For car dealers, this isn’t their first rodeo. They’ve lived through recessions and economic downturns of all shapes and sizes, OEM bankruptcies, onerous factory image overhauls and all manner of upheaval — and survived.
But even by the standards of the turbulent auto industry, this pandemic has challenged dealers to look at their businesses more closely than ever, and as I write this they are still redefining what their new normal will be.
Any dealer who has been in the business for a while, which is almost all of them, will have grown accustomed to the constant need to adapt and evolve their processes and approaches. Tackling one or two major projects, and implementing a new piece of software might have been viewed as a successful year.
But consider that in the past few months, most dealers in Canada have had to adapt, respond, and react to things like: implementing sanitization protocols, procuring PPE, retrofitting or adapting facilities for social distancing, offering contactless service and sales, doing remote vehicle deliveries and figuring out remote test drives, and so much more. Acquiring scarce used vehicle inventory, coping with new vehicle inventory shortages, and digitizing the customer journey are also among the list of things dealers have had to work through — and these things only scratch the surface of the profound changes their businesses are going through.
From what I have observed, dealers have been remarkably adaptable and their situation has been helped by brisk sales as the industry rebounds, which is good news for everybody. But while they have rebounded in the short term, the longer-term picture remains less clear — at least to me.
Let’s just take the people part of the equation.
Some dealers we’ve talked with will privately admit they’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well their operations can still run with far fewer people. It’s not something they want to scream from the rooftops, but it is forcing them to evaluate their staffing levels and question how many “B” and “C” performers they had on their team all along.
If they want to continue to grow and adapt, and meet the challenges to provide a better and more digital and seamless customer experience, they can only do so by “trimming” back on the change resistant team members who cling to the old “tried and true” ways of doing business.
This is no time for business nostalgia.
Look around and consider the way your own team members have reacted to this challenge. On any dealership team there will be surprises in both directions: some who have adapted and thrived and others who have struggled.
Let’s face it, very few people really do like an environment of constant change and constant reinvention. It’s stressful to feel the earth shifting under your feet all the time, and many people just can’t stomach it. That’s fine. But those people would be better suited in the longer-term to find an industry that isn’t in the midst of a complete transformation.
As car dealers emerge from the pandemic, new stars will emerge and take their place in the leadership ranks of dealerships. And that might just be what this industry has needed all along.
