STOP 'COOKIE-CUTTER' DEALERSHIPS

DEALER and MANAGEMENT REPORT

Dave Kemp, the Automotivator

Look-alike buildings are bad for dealer’s profits.

I don’t get it. Apparently some car manufacturers continue to demand a ‘uniform’ look in their privately owned dealership buildings. That is understood to mean, uniform building’s exterior, including colour, design and ‘look’. A ‘uniform’ interior, colour schemes, design layout and ‘look’. Several interpretations of ‘uniform’ from my thesaurus are—unchanging, resembling another, unvarying in design, making things the same.

Many potential vehicle buyers would say it also translates into boring, uninteresting, passive, bland and ordinary. I have heard this factory mandated phenomena described as ‘cookie cutter’ dealerships.

As part of my research for my Professional Development workshops, I interview people who buy new vehicles and ask about their buying experiences. Folks, it blows me away how often people will say that they can’t remember the name of the dealerships they visited in the buying process. Buyers can’t tell one from another when they are shopping the same vehicle brand. Nothing distinguishes one dealership from another. Isn’t that pathetic?

Manufacturer Logo Branding on buildings is critical
Make no mistake, branding dealerships well and effectively is very important for the manufacturer, their dealerships and the buying public. It is a fundamental of effective marketing that the manufacturer’s brand signage should be very prominent and highly visible to appropriately identify the vehicles being sold from the dealership facilities. Great care needs to be taken to ensure that the brand signs are easy to identify and recognize and discover for the vehicle buyer. No argument. Period.

Dealerships need to be Distinctive...too!. Uniqueness is required
What doesn’t make any sense is demanding ‘cookie cutter’ dealership buildings and interiors! There is no statistics, validated by actual studies that state emphatically that vehicle sales improve, profits improve or market share improves with lookalike dealerships.

There is no proof, by the manufacturer or the sales experience of their retail dealers, that very similar building plans, outdoor colour schemes and interior floor tiles, similar showroom colours and furniture actually produce vehicle sales and profits. There is no such proof. I believe it is a myth propagated by the manufacturer. Where is it? The last 20 years of recent history may support the reality that there are negative effects and consequences for this lookalike strategy.

Should dealers have more flexibility in building and interior design?
Absolutely!!!

Let them innovate. It will be good for business for both dealers and manufacturers. Of course, guidelines from the factory about corporate branding is essential and wise but flexibility to encourage each dealership to distinguish themselves in their marketplace is required for sales success in this fast changing Internet world. Each dealership needs to be more personal and original, more authentic to the individual dealer to attract business.

Each dealer in their local market place is themselves a brand whether the manufacturer acknowledges it or not. It needs to be enhanced not diminished to increase sales per dealership.

There is no compelling reason to deny the franchised dealer the opportunity to put the power of unique branding to work immediately. Each dealer is independently owned and managed. They put their money, lots of money, on the line in the land and building. Branding is all about separating one dealer from another—within their own franchise as well as their competitor franchises.

On the other hand, the reality, of course, is that consistent vehicle quality and value is the manufacturer’s brand differentiator in the mind of the buying public. It is a key decision maker. This is the domain of the manufacturer and ‘cookie cutter’ buildings won’t make up for this lack. But provided with a level playing field then a dealer’s unique brand in each community makes a difference in people’s decision process.

Look at the NHL. They don’t practice cookie cutter marketing. The NHL is the franchiser (aka the manufacturer) and the NHL is marketing their logo and product throughout North America and the world. But each team is individually owned and managed and marketed as a unique brand. Each team has different facilities, unique team logos, unique uniforms colours that separate them from all the other 30 NHL franchises. The same reality exists for CFL, NFL, and Soccer. People don’t confuse the blue and white of the Maple Leafs with the red, black and white of Senators or the blue and red of the Habs. The same product, hockey, only it is creatively sold through different team brands, images and appearances under each franchisee. The rules are the same for each team to prevent cannibalizing the product or the corporate brand. We just experienced the successful defence of the franchise system by the NHL against Balsillie’s efforts.
It has worked to establish team (brand) loyalty and healthy competition in each marketplace.

McDonald’s is another successful franchise that doesn’t practice look alike buildings. It has discovered the power of branding logos successfully in the mind of the consumers with their famous ‘M’ Arches in yellow and red background. These familiar M arches are dominate in corporate advertising and on the franchisee’s signage but each location is differentiated by building design, interior layouts and colour schemes. No, contrary to popular manufacturer misconception, MacDonald’s does not practice cookie cutter building, facilities or colour schemes. Check it out folks. My wife has. She raised two children and now our two grandkids have made her an expert on McDonald’s. This strategy has worked to establish highly profitable, long-term customer loyalty and competitive advantage over the numerous corporations in the fast food business.

Bottom-line
The dealer is the entrepreneur and the corporate executives are not. Both bring value to the partnership and both bring unique strengths—if allowed to use them. Common sense and good business practice should dictate that auto manufacturer executives should stop the cookie-cutter mentality. They should encourage their individual dealers to practice establishing their personal brand in their local marketplace.

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Dave Kemp is president of Automotivator Professional Development and Trackstar International Follow-up Systems. He is a car industry expert with decades of success training the nation's most achieving and profitable automobile dealerships. He has been a successful dealer, general manager, sales manager, and sales consultant. He shares his sales strategies with thousands of sales team members across North America. www.Automotivator.com
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