How can the industry recruit well for the future? With demand for skilled staff more important than ever there is a need in the automotive industry to bring more people into dealerships with a wider range of skills than may have been required previously. This presents a challenge however as these skills intersect with other industry’s demands for skilled staff.
A few questions’ is the industry doing enough to recruit and engage with the next generation of employees the gen Y’s and so on? The skills required at dealership level are very different to what has been required in the past with increasing requirements in a digital world. However some key values remain important regardless 1. Providing great customer service 2. Enthusiasm 3. Passion 4. Engagement 5. Work ethic While looking to employ staff I have seen various job listings I believe the industry may in the future have a shortage of relevantly skilled staff and in particular how it relates to digital in the automotive environment. Be willing to listen to new idea's if they are positive. Don’t be afraid to offer appropriate training to entry level staff or existing staff as well to up skill staff for the long term. I believe any year is a good year for dealerships to look at the skills they require for the long term and have a serious look at how to attract those skills and also look to up – skill existing staff more in key areas where you are able too.
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What does it mean to have first mover advantage in automotive?
First mover can be defined as In marketing strategy, first–mover advantage, or FMA, is the advantage gained by the initial (“first-moving”) significant occupant of a market segment. It may be also referred to as Technological Leadership. When it comes to digital and automotive there is a real advantage to taking new ideas and incorporating them into your digital strategy. Even minor enhancements can bring great advantage. 1. You are seen by the customer as being innovative and understanding of how they wish to do business. 2. You get the benefits of the advantage in real world terms. Increased sales , larger profile 3. Competitors can be slow to react meaning you have time to put your advantage to good use. This is especially so if your advantage is more process driven. Here at Anngow Marketing we have a range of new ideas to put you in a first mover advantage for automotive. Contact Joel Anngow on 0272079032 Are we doing enough to promote careers in the automotive industry?
With a range of skill shortages in New Zealand and long term competition from other industry’s for talent / recruitment. As an industry can we do more to promote the idea of a career in the automotive industry? There are great people in the industry from apprentice technicians through to highly experience skilled senior staff. I myself had the benefit of learning a lot in the industry from my family. A career in the automotive industry can mean a lot of things including a great range of learning experiences, meeting great people and also has its fair share of challenges too all of which are exciting. Is there an opportunity to create an industry website highlighting the opportunities and career options for those looking to enter the industry in New Zealand whether they be from another industry or just out of education. This would cover all areas of the automotive industry like sales, parts, management not just mechanical. It’s a great industry with great people and we can do more to promote it. As an industry and as with other industry's we must be open to positive idea's. Over recent years smart phone technology has experienced rapid development, allowing consumers to reap the benefits of what is essentially having a computer within reach at all times.
Instant information is a key component of mobile marketing. Past marketing techniques based on the notion that potential customers will need to seek out and engage in timely measures, when following up an advertisement no longer apply. To illustrate this, a television advertisement during the evening news would supply a company address and phone number. This may capture consumer interest, however does not enable their immediate intent to pursue the offer at hand. Waiting until the next day to phone or physically view the offer creates barriers that are likely to diminish the potential customer’s urgency and interest. Another result of delayed follow up is the exposure your potential customer will have to your competitors advertisements, directed at the same target market segments. Minimizing the time frame between projecting your offer and completing the purchase is essential. Transferring the same advertisement to a mobile application platform such as Facebook or simply redirecting the viewers of the television advertisement to the companies app, will capture potential customers during their peak interest and intent to consume. The magnitude that instant interaction and information access have on the willingness to consume, is enforced by the low costs associated with set up and maintenance. Projecting your companies brand and image online is a powerful tool. Being consistent across all platforms while maintaining interactive and instant content is crucial, as neglecting to update, respond and refresh the information may have an adverse effect when digitally promoting your companies image. Delegating mobile marketing maintenance duties is an essential component to successfully implement the strategy. Considering options such as an online chat and encouragement of review, are all options to build brand appeal. Automotive dealers need to know the importance of having a highly visible vehicle system on their website.
I don’t just mean visible to the naked eye but visible to the search engines. This means additional ways consumers can get onto your website. If you don’t have visible vehicle listings that are individual pages that are correctly located inside your site what are the consequences? Consumers can’t easily share those pages to places likes of Facebook for example. Also, naturally there are a lot of other technical disadvantages that goes along with this. For example, if you have 350 vehicles in stock but the vehicle listing system is designed in such a way that the individual pages are not visible to the search engines (the likes of google). That’s 350 potential entry points to your site that are not indexed and have no access to the search engines. From a marketing point of view many dealerships are missing out big time in potential sales and return on investment performance. Getting these basics right is crucial to the long-term performance of your site and overall turnover of stock. This happen's often. We must be prepared to move with further advancements where we can.
Read our values page to find out about us. Call or email me to discuss how I help your business grow. Your dealership content plays a key role whether that is articles and promotional posts or the content in your vehicle listings.
A key is having the right website structure to ensure all your content vehicle listings included go up correctly onto the search engines. If you don't have your website set up well then it doesn't really matter how much content you put up you will always be at a disadvantage. Having your site self managed and with key sections to easily change and alter promotions is key to driving traffic to your dealer website. Making sure your content converts is also just as important sometimes you may need to experiment and alter ongoing with your content to help make it better. What is also very important is the volume of content you put up. The more targeted content the more traffic in the long run and ultimately the more sales. It goes without saying there is no point in a you as a dealer putting up masses of content and paying for mass amount of advertising if your staff dont respond well to customer leads. This area is equally important to converting potential customers. As a dealership you must be prepared to work to improve both customer service both offline and online. Doing so working alongside staff in a positive way can help improve long term customer retention. Transactional leadership vs transformational leadership in automotive digital marketing.
Transactional leadership has a large part to play in digital marketing , setting goals , increasing efficiency , getting team members to do their part and following what others do however that will only get you so far as often more than not it is responsive leadership. What is needed more in automotive digital marketing is transformational leadership , trying new things , throwing out the rule book and being open to a new way of doing things. Transformational leadership is about being proactive and engaging all staff in your overall mission. Its one thing to do what others do , for example third party listings , Search marketing ads , selling via email these would be examples of transactional and driven by the transactional thought that everyone else does it to varying degrees of skill. Don't get me wrong you need to do these things and do them well adjusting and continually improving. However then there is transformational examples like using video Facetime or other tools to sell to customers out of town or to encourage them into the dealership with a live personalized video call and presentation of the car. Or setting true ground breaking customer service benchmarks that go beyond what every other dealership does. They key is having an advantage over everyone else. Let everyone else be late to the party and follow you rather than the other way around. It was Steve Job's that said "innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower" In New Zealand the transformational ideas don't get much traction as many are set on following the crowd. No one wants to experiment with new ways of doing things and without that experimenting new innovations and competitive advantages don't see the light of day until they are brought in from elsewhere / other countries. I feel proud and grateful that I have been involved in the automotive industry in New Zealand and overseas for the past 16 years. I want to be proactive and have the ability to bring forward my ideas to serve the industry further in a positive manner. Anngow Marketing are seeking all forward thinking / open minded dealers to work with to drive future growth and are looking for dealers in the industry that want competitive advantage. |
Author - Joel Anngow20 years of Automotive experience in a range of functions from sales through to after sales ArchivesCategories |