The author | Li Jiale
Edit | Island
Period: 2606
Source: People and Island members
What will happen in 2022 is hard for everyone to say. After 2019, the development of the domestic automobile market has entered a stage of change.
Optimistic people often say that difficulties are temporary, the future is bright, and our car market will soon improve. The reason for their judgment is that the base of Chinese is large, the car ownership of thousands of people is far from Europe and the United States, and the demand for car purchases will be further released.
Pessimistic people often say that if you don't get off the table, don't wait until the spring, the shop is gone. New cars do not make money, after-sales losses are large, and short-term losses in one or two years are not afraid. I just don't know how long this situation will continue.
We inspire you from three perspectives: brand strategy, business tactics and operation execution.
First, correctly treat the brands you operate
The premium ability of the brand determines the difficulty of vehicle sales; the technical characteristics of the brand determine the frequency of after-sales return to the factory and the unit price of customers; the operation and management ability of the brand determines the marketing effect. The overall health of our brand is a solidification trend and inertia, and it is difficult to quickly reverse and change. According to the development stage of the brand and the expansion dividend period, it is divided into three stages. In 2022, which brand does our brand belong to?
Image source: Ai Media Consulting Report
Horse racing period
Brands at this stage are characterized by the shortage of new cars, and the phenomenon of disguised price increases is more common. Some brands have developed rapidly and profitably in some years because of the pace of new model launches. The brand at this stage is suitable for adopting an expansion strategy, using the idea of increasing stores, expanding operations and team size, quickly completing the layout of outlets, and forming a closure of the sales area. In order to avoid the introduction of other dealers by OEMs in pursuit of regional penetration, the price war risk will be brought about.
Fine operating period
Brands at this stage, the overall production capacity and customer group purchasing power, are in a state of dynamic balance. From the dealer's point of view, there is a small range of price wars in the local area, the channels and sales scope authorized by the manufacturer, and the selective expansion and contraction. The return on investment and profitability of the brand return to the normal level of the industry, we need to tap profits from refined management.
Recession inner volume period
Brands at this stage, the overall production capacity is much greater than the demand. The characteristics of first-line car companies are caught in a comprehensive price war, on the one hand, the inventory of dealers remains high, on the other hand, the large customer channels of the main engine factory are sold at low prices, and the profitability of bicycles has dropped sharply and even the price has been inverted. The situation of marginal car companies is that there is a two-level differentiation. Some brands eat old money, bicycle sales are profitable, and the overall market share is reduced, in short, it is to sell cars to make money, but there are very few customers. There are also brand reputation collapse, new cars are discontinued, old cars are slow to sell, quality defects and technical problems emerge in an endless stream.
Regardless of whether the current profit is made or not, the store manager of the brand during the recession period should maintain a clear understanding of the core assets of investors. As long as the fighting team is still there, the appropriate store location is still there, the operating environment in the region is good, is it to follow a declining brand, continue to go downhill, or understand the agency requirements of other brands, and change the brand to continue to operate. As a player in the automotive market in the region, how to continue to divide one side, in the beginning of 2022, it is advisable to make up your mind early.
Correctly looking at the general environment of the automotive industry is also a major prerequisite for determining the direction of work in 2022.
Regarding the epidemic, economy, chips, and trade, there are many sensitive words focusing on the supply and demand side of the automotive market, and there are many analytical angles for experts, and we do not judge them in vain. For decades, the Chinese market has been a situation in which many brands are competing for the buck. In order to grab existing customers, in the lack of coordination in the competitive game, the consensus of the market is grabbed in the most extreme way, forming a trend of "big dry and fast" explosive capacity. Fortunately, the chip shortage appeared in time, allowing some brands to adjust the production rhythm and also giving some dealers a chance to breathe.
In the future, the development of the automobile market will tend to be further concentrated.
On the one hand, the tide of electric vehicles has faded, the traditional brand BYD and the new force of "Wei Xiaoli" continue to exert force, and the "chocolate" power exchange technology in the Ningde era will further realize the concentration of the three electric technologies. Electric vehicle after-sales maintenance, insurance claims, insurance premiums, old car replacement, power battery leasing, many ways to play need to be further explored.
Image from the web For illustration purposes only
On the other hand, the rapid development of automotive autonomous driving technology and intelligent cockpit has triggered a reshuffle of traditional fuel vehicles. Luxury car brands and joint venture brands are dragged by the supply chain, and elephants have difficulty turning around. Chinese brands overtake in technology research and development, and in terms of configuration functions, they hoist the joint venture car series. With the post-70s and post-80s customer groups entering the age of 40 and 50, the reputation of the brand image is also changing.
Fishing enthusiasts often say that they want to go to "fish pond fishing", as the store manager, the marketing focus of the new year, but also to go to the place where there are many customers to do delivery. Especially if the brand does not have new technology highlights, instead of engaging in new trends, it is better to think more about what middle-aged people like to play.
Second, cash-first business tactics
When it comes to the business strategy based on the shrinkage strategy, the first thing that many stores always think of is three words, "live".
Indeed, reducing costs and increasing efficiency is a basic operation common to all walks of life. Taking the real estate and education industries as an example, their cost reduction is to control two major costs, namely financial costs and personnel costs. In 2021, they are also the most popular searches about layoffs and cost compression. For car dealers, it can also be directly learned.
Reducing personnel costs here is not just to kill some comprehensive positions, or eliminate low-performance personnel, but to choose an appropriate business model and shrink the overall organizational structure according to the company's operating scale.
For example, a store, 4 people's three-stage DCC, retreat into the network push + telephone cleaning, you can free up two sales consultants; if the online sales volume is relatively low, or the showroom naturally has fewer customers, you can also cut off a group. For example, in the exhibition hall, the front desk commissioner is a part-time exhibition hall reception and telemarketer; the exhibition hall manager is part-time network maintenance and test drive, negotiation; and the information clerk is part-time financial credit, as long as it can cover the workload.
In terms of efficiency increase in 2022, for the sinking market of the third and fourth lines, it can also start from the county and township level small and medium-sized dealers. Their number reached 100,000, which is more efficient than the 4S stores concentrated in the urban area in terms of gathering customers, displaying, receiving and closing. Sitting in the exhibition hall waiting for customers to come to the door, the radiation range is limited, and the development and empowerment of auto trade outlets can be used as an incremental breakthrough in the new year.
Of course, among the factors that determine the effectiveness of efficiency measures, the digital platform that reduces management costs and communication costs is also very important. For example, many financial managers complain that in the 4S shop vehicle business, there are fewer software that can clearly calculate invoicing, insurance, discounts, and rebates, similar to Jindi, Excellent Enterprise, All Wisdom, etc., which can only be said to meet the basic usage requirements. Based on the profit calculation and inventory control software of the invoicing system, I don't know which one everyone is using, welcome to leave a message in the comment area to share.
Third, the annual business plan of 4S stores
According to the overall goal of the annual operation, the operating plan of each department is formulated, paying attention to resource allocation and priority. The adjustment of personnel and the adjustment of development direction of the main engine factory is also the general manager who needs to pay attention to and collect information in a timely manner. Specifically, in the formulation of business plans, while advancing according to time and decomposing tasks, we must also lead various departments to find incremental business. Otherwise, everyone copied last year's work plan, and the final headache was the store manager.
From the perspective of various departments, we throw bricks and stones:
1. New car sales plan: It is a routine operation to formulate a sales plan based on the sales volume of the previous year and the growth rate of the market for the next year, the store's local sales share, the brand's annual sales plan and the development plan for new outlets. What if you want to double your sales? Or double the difference in bicycle price? Looking at the increase in sales from a 10% perspective is very different from looking at it from a 100% perspective.
2. Fund budget plan: Financial indicators of funding sources and use efficiency, the financial manager can speak out a lot. In the case of tightening tax management, reasonable tax planning operations in the past may not be feasible in the future. Under the new rules of the game, how to weigh the cost of compliance and the cost of capital.
3. Marketing Plan: As a recognized spending department, we have found a way to increase the number of customers suitable for our store in various marketing methods that are full of newly created words. Specifically how many resources are invested, what support is needed, what effect is expected to be achieved, and the feasibility of the plan is assessed in advance, so that the money can be spent on the cutting edge.
4. Service Operation Plan...
5. Warehouse operation plan...
6. Personnel Development Program...
7. Estimated profit...
The formulation of the annual plan is not only based on the existing operating capacity, but also estimates the annual operating conditions and decomposes them on a monthly basis. Making 4S stores profitable, employees earning money, and investors profitable is the goal of the general manager.