Senior Managers need help
Senior Managers need help, their job roles have changed immeasurably.
This article first apppeared on the Automotive Management website on Tuesday 16th June. It is interesting to see that research by an industry leading company like Castrol Professional is mirroring what Motor Trade Solutions (MTS) are hearing from their clients.
Read On…
Dealer Principals increase micro management.
Dealer principals are micro managing their businesses more in reaction to the volatile market, according to research by Castrol Professional.
Castrol Professional carried out 40 face-to-face interviews with a panel of dealer principals working at a variety of franchised sites, from solus operations to super group outlets, to gain a better understanding of life at the UK motor trade.
The findings show that many senior management figures are now micro-managing key areas of their business, for example by placing all invoices, no matter how small, under the microscope.
In response to the slump in new car sales, the vast majority of dealer principals have also shifted much more of their focus to the aftersales department as a means of maintaining or driving revenues.
According to the interviews, many dealers now have an intimate awareness of aftersales KPI data, such as workshop hours sold, efficiency and average invoice value, which dealer principals admitted were not previously regarded as such important indicators for the health of the business.”
Recent reductions in headcount, which were reported by many of the people interviewed on the panel, have also had an impact on dealership management structures.
Many lower- and medium-level managers now fulfil dual or expanded roles, for example having combined new and used sales, or service and parts management responsibility.
While redundancies are inevitably undesirable, some DPs report that the resulting management changes have helped them accelerate a move away from conventional compartmentalised business structures, thereby facilitating improvements in operational efficiency.
Adrian Brabazon, Castrol franchised workshop and OEM marketing Manager for UK & Ireland, said: “It is clear that the uncertain economic climate has led to a shift in emphasis from new car sales to aftersales.
“The need for franchised dealers to retain customers and fight for each and every piece of business has meant that many dealer principals are placing renewed focus on the resourcing of the service reception. More of them are evaluating whether service reception staff have the right skills to effectively sell work to the customer and employing new processes and systems to enable staff to follow up on deferred work.”
Brabazon said that even through dealers were focusing on running the business in “survival mode” many are already preparing for when the upturn comes.
He said: “For instance, some have been investing in new initiatives to safeguard service income, such as launching a new mobile technician service to diagnose faults on customer cars before they come into the dealership, to maximise workshop efficiency.
“The focus on improving aftersales processes, upsell and customer service training has also been reflected in significant sign up to Castrol Professional’s market leading programme solutions in recent months.”
In other words the role of a senior manager in a motor dealership or group has changed immeasurably.
The question is: What were these Dealer Principals doing before?
Well in short the relative buoyancy of the UK Retail Motor Industry allowed for more support staff to be employed to cover specialised roles. In management speak this was called delegation, which meant that the senior management were able to develop the business and ‘strategise’.
Recent turbulent economic times have meant that these people are a luxury that the business cannot afford, but equally the need for the business to have a leader and a director are more important than ever before. The Dealer Principal and the rest of the senior management team have had to take these roles back into their job description and by spinning many plates are struggling to think beyond the day-to-day running of the business.
Proof of this is the ever expanding client base of dealers and motor dealer groups who are employing Motor Trade Solutions on an outsourced basis to cover time consuming and specialist roles such as marketing, health & safety, FSA compliance, updating the website, training & development etc.
MTS clients can budget their costs effectively and do not have to unnecessarily add to headcount or paying for benefits packages. The benefit being that they only pay for what they need and they get industry leading expertise.
If you would like to know more, then please see our web page on 'Outsourced Services' or call 0845 658 6880 for an initial chat about how Motor Trade Solutions can help your company to succeed.
This article first apppeared on the Automotive Management website on Tuesday 16th June. It is interesting to see that research by an industry leading company like Castrol Professional is mirroring what Motor Trade Solutions (MTS) are hearing from their clients.
Read On…
Dealer Principals increase micro management.
Dealer principals are micro managing their businesses more in reaction to the volatile market, according to research by Castrol Professional.
Castrol Professional carried out 40 face-to-face interviews with a panel of dealer principals working at a variety of franchised sites, from solus operations to super group outlets, to gain a better understanding of life at the UK motor trade.
The findings show that many senior management figures are now micro-managing key areas of their business, for example by placing all invoices, no matter how small, under the microscope.
In response to the slump in new car sales, the vast majority of dealer principals have also shifted much more of their focus to the aftersales department as a means of maintaining or driving revenues.
According to the interviews, many dealers now have an intimate awareness of aftersales KPI data, such as workshop hours sold, efficiency and average invoice value, which dealer principals admitted were not previously regarded as such important indicators for the health of the business.”
Recent reductions in headcount, which were reported by many of the people interviewed on the panel, have also had an impact on dealership management structures.
Many lower- and medium-level managers now fulfil dual or expanded roles, for example having combined new and used sales, or service and parts management responsibility.
While redundancies are inevitably undesirable, some DPs report that the resulting management changes have helped them accelerate a move away from conventional compartmentalised business structures, thereby facilitating improvements in operational efficiency.
Adrian Brabazon, Castrol franchised workshop and OEM marketing Manager for UK & Ireland, said: “It is clear that the uncertain economic climate has led to a shift in emphasis from new car sales to aftersales.
“The need for franchised dealers to retain customers and fight for each and every piece of business has meant that many dealer principals are placing renewed focus on the resourcing of the service reception. More of them are evaluating whether service reception staff have the right skills to effectively sell work to the customer and employing new processes and systems to enable staff to follow up on deferred work.”
Brabazon said that even through dealers were focusing on running the business in “survival mode” many are already preparing for when the upturn comes.
He said: “For instance, some have been investing in new initiatives to safeguard service income, such as launching a new mobile technician service to diagnose faults on customer cars before they come into the dealership, to maximise workshop efficiency.
“The focus on improving aftersales processes, upsell and customer service training has also been reflected in significant sign up to Castrol Professional’s market leading programme solutions in recent months.”
In other words the role of a senior manager in a motor dealership or group has changed immeasurably.
The question is: What were these Dealer Principals doing before?
Well in short the relative buoyancy of the UK Retail Motor Industry allowed for more support staff to be employed to cover specialised roles. In management speak this was called delegation, which meant that the senior management were able to develop the business and ‘strategise’.
Recent turbulent economic times have meant that these people are a luxury that the business cannot afford, but equally the need for the business to have a leader and a director are more important than ever before. The Dealer Principal and the rest of the senior management team have had to take these roles back into their job description and by spinning many plates are struggling to think beyond the day-to-day running of the business.
Proof of this is the ever expanding client base of dealers and motor dealer groups who are employing Motor Trade Solutions on an outsourced basis to cover time consuming and specialist roles such as marketing, health & safety, FSA compliance, updating the website, training & development etc.
MTS clients can budget their costs effectively and do not have to unnecessarily add to headcount or paying for benefits packages. The benefit being that they only pay for what they need and they get industry leading expertise.
If you would like to know more, then please see our web page on 'Outsourced Services' or call 0845 658 6880 for an initial chat about how Motor Trade Solutions can help your company to succeed.
