Don’t sell cars!

A few years back, I had a memorable experience with a trainee who attended one of my building brand value workshops. She was at that time the marketing director for one of the prominent automotive groups in the Arab world region.

During the workshop, I asked her: “Your company owns several auto dealerships for various popular automakers ... You own showrooms selling cars and auto parts … You woke up one morning excited with the craziest idea crossed your mind during your sleep … went to your office and gathered your team and told them: Listen guys, all we have to sell is cars and auto parts, but from this day on we are not going to sell cars or auto parts … what would you be selling, I asked”.

She answered: “I would sell you a bed in a mental hospital … what else we can sell and all we have is cars and auto parts?”

My aim with the question was to get her and everyone in the workshop to look at something else other than the obvious for the brand to become competitive with greater value to customers than the competition can offer.

I responded: how about selling your customers their peace of mind on the road to show you care … an added value your competitors don’t have?

Now, that got her and everyone else in the workshop to start thinking deeper about this new perspective … not focusing on the product but rather on the added value to win a competitive edge over the competition; now everyone started searching for opportunities focused on the question “What can we offer for customers' peace of mind on the road?”.

After deep discussions, and exploring ideas and options, everybody settled on “roadside assistance” which was almost of no existence in their country. This was the right opportunity for the company because the group also owned a chain of gas stations spread across major locations that could provide ideal start for the idea with very little investment to start almost immediately. The idea was wherever customer’s car breaks down, roadside assistance will be there in 30 minutes or less.

In fact, the group of dealerships started the roadside assistance services free of charge to their customers who bought their cars, and for an annual membership fee to other customers, with services provided through their gas stations.

This new added value did not only add value to the group’s auto dealerships that improved their sales, but also to the gas stations owned by the group that ended up selling the gas stations unit for a very lucrative amount that was used to acquire other auto dealerships opportunities that became available to the group to grow their automotive market share to become a major player in the region.

All we did at the workshop then was creating the right questions to ignite the type of innovative thinking that led them to create a very lucrative business opportunity for the group and market share gain.?

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