I had the opportunity to meet with a select group of, what-I-would-call, experts in various fields to discuss the future of the retail automotive business. There were eight of us locked in a conference room in Chicago for an entire day and many great insights were shared.

I was particularly impressed with some of the insights of Will Ander (a short excerpt of Will’s bio is included below). I have already begun reading “Winning at Retail” and am finding it very useful. Will is certainly dialed in to the demands of the current customer, and he offered advice during our discussions on how dealers can address these demands. 

One of Will’s points of emphasis was that of “timeliness.” He not only believes (supported by the data and survey results that he quoted) that customers are looking for ways to save time in their hectic schedules (and are willing to pay a premium to those companies that accommodate this demand), but also customers are looking to conduct business with dealerships who make their services available when the time best fits the customer’s schedule. In essence, a dealer needs to get the job done as quickly as possible when the customer wants the job done.

This really brings into question the practices employed by some dealership sales departments of closing early on certain days (or every day) and of not having extended or weekend service hours. 

Have you found Will’s insights to be true?  And how are you making attempts to satisfy these customer demands?

I recommend that you locate a copy of “Winning at Retail” or “Greentailing” and start learning more about customer demands and habits in order for you and your dealership to succeed in the months and years to come.

Will Ander is a Senior Partner at McMillanDoolittle, a Chicago-based retail consulting firm. Will focuses on strategic planning, new concept development and assessment and best practices identification and evaluation. Key clients during his 20 years at McMillan|Doolittle include: Saturn, Sears, BP/Amoco, McDonald’s, Cabela’s, Radio Shack, Best Buy, Harris Teeter, ARAMARK, Publix, Procter & Gamble, Eddie Bauer, La Z Boy, T-Mobile, DuPont and Harley-Davidson. Prior to joining McMillan|Doolittle, Will held numerous management and executive positions at Montgomery Ward and Foley’s Department stores in business development, research and planning, distribution and store operations. Will is a co-author of “Winning at Retail” (published in 2004), and “Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retailing” @2008), both published by John Wiley. Will is a graduate of and former National Science Fellow at Stanford University.