Expand sales and service business, especially via repeat customers and word-of-mouth recommendations.
This mid-size auto dealership sells late model used automobiles, many of which are recently off-lease cars the owner gets from large new-car dealers in a southwestern city. IAS is owned by Stephany and Lee Bergen, a husband-and-wife team. They have been in business for 15 years and have a positive reputation for honesty. Many of their sales come from referrals from past customers. Competing with other new- and used-car dealerships is always a battle. New cars are sometimes being offered with zero interest loan incentives. IAS, however, can almost always offer a much better purchase price, especially on two- or three-year-old cars with some mileage on them.
With a difficult economy and reduced sales of cars, Steph and Lee have decided to emphasize their repair services in addition to sales. They have three full-time mechanics on duty. The service manager is Ray, a man with good skills but not much of a personality. Nevertheless, repairs now account for about 15 percent of IAS revenues.
In addition, IAS has been cultivating additional business-to-business (B2B) sales efforts. They recently got a contract to provide servicing for the vehicles owned by their local city government as well as a major building contractor. This increase in service business has posed some problems due to lack of repair staff. Sometimes Ray promises more than he can deliver or misses deadlines. IAS is recruiting qualified mechanics to meet this need. They are also on the lookout for good salespeople.
1. Identify some core values of this organization as best as you can. What do they believe in (beyond organizational success or profitability)? How might their revealing these values to customers and employees create opportunities to exceed expectations? How can they translate core values into actions to produce A-plus value, thus strengthening relationships?
2. Do some creative thinking about possible ideas you could apply to create A-plus value using the seven areas described in this chapter. Describe at least three ideas for each:
packaging, guarantees (warrantees)
goodness of product fit
"memorability" of product experience
uniqueness and shared values
company credibility
add-ons
3. Consider ways to get employees of your organization involved in generating A-plus value ideas. How would you do this? Be specific about the following:
What you would teach employees before soliciting their ideas?
Who would be involved in idea-generating sessions?
How you would collect and process ideas (specifically)?
How often you would gather ideas?
How people might be rewarded for participating in the process?
4. What would be necessary for your organization to engage in ongoing A-plus idea generation? How could this become part of the culture of the company? How could you get buy-in from participants and what should you do to avoid turning people off to the process. Be specific.