him. The letter offers the member a
special, limited-time discount for club members. Then he mails
the brochure and letter to 50 members per week.

Will this get results? You bet! Even though none of the 1,000
classic car owners has ever heard of Roy, he offers just the kind
of service a great many of them need. If he provides a good
value, Roy will be swimming in customers for months and years to
come.

Use these simple steps to quickly build leads and turn them into
buying customers. There is no faster way to improve profits NOW!

About the Author

Kahlia Hannah provides marketing advice and popular promotion
packages. See her low-cost direct marketing and PR deals at
http://MarketingHelp.NET Reach Kahlia at
mailto:kahlia@drnunley.com or 801-328-9006.

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