Aftermarket Dave Baiocchi
Know your Strengths 2022 is shaping up to be a year like none other in the recent past, as supply chain disruptions force us to reassess our priorities and reorganize our assets, our staffing, and our way of doing business. If there was ever a moment to re-invent yourself, that moment is now. As you enter the 2nd quarter of the year, demand for your products will no doubt be increasing while inventory dwindles. If you don’t have a battle plan for how you will navigate the inventory shortfall, you need to get busy. Murphy’s law stipulates that “things left to themselves go from bad to worse”. I have mentioned in previous articles the usefulness of gathering all of the middle managers and stakeholders for a yearly SWOT analysis. This year I believe this exercise to be critical. For those of you that may be unaware of this assessment tool, a SWOT analysis is designed to do a deep dive into the following: • Strengths • Weaknesses • Opportunities • Threats When market conditions change, it’s important to reassess all four of these important areas. The results may motivate you to shift resources and manpower in order to align your tools and planning to meet the realities of the current marketplace. As a consultant, I have helped mediate many of these gatherings. I always like to start with strengths and opportunities, then follow with weaknesses and threats. Strengths and Opportunities (the value proposition) Contrary to popular opinion, not every dealership is the same. There are things your organization does well. Your organization has a unique blend of experience, personnel, capitalization, and customer base. You will no doubt have advantages and points of value that your competitors don’t have. On the other hand, you also will have challenges that may be difficult 12
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April 2022
to overcome based on your capabilities and resources. This blend of capabilities and deficits are the building blocks of a VALUE PROPOSITION. I define a value proposition as the PRIMARY REASON a customer does business with YOU and not the dealer down the road. It amazes me how many dealers have not codified this into a series of bullet points that every employee should have memorized by the 2nd week of their employment. For the dealership to have sustainable success it must RESONATE with customers. Why you resonate as an organization should be well defined. It’s important to KNOW what your dealership REALLY DOES WELL. Then ask WHY. By the way… the truth can be startling. When going through the process of defining strengths, there is a tendency to lean towards legacy instead of the truth. This can be emotionally challenging. Your dealership may have built its long-term reputation on a key point of value like technical excellence, robust inventory, financial flexibility, or personnel experience. These items may have been foundational attributes years ago, but do they apply to your current state of affairs? The marketplace is evolving. In order to maintain resonance, your dealership must constantly redefine the current value proposition. It has to be relevant. It has to be meaningful and it has to be TRUE. One way of assessing your strengths is to do a forensic analysis of the customers you serve. Is there an industry, or a group of industries that you tend to gravitate to? As you address unique and challenging applications in a particular industry, your reputation for solving problems adds to your value for that particular market segment. One dealer may have a substantial following from manufacturing companies, while another tends to succeed in the food and beverage industry. Many times, these followings are a natural extension of the unique blend of capabilities, policies, and offerings that resonate with a particular industry. Understanding this helps you not only to define your strengths but also allows you to plan to increase your influence inside that industry.
