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Wednesday April 7, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER C3 Business To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 BULK BAG SOIL s a v e $10.® B U Y B E F O R E M AY 15 f119.°° DELIVERED \ (Within del. zone) NTARIO SOD 2 5 Z - 8 7 9 5 J I Photo by Peter McCusker FRIEND OF FOODBANK: The Oakville Fareshare Foodbank has a friend in Colin Frostad, who operates the Third Line and Speers Road Sunoco station. Frostad recently donated 120 turkey vouchers to the foodbank that Dudley Clarke was happy to accept And two shall become one Ford Canada eliminating Lincoln-Mercury moniker from car dealerships By.Kim Arnott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER By next fall, Oakville will have two Ford dealerships.Ford o f Canada has announced plans to convert all of its Lincoln- M ercury dealer­ ships across Canada into Ford dealerships. For Sean Draper, new car sales manager at O a k - L a n d L i n c o l n M ercury, the a n n o u n c e me n t was good news. "We do see this as having a good impact for us," said Draper. "It's just the awareness that we're hoping will come." Although the Trafalgar Road dealership has always carried Ford trucks and W indstar minivans, Draper believes many customers didn't realize that, simply because of the Lincoln-Mercury sign out front. While Oak-Land's name will change to include the Ford brand, Draper said he doesn't yet know what the new name will be. As a result of the shake-up, Oak­ land will add the Ford Mustang and Taurus to its product, lines. Nearby Kennedy Ford will begin to sell the Mercury Cougar and Grand Marquis, and both franchises will carry the Ford Focus, a new car designed to replace the Escort. Oak-land will remain the only Oakville dealership selling Lincoln products. The plan also calls for sales of the Mercury Sable and Mystique and the Ford Contour to be discontinued in Canada, although the products will still be available at dealerships south of the border. Over the last 10 years, Draper said Oak-land has moved from eighth in retail sales in the Toronto area, to fourth in retail sales in Canada. "We look at this as being some­ thing that could get us to number one," he said. * Kennedy Ford dealership presi­ dent, Malcolm j ^ Q Nourse, declined _________________ to comment for ® M E R C U R Y the story, but Ford of Canada president Bobbie Gaunt admitted that many exist­ ing Ford dealers are unhappy with the plan. In some cases, Lincoln-Mercury dealerships are in very close prox­ imity to existing Ford dealerships. Draper admitted there may be some initial customer confusion, but said the dealerships will have to dis­ tinguish themselves on the basis of customer service, rather than prod­ uct line. "I don't see this as a negative for Ford franchises. I think it's a posi­ tive all around," he said. By Dave Anderson SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Human beings are interesting crea­ tures. At a basic level, we are nothing more than animals. Supposedly, we are intelligent animals, but that is occasion­ ally open for debate. As an animal, there are five things that a human needs for their very basic survival. If I take any one of these five things away from you, you will die within a very short space of time. I will give you four of them; you can chime in with the fifth. If I take water away from you, you will die. If I take air away from you, you will die. If I take sleep or food away from you, the same thing will happen. You will die. T h e ^ B u s i n e s s „ D o c t o F ^ There is a fifth thing we need for our healthy survival. What is it? The answer is information. Human beings are information vacuum clean­ ers. We must be accumulating new and novel information or we get bored. Boredom defines the fact that the neu­ rons in our brain are not getting the stimulation they need for survival. It is essential that humans accumulate infor­ mation. You might try attracting a few by offering them some. From a selling perspective, informs tion is equally important. In my brief­ case, I have a new product that is com­ ing onto the market in two weeks. It will be selling for $499.1 have an extra one and I am prepared to sell it for $199. Please send me your money right now. Well, what ore you waiting for? Okay. I'll sell you the product for $49. Send me the money. Excuse me? You won't send the money because you don't know any­ thing about the product? Isn't that inter­ esting. That ridiculous little scenario points out a significant truth about the human animal. Human beings can no more buy a product without first accumulating, or having accumulated information than they can survive without air. There in lies the foundational under­ standing for the importance of product knowledge and effective communica­ tion. It is also the basis of information- based marketing. People cannot buy products without first accumulating information. What we must realize is that people cannot conceptualize things. If we want them to buy our products, we must tell them what the product is; what it does; how it works; what the benefit to them is; how much it costs; and how they can get it. If we do that, they will come to believe they cannot live without the product. Talk to your customer! Dave Anderson is available for sales meetings and annual conferences, 705- 526-7661. Decision-making process all about information 845-6653 175 WYECROFT ROAD www.lockwoodchrysler.com Sales Representative ■■■■lllllllllllllllllllllllll R O Y A L LEPAGE I MliFvMti ebilbija@oakvillespecialist.com OAKVILLE I t T www.oavkillehonda.com KERR CADILLAC PONTIAC BUICK INC. Optimum u s e d v e h i c l e s B E S T P R I C E • NO H A S S L E Visi t our w e b s i te : www.kerrcadillac.com M g n H w V * www.brantflorist.com gifts@brantflorist.com I h e . t n R l c ^ «nn* Upscale Social Frenis for SINGLES THE SINGLE GOURMET www.thesinglegourmet.com Phone: (905) 827-5912. Toll Free: 1-800-874-5078 OAKVILLE CHAMBER of COMMERCE www.chamber.oakviile.on.ca chamber@chamber.oakville.on.ca ®\KVHLE PLACE P \ K I O I () I K I I F I www.oakvilleplace.com T O W N E CHEVROLET OLDSMOBILE GEO www.townechev.com YOUR OAKVILLE HOME CONNECTION virtuallyoakville.com G E A R < Now Playing At www.interlog.com/~gear fife Oakville B eaver www.metroland.com wav A COGECO PRODUCT Encourage Your Ched To Read A Newspaper W e owe our children the greatest education we can give them, and encouraging them to read a newspaper is a important part of that education. Open a door of entertainment, wonder and knowledge for your children by encouraging them to begin a practice they will enjoy for the rest of their lives. The Oakville Beaver It all starts with newspaper. X • *\ *1 http://www.lockwoodchrysler.com mailto:ebilbija@oakvillespecialist.com http://www.oavkillehonda.com http://www.kerrcadillac.com http://www.brantflorist.com mailto:gifts@brantflorist.com http://www.thesinglegourmet.com http://www.chamber.oakviile.on.ca mailto:chamber@chamber.oakville.on.ca http://www.oakvilleplace.com http://www.townechev.com http://www.interlog.com/~gear http://www.metroland.com