By Tia Capps

Three Chamber members are teaming up in an innovative effort to market one another’s products and services as they seek to build brand recognition among potential customers outside the Chattanooga area.

What began as mere lunchtime conversation between Dax Turner of Chattanooga Safety Products and Lori Jenkins of Country Inn & Suites has evolved into an unexpected partnership that will not only give each business an edge over competition but will also build marketing mailing lists which can be very expensive.

Jenkins learned about the difficulties inherent in Turner’s job over a Chamber luncheon. He told her that he must first get approval from human resources personnel before obtaining permission to go on companies’ job sites to sell his safety products from his mobile store. Immediately, Jenkins wanted to help. Why not offer customers an incentive to check out the truck, say, a free give-away from Country Inn & Suites? Turner was floored, and the idea took off.

After continued discussion, Jenkins and Turner decided to increase the attractiveness of the offer by inviting Ashley Lattier, who works in development at the Chattanooga Zoo, to the table. A few brainstorming sessions later, they had it – Turner’s truck, which travels to areas outside the city to sell its products, would draw customers by allowing anyone who came to the truck to sign up for a drawing for a free weekend get-away package including two nights at Country Inn & Suites and tickets to the Chattanooga Zoo. Additionally, anyone who approached the truck would receive a free pair of work gloves tagged with a 10 percent discount at Country Inn & Suites.

"Hopefully, this is going to help draw people to Dax’s truck so Chattanooga Safety Products can do more business," said Jenkins. "By partnering with them, we should also be able to build business for Country Inn & Suites and the Chattanooga Zoo. It’s a win-win situation for all of us."

The plan was put into action in January and continued through February, with one drawing held each month. After the last drawing, the three marketing collaborators sat down together and began analyzing the success of the plan.

"What is most valuable about this marketing technique is all the information and lists that will be compiled from those who sign up," said Turner. "All three businesses will be able to advertise to the signees we’ve collected in the future. In general, mailing lists tend to be quite expensive, so being able to create our own will help cut down on marketing costs and allow each of us to simultaneously build our business brand names, as well as strengthen our expressions of goodwill to people outside the community."

"Ultimately, as a business, you have to make yourself different in the marketplace," he said. "You need to be unique. The value of the Chamber is that it helps you come up with creative ideas and allows you to take advantage of networking. With the Chamber, small ideas can easily transform into something much bigger, and we’re excited to see how the partnership we’ve created here, as well as our idea, evolves over time."