Masking Up The Old & New Motor Trade School
Drew Spink is one automotive retailer who knows how to handle disruption. I bought and sold my first car back in 1985 at the age of thirteen. Demographics are deal breakers and if you do not understand them intimately dealerships and operations go down for the dirt nap. I have worked internationally and in most of the major metropolitan cities within South Africa. You can deploy me into a dealership anywhere in the world and I will get to grips with it very quickly, unlocking the automotive magic with courage, imagination, creativity, innovation and knowledge drawn from the past, present and the future.
The imbeciles of the industry speak about millenial skills and exclusively hiring them, however let me share I am a digital dealer, automotive leader and X man who operates collaboratively with generational gearing. I believe in an emotionally tuned in approach that is heartilly invested in people. I often work with a millenial think tank, creating the best results, but do not be fooled I can run rings around the most astute motor retailers on the planet. A tuned in company would not make a mistake finding a few old retired automotive aces and to think about seconding their services to help and mentor staff in testing times like these. Age is just a number but performance speaks volumes.
Volume era automotive aces are in their seventies and eighties now, however they hold mystical motoring knowledge and they are often the very wise old sales sages to seek out. Some may think this guy sounds crazy, but you know what I am quite cool and comfortable wearing that cap. Global trends ratify that progressive companies like Mercedes-Benz believe in the altruism of their brands, and Benz are bringing back motoring elders and past employees to pass on as much as possible to their present employees.
The knowledge is not lost it gets passed down and often helps their teams and employees to accelerate in the present. It sounds and reminds me a bit of the movie Back to the Future, but this is now regarded by many firms as a best practice to create traction, up skilling, a knowledge ridge and far speedier efficiencies. Do you know what is not just crazy but totally insane? The notion of doing the same thing over and over again in a dealership and expecting a different and far improved result or bottom line.
This could very aptly be described as sheer motoring madness, considering the fact that just about every single dynamic and driver has changed dramatically. Sadly some motoring firms make the fatal mistake of trying to get everyone singing from the same hymn sheet.
This is a ludicrous and laughable strategy to try to apply across their national dealer networks. The reasoning behind this is that there is nothing rational about it, because every area has different demographics, challenges, fiscal constraints and what could best be described as varying but now also very dated national benchmarks. Clueless retail conformity is a very accurate definition of automotive insanity.
Most recently and very sadly our company lost a great motoring man, leader and automotive father who exemplified all the special attributes of a true entrepreneur, gentleman and motor industry legend, our chairman Mr Desmond Seaman. Please allow me to share this, do not discount the disciplines and fun that these older automotive gentlemen can bring into an automotive business.These gents hold a treasure chest of knowledge and trade secrets, that have long been forgotten and sadly abondoned. Now is the time to open up and access that trove of industry wealth and experience.
There are senior and highly experienced motoring men who are all very astute operators. Motor industry legends like Brand Pretorius, Jeff Osborne, Owen Eric Bell, Jonathan Spink, Nigel Payne and Arthur Mutlow are all top men to reach out to second for a consultation.
All of a sudden old school strategies start to resonate with retailers, as at one point or another we have all drunk from the same spring of knowledge, spouting sustenance for sales and a burst of rejuvenating retail refreshment. Think about seconding their services, if you have a problem area, consider deploying them into a department that you may want to deliver into. My mentors in the motor trade started trading way back in the 1950's and like a sponge I absorbed as much knowledge as I could from them. I have never taken a trade cover or ever pre-reported a car. I was taught that car sales is a trading game and that you have to sell your way to success Traders must know their business and should be able to put a price on any car.
The first question you have to ask yourself is, " What can I sell it for ? " If you are going to make a mistake, make a big one, but show all and sundry how you are going to get out of it. That is what earns you respect and what top operators want to see from their employees, problem solving skills. In today's times and especially post covid the motor industry is facing a myriad of problems. An industry that faces multiple conundrums and a sales crisis requires professionals who can think their way out of complexities.
These points shared above are some of the reasons why thought and servant leaders will be so sought after. Their psychological, philosophical and people orientated culture permeates the retail atmosphere, percolating performances and motivating sales people to get back onto the boil. They are the catalysts for change but they are also brilliant when it comes to brainstorming. A crisis for car sales requires lateral, logical, rational and critical thinking combined with a lot of common sense, which is sadly not so commonly abundant today. Take some risks, go big or go home and remember without guts there can be no glory for car sales.
There is no head space for operational dissonance and professionals have to be able to think on their feet, while staying present and connected with their clients. Adaptation with speed and agility is also key as out of the ordinary conditions prevail. Experiment, collaborate, investigate and identify new retail avenues and roads of revenue to traverse as the old ones crumble into decriptitude. Having some fun is equally important so let your imagination run wild.
Imagination is intelligence having fun and discovering new ideas, so let those creative sessions bubble over into the boardroom for conversion. A few years ago I studied just about every aspect of digital marketing relevant to automotive retail, but today retail encompasses a far greater diversity and ever changing dynamics. Motoring men have to offer up a very well blended skill set and should exemplify a knowledge megaphone with superior sales and marketing acumen.
Large corporates fall into the fatal trap of often making a massive mistake when they hire a profile, that on paper looks and feels perfect. In reality the incumbent does not actually fit the role at all from warming up to people or from an operational perspective. The feit accompli of trying and hiring accountancy based profiles for sales and marketing roles is a no go.The ridiculous idea of paradoxically trying to turn their top traders, marketers and charismatic car sales operators into average numbers men, or administrative clerks and accountants has backfired badly.
The fact is that numerically driven profiles generally spend their days glued to their computer screen, as the sales parade marches by. Companies need charismatic leaders and traders, as a result a post covid cull has resulted in many armchair managers being retrenched. Companies have had little choice but to centralize operations, accounts & admin, retrench, rationalize, cut overheads, close branches, amalgamate and consolidate brands and branches to protect a massive cull of exco and c suite suits, who are superfluous dead wood sitting in cushy silo based jobs. Sadly this is the only culture and strategy they know to insulate head office honchos.
Few people and I say this very humbly understand small urban rural dealerships and models better than I do. Rural models are under extreme pressure now as dealership networks will undoubtedly be moderated.
The old original equipment manufacturers model of grow your dealer network, car park, sales and market share is dead. In order for automotive retail to survive and to be healthy the model will have to be reverse engineered. One of the cool and trendy new catch phrases that comes to mind is, You can do more with less these days
Tough times do not scare me it is an opportunity to show your metal in the motor trade. I have smashed sales in recessionary times, overcoming interest rate hikes of as high as 24% miraculously achieving massive sales numbers in tough trading conditions.
Now is the time to think about how we are going to deal with the disruptive effects of the Corona Virus pandemic? How are those lucky enough to still have jobs and to be working going to deal and adapt to the disruption? I believe that working collaboratively with all of my automotive colleagues, friends, traders, affiliates, finance houses, clients, other small businesses and most importantly my trusted superiors, colleagues & co-workers is one of the pragmatic ways forward.
Automotive retail can be a lot like a roller-coaster ride, you have your ups and downs, your highs and lows, and a variety of G forces pulling you in a million different directions. The ride can be fun or for some it can be a terrifying car sales carnival that sees your roller coaster filled with scary and incompetent car sales clowns, coming off the rails with deadly consequences for all.
The message is clear, let's all pull together as one big automotive community and fight the unknown. Let's deal with disruptions, tackle the unexpected, take complacency to task and have a series of answers and solutions on hand for a plethora of problematic pandemic after shocks, as they permeate the ever evolving automotive landscape.
Drew Spink is a leading automotive thought leader based in South Africa. He has been the recipient of multiple automotive awards over a twenty six year career. Drew regularly publishes posts on LinkedIn. To connect with Drew, please send him a connection request.